Made in Candy: I got to make candy at SM Megamall!

Have you seen this candy shop in SM Megamall? Unlike most candy stores which sport a colorful, toy shop-like feel, Made in Candy which originated in Singapore, flaunts a more sophisticated, mature and edgy vibe with its sleek store front. Actually, if it wasn't for my friend Berylle, I wouldn't have noticed that this is indeed a candy shop!

But it's not to say that Made in Candy isn't enticing. In fact, when the candy-making session starts, a lot of people would flock the open candy workshop through the store's ceiling-to-floor window. And this is just what I got to experience with my friends Berylle, Stacy and Roch last Saturday as we got to try our hands on actual candy making.

But before I share the whole process of making candy, let me show you first some of the fun, colorful and traditionally-made hard candies available at Made in Candy.

Bag of Everything (P50 for 30g; P100 for 70g)

35g Small Jar (P90) and 70g Medium Jar (P150)

135g Large Jar (P260)

Customized Candy
(Minimum of 4kg per order)

Unlike mass-produced candies, Made in Candy offers artisan candies -- handmade, hand-pulled and even customizable. Yup, you read it right! You can order personalized candies with your name, you and your special someone's initials, or even your company's logo! This makes Made in Candy treats the perfect goodie for giveaways.

And now, let's move on to the actual process of candy-making...

The first step is to boil the sugar mixture (sugar, glucose and water) for about 20 minutes, which the candymen (what Made in Candy calls its candy artists) already did for us. And just a trivia, that pot of boiling sugar is really hot, 300ºF or 150ºC at most!

One of the candymen then added in the flavoring and colors. For our session, he used "grape" syrup, and purple, white and some light brown for coloring.

Here's the design we were going to make. It doesn't look too complicated on paper. But wait till you get to the actual procedure... It becomes really technical!

Since we're dealing with hot candy mixture, we were all given protective gloves which we even wore over a pair of disposable latex ones for added protection.

After the candyman portioned the candy mixture, our group was off to kneading mostly cylinders on the hot table. Trivia: There are 2 kinds of surfaces at the workshop -- a hot table to keep the candy malleable, and a cool surface where the candy rests to harden.

After the initial kneading, we were off to assembling. I can't exactly detail the process since it was quite complicated. But to give you a better idea, the design you see inside the hard candy is first made on a bigger scale.

When the design on the big-scale candy is done, the candy is stretched out to make it thinner in diameter. And after cutting them to about 12 inches, the candy rests to cool.

The next step when the candy gets nice and hard, is chopping them down to about 2cm pieces. I got to try my hands on the actual chopping, and boy was it nerve-racking! I'm usually good with knives, but their cleaver just looked and felt too sharp. We were all very slow and careful on this step, trying to chop more precisely. But when kuya candyman held the cleaver, he chopped 'em candies at lightning speed! Amazeballs!

While the candies look almost finished after chopping, there's still another step that needs to be done before packing them in foil bags or glass jars. Quality control as I call it. This step involves sifting the chopped candies to filter the good ones from the bad ones.

Tadaaaa!!! Here's the final product. Although the grapes doesn't look perfectly round, it was still impressive that our candy looked decent. I was actually expecting the design to be more deformed since it had 4 different pairs of hands kneading it, pulling it and what not. And while it took us over an hour to make these candies, we were told that the candymen at Made in Candy can finish a batch (at least 4kg) in just a few minutes!

Look at that bigger version of the candy made into lollie! Ain't it pretty? Some of the pulled candies (before the chopping part) can also be made into lollipops. Take a look at these ones we made. The better-looking lollies were made by kuya candyman though.

Photo grabbed from Ms. Daryl Joy Guinto of Made in Candy

Thank you Berylle for bringing me along, and Made in Candy for this fun and unique experience. Not only did we learn how traditional hand-made hard candies are actually created, but we also got a free arm workout! Woot! (ﾉ´ヮ´)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

I left Made in Candy with these goodies which I happily shared with the whole household. And they really enjoyed every single piece! Even my dad who doesn't like sweets in general, has been so hooked that he wanted the whole foil pack for himself!

Well, I don't really wonder why 'cause unlike the usual commercial soft candies, these traditionally-made hard artisan candies are tastier and can last longer. They're meant to be sucked, not chewed, so a little really goes a long way.

Made in Candy has 35 flavors and designs. And if you're curious, their bestsellers are the Rainbow Rock (raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, grape) and Watermelon Rock. But after trying a bag of everything, I found myself more hooked to the Lime Rock!

Anyhow, above is a list of Made in Candy flavors, along with more samples of their custom hard candies, and information on how to place an order for customized candies.

So if you love candies, check out Made in Candy at SM Megamall, or its branches in Rockwell, Alabang Town Center, Glorietta 4 and SM Mall of Asia. And if you want to make an occasion or event more special, then consider giving out cute and tasty custom candies. I'm sure the receiver/s will love it! ٩(●˙▿˙●)۶ʸᵉᵃʰᵎ


Made in Candy, SM Megamall
UG/F SM Megamall, Mega A, EDSA cor., Julia Vargas Ave.,
Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 866-5624; (0920) 964-9076
Email: philippines@madeincandy.com
Official Website| Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Other Branches:

Powerplant Rockwell
2/F Power Plant Mall, Amorsolo Drive,
Rockwell Center, Makati

Alabang Town Center
New Wing, Alabang Town Center
Alabang-Zapote Rd., Alabang, Muntinlupa

Glorietta 4
3rd Level, Glorietta 4, Glorietta
Ayala Avenue cor. Pasay Rd., Ayala Center, Makati

SM Mall of Asia
1/F Entertainment Mall (in front of Gong Cha and Timezone)
SM Mall of Asia, Seaside Boulevard, Pasay City