Caramel

Caramel is a candy substance obtained by boiling sugar to or beyond approximately 115 C, at which point its mass takes on a slightly yellowish colour and pleasantly burnt smell.

Caramels vary in consistency between the short, or soft, and the long, or more chewy types depending upon the proportions of ingredients. Corn syrup added to the basic sugar constituent controls graining and contributes body. Milk, essential to the traditional "caramel-candy" flavour, imparts a creamy, collapsible consistency. The blended ingredients, including fats and starches, are stir red continuously during cooking and then poured into vessels or over cooling slabs in preparation for cutting and wrapping.

Although the making of cream caramels requires a high degree of skill, caramel is a basic candy that is more important to mass producers of sweets than to the individual confectioner. Various grains of caramel may be dipped, coated, or coloured and flavoured with fruit and nuts, as well as coffee. Apples coated with caramel and skewered on sticks are a popular form of the candy in the United States.

Halvah

HELVA is any of several confections of Balkan and eastern Mediterranean origin, made with honey, flour, butter, and sesame seeds or semolina, pressed into loaf form or cut into squares. Halvah is made with a variety of colourings and flavourings. Its texture is characteristically gritty and crisp.

In some versions, sugar and nuts, often pignuts or blanched Almonds, are substituted for the more traditional honey and sesame seeds. In either case, the sweet syrup is added to a mixture of butter, nuts, and farina. These are blended thoroughly, then covered and cooked until all the syrup is absorbed. The candy is often sprinkle d with cinnamon or served warm or cold with whipped cream.