Candy canes – sweets with a history

There's just something about that candy cane. Red and white boiled sugar candy, shaped as a cane. When you see it, you recognize it, and even if there’s no need to talk about taste (as the taste is mainly sweet), today’s versions are many, including the classical peppermint version. Despite that, there’s just that feeling that even if you don’t like them, you have to have one. For the sake of Christmas. Just one. 

But it is a different story in the USA, where there's no Christmas without candy canes. There may be no Santa, but there have to be candy canes. 

I remember the first time I saw one – it was on German TV in commercials rather than movies, but there they were. They had it on trees, like candy, as gifts, and much more. It was a bit torturous to watch, as we had few Latvian candies and gingerbread for Christmas; some tangerines, if we were lucky. But I never tried them until the time I traveled to LA (I was about 18), and I brought back a bag full of them. I did not like the taste (there was nothing there), but I still loved the way they looked, just like today – no taste, but beautiful as a decoration on the cookie jar or in cookie dough mix or a bottle of milk or even on a gift – be it a book or a pan.

But the truth is - there would be no Christmas in North America if there were no candy canes, and the same goes for Santa Claus, Christmas trees, or mistletoe. Today, there are millions of variations, but classically they are 15 cm long and 6 mm thick with three thin and one thick stripe, tasting like peppermint or the secret ingredient of Coca Cola (gaultheria procumbens). Although this is candy and not associated with religion, legends speak differently. 

They say that the shape of the stick resembles the letter “J” for Jesus (I wonder what he would say about that). Then there’s something about the Trinity because of the three red stripes. Yet, non-religious people believe there is something connected with barbershops and their old signs, but what? Be it Jesus, Trinity, or barbershops, the interesting fact is that candy cane story did not start in the USA, but in Germany (they are really into Christmas) in 1670. Legend says that the choirmaster had an idea to make choir kids be silent and peaceful until the moment they had to sing during the Christmas service. He gave them white candies in the shape of a staff (in honor of the shepherds, since they were the first ones to come and greet the newborn). Over the years, this tradition spread through Europe, only there were no stripes and they were fragile, so they had to be eaten right away. 

Three centuries later, thanks to German-Swedish immigrant August Imgard, who decorated his Christmas tree with candies and paper decorations, the candy cane landed in the USA. The red stripes pop up as a religious thing: a pastry chef from Indiana invented them to symbolize Jesus – white for his purity, red for his blood.

It is not so easy to make a candy cane. It takes three steps, starting with boiling caramel, then making the sugar dough, and ending with making the actual candies. The ingredients are sugar, water, and glucose, with added corn syrup, malt, glucose syrup or acid. But why is it white if caramel is brown? This is thanks to the stretching technique, which adds oxygen, which makes the candy whiter and silky looking. There were days when this was done only by hand, but today that happens only in a few candy factories. The rest of the world relies on the magic of big machines and the tradition that people still associate with Christmas – a stick in white and red. It may it be sweet, peppermint flavored, or even a different taste, but it will still be the symbol of Christmas. It does not need to be the tastiest, but time-to-time happens to pop into our mouths. 

Recipe and pictures: Signe Meirane
Camera: Sony Alpha 7s