Montpensier lollipops were very popular in our country during the Soviet Union. In those years, kids just loved these little fragrant sweets. Over time, many other confectionery products appeared. But for most of today's grandparents, the fragrance of their favorite lollipops has remained the most pleasant childhood memory.
Interesting to know
Today, the confectionery industry offers customers a huge number of different types of sweets. But for many, Montpensier candies are still a favorite treat. Nevertheless, few people know the true story of these little candied balls.
In Russia, they appeared in the XIX century. Then candy caramel was produced only in the form of figures (cockerels or bears) on a stick. Children perceived them as tasty toys and received them from parents as an incentive for good behavior. At first, boiled sugar candies were made manually. A little later, a special machine was invented for their production. It consisted of two drums, passing between which, the sweet mass took a diverse form. Montpensier lollipops got their name in pre-revolutionary Russia. This was done in order to distinguish candied multi-colored balls from other sweet "ice". Sweets owe their unusual name to the heroine of the novels of the famous Dumas - the Duchess de Montpensier. So with the light hand of a famous writer a new confectionery product appeared.
Benefit and harm
Montpensier lollipops, like any other candy of this type, are prepared by boiling sugar syrup. As a regulator of acidity, citric acid is usually used. To give products a certain taste, various spices were previously used. Today, caramel flavor is given using food additives in the form of essences or synthetic components. Despite its rather large nutritional value (377 kilocalories), lollipops are considered a product harmful to the human body. Two main ingredients contribute to this:
- Sugar. Remaining for a long time in the oral cavity, it is an excellent nutrient medium for bacteria, which during the course of their life produce acid. It is she who destroys tooth enamel, causing tooth decay. In addition, sugar adversely affects various metabolic processes. A large number of such sweets can lead to allergies and even diabetes.
- Additives. These days, these are mainly synthetic substances, many of which cannot be considered completely harmless.
At the same time, candy caramels benefit by uplifting. The reason for this is simple sugars, which cause the human body to produce serotonin (the hormone of happiness). In addition, do not forget about the significant energy value of these little sweets.
Customer reviews
Montpensier - sweets that were very popular in the times of the former USSR. They were usually sold not in bulk, but in special packages. That is how the favorite candies were remembered by most buyers. Sometimes small caramels were issued in the form of balls without sprinkles. This created some inconvenience to the consumer. To get the candy out of the package, it had to be broken off from a whole piece that had stuck together as a result of long-term storage. In addition, sugar candies were produced.
In this form, the products were externally more attractive. Despite the fact that sweets were sometimes irregular in shape, they were always in demand and did not lie on store shelves for a long time. Today, Montpensier are different from those that were before. They partly lost their former popularity. The main reason for this was the composition of the product. In addition to sugar, to give a special taste, manufacturers began to add various chemical flavors. As practice shows, this negatively affects consumer demand. Nevertheless, some sometimes still pay attention to the sweet "ice", trying to recall with their help a distant happy childhood.
Price of pleasure
Now in grocery stores you can again find Montpensier candies in a can. That is how they were remembered by the mass buyer since pre-revolutionary times.
Today, these products are available in boxes of various sizes and shapes. The production of such sweets is carried out by many domestic confectionery factories. For example, NP "Confil" produces square, rectangular and round packages in which products are packaged in the form of rhombuses, balls or "tablets". Moreover, the weight of the product can be very different: 55, 60, 65, 100 or 120 grams. Its price depends on it. So, a square box with fruit candies sprinkled with sugar will cost sweet lovers 100 rubles. This is quite a bit, given the great taste and excellent quality of the product. In addition, our people learned not to throw away packaging, but to use it on the farm to store various little things. This is another plus in favor of the famous lollipops.