Monday, December 18, 2006

Regennas Clear Toys

My sister sent me a wonderful Christmas gift, which I opened early. It was an assortment of Clear Candy from Regennas in Pennsylvania. They were adorable little red, green and yellow hard candies in different toy shapes.

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My assortment did not disappoint. I was a little sad that four of them were broken beyond practical use. The group of twenty included a few duplicates and unfortunately one of the uniques, a red steamboat, was among the broken. Other shapes included a nursing cow, chicken, duck, elephant, rhinoceros, cow, tin soldier, dog, cat (with a broken ear, just like my mother’s real cat!), pig, locomotive, a wolf and finally the most enigmatic of them, an angel on a lion. All the toys are three dimensional (some, like the locomotive are kind of flat, but shaped on both sides) unlike other more common lollipops which are shaped only on one side. They all have a little base and can stand up, it might be fun to have a chess set made out of these (well, not if you live in a humid climate).

My favorite has to be the least toy-like of all of them, the wonderful green alligator (or maybe it’s a croc, it’s hard to tell).

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If there’s anything bad about these, it’s that they’re so dense that it’s hard to break the more solid and prickly ones in order to eat them. The toy shapes don’t really lend themselves to sucking whole unless you’re keen on making lots of noises (I guess that’s why the lollipop versions are so popular).

The taste is like cotton candy or sunshine or love ... one of those, or maybe they’re all the same. They’re smooth, with few if any voids, delicate and soft on the tongue as they melt ever-so-slowly. All the colors are the same mellow sugar flavor. They are absolutely the best barley sugar candies I’ve had in my adult life. Some places flavor them, I like the plain sugar flavor best.

The only real detraction for me with these was the slight metallic flavor when you first start eating them. My guess is it’s either the mold or the light oil coating they have to keep them from sticking. I didn’t notice it on all of them, but when Amy also mentioned it, at least I knew I wasn’t imagining it. The other bad thing, of course, is that they’re so freakishly hard to find.

It’s sad that barley sugar candies aren’t made much any longer. I know they’re not as flashy as some of the new themed candies, and I understand the labor involved in these and the craftsmanship involved with the original molds is substantial. Regennas, in its fourth generation, only makes sweets for Christmas and Valentine’s Day and they’re all done for this year.

There’s another barley sugar candy company that I know of by Melville’s (you can order them here) which has an annoying site that plays music you can’t turn off. They have a huge variety of pops (including the excellent honey spoons).

More photos of the whole assortment here.

Name: Clear Toy candies
    RATING:
  • 10 SUPERB
  • 9 YUMMY
  • 8 TASTY
  • 7 WORTH IT
  • 6 TEMPTING
  • 5 PLEASANT
  • 4 BENIGN
  • 3 UNAPPEALING
  • 2 APPALLING
  • 1 INEDIBLE
Brand: Regennas Candy Shop
Place Purchased: gift
Price: unknown
Size: unknown
Calories per ounce: unknown
Categories: Hard Candy, United States, Christmas, Limited Edition

POSTED BY Cybele AT 10:01 am Tracker Pixel for Entry    

Comments
  1. wow, those sound really good!

    oh i see what you mean by annoying music. haha!

    Comment by Emily on 12/18/06 at 12:37 pm #
  2. I love the idea of barley candy!

    Comment by rachel on 12/18/06 at 5:34 pm #
  3. Hey, these sound good!  And the crocogator is all kinds of awesome.

    Comment by william on 12/19/06 at 1:43 am #
  4. OMG! These bring back such memories. I used to get barley pops at the local farm. I’ve got to order some.

    Comment by patti on 12/19/06 at 9:48 am #
  5. Now THIS…THIS is an incredible find. Thank you for turning me on to Regennas. The only problem now will be whether to eat them (metallic flavoring and all) or to play with and display them.
    Chess is a good idea, but Risk or Stratego…

    Comment by Brian Oster on 12/19/06 at 3:41 pm #
  6. Great photos but i was surprised at how poor the detail was on the candies themselves. I make clear toy candy for our local historical society and mine have greater detail.  I wonder if the humidity got to them or if the molds just don’t have detail. Also many of the commercial places use corn syrup in making the candies, originally they were made with sugar and cream of tarter.

    The molds are hard to come by but the candy is easy to make. 4 cups sugar, 1 cup water, and 1/4 heaping teaspoon of cream of tarter.  I make mine in a copper pot but you can use a regular pan. Stir then put on high and add color at 260 F.  Once 300 F take off our pour into molds or onto Silpat or oiled slab. 

    Your photos are great and i am working on taking photos of the candy I make.  It will be posted in a few weeks on http://www.schneckhouse.com

    Comment by Buglady on 12/19/06 at 8:01 pm #
  7. Barley sugar candy really is sunshine for the tongue - I love it!!

