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Jelly Beans, those sweet, gooey, candies with the shiny covering and coming in a wide variety of flavors and colors are not just for Easter. They have gone gourmet and come in exotic flavors such as popcorn and Dr. Pepper. They have even been a featured treat in the White House.

ANCIENT ORIGINS

The process for making jelly beans goes back as far as Biblical times, with a Middle Eastern confection known as Turkish Delight, which was a soft, chewy treat. The hard shell on the jelly bean came from 17th century France. The French created a candy shell on almonds (a treat known as Jordan Almonds) by rolling them around in a mixture of sugar and syrup. The process was called "panning".

The process was then used on the soft gooey candy still found in jelly beans today to create the shiny candy shell. The process used today is still very similar, though it has been mechanized with large rotating pans instead of hand-held bowls.

PENNY CANDY

Jelly Beans were one of the first (some say THE first) candies to be sold by the ounce in general stores in America. Generally, a penny would by decent sized treat for a child, hence the term "penny candy", in contrast to the expensive delights sold at a confectioner's shop. Hence, jelly beans were "bulk" candy before "bulk" was in vogue.

THE EASTER CANDY

Jelly Beans became associated with Easter around the 1930's. They were a natural association with the holiday because of their egg shape and bright coloring. It is easy to make up little basket treats with confetti at the bottom and the jelly beans for eggs.

GOURMET VS TRADITIONAL JELLY BEANS

Gourmet jelly beans became very popular in the mid-1970s, when the Herman Goelitz Candy Co., Inc., now known as the Jelly Belly Candy Company, started making a slightly smaller version of the jelly bean in a wild variety of flavors. Jelly Belly jelly beans not only came in the traditional fruit and licorice flavors, but added cappuccino, toasted marshmallow, cotton candy and a host of other exotic candy flavors.

These gourmet jelly beans contain flavoring in both the shell and the gooey candy center. Traditional beans typically contain flavor only in the shell, with the center simply consisting of plain sugary gel.

Ronald Reagan insisted on having gourmet jelly beans (specifically Jelly Belly brand) available in the White House and made them a staple aboard Air Force one during his administration.

Considering that more than 14 billion jelly beans were sold in the U.S in 2008, the jelly bean, both traditional and gourmet, will likely continue to be a year round favorite candy for quite some time.

Learn more about this author, I. Michael Akbar.
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