Is Chocolate Considered Candy?

Chocolate is a popular food item that is eaten in virtually every culture. In this context, we are not talking about hot chocolate or other cocoa-based drinks. Chocolate bars and truffles do look and are called candies. But is chocolate considered candy?

Chocolate is under a group of foods called confections, just like candy is. Candies are mainly sugar-based confectioneries while chocolate is made from cocoa beans or its products. Both chocolate and candy are confectioneries. And sometimes there are chocolate-flavored candies.

Many people still consider chocolate as candy. In a more appropriate term, chocolate will qualify as candy if sugar is its principal ingredient. Keep reading to find out what candy is and why chocolate is not candy but a sugar confectionery.

What Is Candy?

Candy is a term that is used for any confection that has sugar as the major ingredient. Candies are also called sweets and lollies. They can have several flavors and some even have chocolate flavor. They are made with sugar or syrup or other sweeteners.

There are different types of sugar candies. There are hard candies, soft candies, marshmallows, caramels, and taffy. They are made by dissolving sugar or other variants of sweetener in water or milk to form a syrup.

The syrup is boiled until it reaches the desired concentration. It usually caramelizes at about 171°C. Different candies feature different flavors and additions to the syrup. The basic content is sugar but other ingredients are added.

Sugar candies can be crystalline or noncrystalline. Hard candies are an example of non-crystalline candy while crystalline candies are creamy. They often melt in the mouth easily. An example of crystalline candy is fudge.

What Is Chocolate?

Chocolate is a food that is made from cocoa. It generally contains the liquid beverage, paste and the solid form. Chocolate is also widely used as a flavor for many other foods. Most solid chocolates are sweet chocolate that contains sugar, cocoa butter and cocoa solids.

In this context chocolate is more about the solid form that can also be called chocolate bars or candy. Many sweet chocolates can also contain milk powder or condensed milk. There is also white chocolate which contains milk powder, sugar and cocoa butter.

What Is the Difference Between Chocolate and Candy?

Chocolate is often taken as candy but it may be differentiated from most candies. The first difference is that most chocolates do not have sugar as the main ingredient. Chocolate candies are made from roasted and ground cocoa beans.

In many cases, chocolate candies contain a mixture of other ingredients. Such additions include nuts, fruits, wafers, and many more. Sugar candies on the other hand are chiefly sugar syrup and flavors. Chocolate is also a confection but not the same as sugar candy. There are sugar candies with chocolate flavor though.

Are Chocolate and Candy the Same Type of Confectionery?

Both chocolate and sugar candy are classified as confectionery. Candy and chocolate can be grouped under sugar confectionery. Confectioneries are foods that are rich in sugar and carbohydrate. And that is true for both candy and chocolate.

Confectioneries can be divided into two, baked confections and sugar confections. Candy and chocolate are both sugar confectionery and that may be the reason for taking the two to be the same. Both may have a similar constitution in some instances.

In Conclusion

There are candies that are coated or flavored with chocolate. But that does not necessarily equate chocolate to candy. Chocolate is a broader term to just be the same as candy. There are different forms of chocolate. And basically, sugar is not the major ingredient in all of these forms like it is in sugar candy.