candies and other confections.
Food chemists have developed several
different versions of pectin for special
commercial applications. The most notable of
these is a pectin that sets without the need for
any added sugar to pull water molecules away
from the long pectin chains; instead, the
chains bond to each other strongly by means
of cross-linking calcium, which is added after
the fruit and pectin mixture has been cooked.
This pectin is what makes it possible to
produce low-calorie “preserves” with
artificial sweeteners.
Candied Fruits Candied fruits are small
whole fruits or pieces that are impregnated
with a saturated sugar syrup, then drained,
dried, and stored at room temperature as
separate pieces. Fruit cooked in a sugar syrup
remains relatively firm and maintains its
shape thanks to the interaction of sugar
molecules with the cell-wall hemicelluloses