    Comment by Jen on 12/22/06 at 6:33 am #
  8. Just a reminder that Regenna’s barley candy is on sale again online—don’t know how long it will last.  Easter?  I was so taken with your review, I just ordered some.

    Comment by Karen Samuels on 1/31/07 at 7:00 pm #
  9. I’m really impressed!

    Comment by Sandy on 2/05/07 at 5:43 am #
  10. I just received my Regenna’s candy today.  I haven’t taken them all out of the bags, but they look to be in one piece. 

    And they are BEAUTIFUL.

    And they taste BEAUTIFUL.  (I put a whole bunny in my mouth—I’ve got a big mouth).  I’m probably dosing myself with the RDA of sugar for a year!

    I also bought a box of lollipops.  Equally gorgeous and very large.  I’m saving them for bribes/rewards for my kids. 

    Thanks so much for turning us on to these candies.  I can’t wait to gift them to someone…..

    Comment by Karen on 2/05/07 at 2:10 pm #
  11. Cybele's avatar

    Karen - I’m so happy to hear you ordered some!

    Were they the same colors as these or are they pastel colors for Easter? Any other shapes besides the bunny?

    Comment by Cybele on 2/07/07 at 8:07 am #
  12. Same colors, same shapes in the toy candy. I especially was taken with the sewing scissors.  I don’t know why. A few pieces were broken.  The sword was broken in half.  Made it easier to eat, though.

    The lollipops are bigger and they come in other shapes—including one of a bust of Teddy Roosevelt!  It feels kind of funny to be sucking on ole Teddy’s noggin, but I guess we now know the approximate era Regenna’s molds were made!  I also liked the bicycle lolly—very pretty. The sailing ship was also really cool.

    Comment by Karen on 2/07/07 at 2:40 pm #
  13. i was wondering if you have any chocolate molds. i am trying to find some in the shape of pigs. i if you can help me please let me know or where i can find some

    Comment by terry on 7/21/07 at 5:39 am #
  14. I got my pig chocolate pig molds off ebay.

    Comment by buglady on 7/21/07 at 9:14 am #
  15. I am in love with these candies. I think I might order some for my older neices and nephews. I am just in love with these. I need them now

    Comment by Tiffany on 9/25/07 at 4:07 pm #
  16. Hello~
    I’m getting married soon and wondered what kind of clear toy shapes you were able to do for wedding favors.  My wedding is garden themed.  So flowers, baskets, birds, or whatever else may fit, would be nice.  Any ideas or suggestions that you have with your experience?  Thank you very much!  You’re site is very nice.  My mother and I were so impressed.

    Comment by Abigail on 11/29/07 at 4:59 pm #
  17. I order last year the Regenna’s Barley Sugar toys and they are the best. I use to have to wait for the Sugarloaf craft show to come to town and only at Xmas time would the candy seller have them, now they don’t have them at all.  I was so happy when I found this site and found them - they are so good - they are the best!!!

    Comment by Peggy Sue on 12/07/07 at 10:44 am #
  18. Those sound pretty good

    Comment by Candy Lover on 7/10/08 at 6:09 am #
  19. We can buy barley candy treats at our local grocery stores during the Christmas season.
    I am on a hunt for the recipe for these wonderful treats. If any one has one they would like to share, PLEASE let me know. I have purchased the metal moulds at Bulk Barn, now must hunt for the perfect recipe!
    Thanks for any help,
    Kt
    Halifax NS Canada

    Comment by Kt on 11/30/08 at 12:34 pm #
  20. I grew up on the Main Line of Philadelphia and every year my mother would tuck barley sugar lollipops into my stocking. I am beyond thrilled to find that I can still get a hold of them!

    Comment by Elizabeth King on 4/11/09 at 5:29 pm #
  21. I tried to order candy for Christmas from Regennas.  After nine days, I called to see if my shipment would arrive on time.  The lady there (the owner I assume) was very rude and all but goaded me to cancel my order.  They are the candy equivalent to Seinfeld’s soup guy.  “NO CANDY FOR YOU”.

    Comment by Tony Romano on 12/17/09 at 4:27 am #
  22. I am from Thailand ,I want buying this candy,,please suggesting to me,how i can do it fastest ??

    Thank
    Nita email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

    Comment by Nata BKK on 6/30/13 at 8:15 pm #
  23. I am very disappointed! Just received my order of clear toy from Regennas and it is NOT made with barley. I called the shop to confirm this. Candy and shipping are not cheap, even within PA.

    Comment by Linda O on 12/10/14 at 9:45 am #
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