Back in the 70s, in the days before school shootings, Amber alerts, and well-planned "play dates," grade school kids in New York City were free to leave school for lunch. Some went home, some picked up a hot dog from the vendor outside, and some went to the playground. The most popular second graders in my class sat on the swings and smoked menthol cigarettes. Since I didn't like hot dogs or cigarettes, I walked up the street to a little strip mall with a luncheonette and a candy store. Some days I bought lunch. Other days, I spent my money on beef jerky and lemonheads.
Lemonheads
From the manufacturer, Ferrara Pan:
Lemonheads were named and formulated by Ferrara Pan Candy Company. The formula was developed in 1962 using the same method as Red Hots, another Ferrara Pan candy product. Both of these candies are made using the cold panned process. This process involves building candy pieces from candy centers and tossing them into revolving pans while adding flavor, color and other candy ingredients. The process continues until the pieces become the desired size. The Lemonhead was created in an attempt to make a round sour candy using a similar process as the Red Hot.
To make a long story short, Lemonheads are sugar. They're sugar centers wrapped in more sugar, and coated in a shell of bright yellow lemon-flavored sugar. I love them. Although yellow #5 is the last ingredient, these are profoundly yellow candies. The inside really does taste like pure sugar, but the outside is waxy, tart, and chewy. I'm not a big candy eater, but if I buy lemonheads, any size package is a single serving.
I guess Lemonheads are technically a hard candy, but that chewy, waxy outer layer is really fun to bite. The yellow food coloring transfers to your hands easily, so I highly suggest you drink them straight from the box. That's what I do.
The ingredients
Lemonheads are made with: Sucrose, Corn Syrup, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Corn Starch, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Caranauba Wax, Limonene, White Mineral Oil And Yellow #5.
Ferrara Pan has a "virtual tour" at their website that shows how lemonheads are made. It's available here:
http://www.ferrarapan.com/html/lh_tour.html
Ferrara Pan sells Lemonheads in a variety of package sizes through their online candy store, which is also at ferrarapan.com. There's really no need to order them online, though. Lemonheads are still available at most stores that sell candy, but to me, they're very retro. They're like teaberry gum; they're evocative of a different time and place. Of childhood.
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