Very British Novelty Candies
British candies evokes images of children in school uniforms running to the corner store to choose their sugary treats. Many British candies are quite unusual and are the type of confection you may not find anywhere else.
Take for instance, Cat Companions, which are not so much about eating tiny strong peppermints but about collecting the tins that have pictures of prize-winning cats on them. These small tins are often packed three at a time with each can having a different picture of a cat on the lid.
Another eccentric treat is known as Dib Dabs. These are fruit flavored lolly pops that come with a sherbert powder. You suck on the lolly and then dip it in the powder for a mouth puckering taste. The company known an s Bassett that makes a lot of these candies also makes a tube of powder called “Sherbert” that comes with a liquorice straw through which the sour powder is sucked up through.
Licorice is also a favorite British candy. Catherine Wheels have been around for about a century and consist of threads of black licorice wound around a pink, yellow or blue candy center. Shorter twisted black licorice wands that have been sprinkled with small blue and yellow candies are also quite popular.
The British people also like frosted gel candies. A national favorite are pear drops which are sugared yellow and pink shaped soft candies that taste like very truly like pear. Bassett and Jesmona are companies that make these candies.
A candy that shows the U.K.’s affection for Indian products are Bendicks Bitter Gingers which are intensely bitter chocolates with a hot and spicy ginger center wrapped in a fondant. Bendicks Bitterments are also very popular in England. The company also make Bitteroranges which is chocolate coated fondant covered with orange oil and chilis.
Sour candy drops are also a popular candy in Britain with Cavendish and Harvey’s sour lemon drops being very popular. These drops are tiny, sharp in taste and come in their own designer tin.
England is one of the few countries in the world where the flavor of Blackcurrant is really popular. Chewits Blackcurrant chews are a soft gooey candy, like a caramel, that are on the shelves of many candy stores. They are like a Tootsie roll only flavored with currant taste. Jesomona is a company that also makes blackcurrant liquorice.
Many different types of butterscotch are also quintessential British favorites including Gardiner’s butterscotch which comes in a hexagonal tin.