Candy class is back in town

Remember when you got kicked out of class for chewing gum? The 43rd annual “Resident Course in Confectionary Technology” will train the next generation of professional candy-makers on June 12-24 – and chewing gum in this class is required.

Over the two-week session, held at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, 28 students from the confectionery industry will participate in a special course on candy-making and leave more than enough toffee, fudge, hard candy and gum to go around.

Organized by the National Confectioners Association and run by a host of experts including Rich Hartel, a professor of food science in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, the class covers the technical side of this sweet science – everything from the chemical and functional interactions of ingredients to sensory analysis. More than 1,000 students from around the world have attended this course over the last 43 years.

And like any good science class, this one is taught through hands-on lab exercises that will produce hundreds of pounds of candy. Reporters and photographers are welcome to attend the class to interview students and instructors and shoot the candy-making; they are asked to contact Hartel in advance to set up a time.

The schedule for this year’s class is: corn syrup and sugars on June 13; hard candy and sugar crystallization on June 14; chewing and bubble gum on June 15; jellies and gummies on June 16; aerated confections and nougats on June 17; fondants and creams on June 20; chocolate panning on June 21; fudge and caramel on June 22; toffee on June 23; and chocolate and compound coatings on June 24.

For a past image from the conference, check:

For more information about the class, please contact Hartel at (608) 263-1965, hartel@calshp.cals.wisc.edu.