body and chewiness, is less sweet than sugars, and has the advantage for manufacturers of being less expensive than crystalline sugar Other Candy Ingredients Confectioners add a number of other ingredients to the basic sugar syrup for candies to modify taste and texture All interfere with sucrose crystallization to some extent and so tend to encourage finer crystals Milk Proteins and Fat Milk proteins thicken candy body and, because they brown easily, add a rich flavor to caramels and fudge The casein proteins contribute to a chewy body, whey proteins to browning and flavor development, and both help emulsify and stabilize butterfat droplets Butterfat lends smoothness and moistness to butterscotch, caramel, toffee, and fudge, and reduces the tendency of chewy candies to stick to the teeth Because milk proteins curdle in acid conditions, and caramelization and browning reactions generate acids, candies that include milk solids are sometimes neutralized with baking soda The reaction between acids and baking soda generates bubbles of carbon dioxide, so such candies may be filled with small bubbles that give them a more fragile texture, less chewy or hard or clinging Gelling Agents Confectioners also give a firmer body to certain candies with a number of ingredients that bond to each other and to water to form solid but moist gels These ingredients include gelatin, egg white, grain starches and flours, pectin, and plant gums Gelatin and pectin in particular are used to make gummy and jelly candies, often in combination Gelatin provides a tough chewiness, while pectin makes a more tender gel Gum tragacanth, a carbohydrate from a West Asian shrub in the bean family (Astragalus), has been used for centuries to make the sugar dough from which lozenges ...reactions generate acids, candies that include milk solids are sometimes neutralized with baking soda The reaction between acids and baking soda generates bubbles of carbon dioxide, so such candies... give them a more fragile texture, less chewy or hard or clinging Gelling Agents Confectioners also give a firmer body to certain candies with a number of ingredients that bond to each other and. .. gels These ingredients include gelatin, egg white, grain starches and flours, pectin, and plant gums Gelatin and pectin in particular are used to make gummy and jelly candies, often in combination