confectioner

A confectioner is a craftsman or merchant who makes confections—sweet foods such as candies, chocolates, fudges, caramels, and decorative sugar confections. The term is used in many countries and can refer to someone who makes both mass-produced candies and artisanal sweets. In some contexts a confectioner is also called a chocolatier or candy maker, though those titles emphasize chocolate or specific products.

Work involves sugar work, tempering chocolate, boiling syrups, crystallization control, and decorating. Confectioners select ingredients such as sugar, glucose, dairy, fruit essences, nuts, and flavorings. They use equipment like copper kettles, candy thermometers, molds, enrobing machines, and piping bags. Accurate temperature and texture are essential to determine candy hardness or chewiness.

Training often includes formal culinary education or apprenticeships. Programs in confectionery arts teach sugar work, chocolate technique, confectionery science, and food safety. Some countries regulate titles and require licenses for professional confectioners.

Confectioners have existed since ancient times, with sugar and honey used in civilizations across Asia and Europe. The rise of sugar refining in the medieval and early modern periods fueled the craft. In the 19th and 20th centuries, chocolatiers and pastry shops popularized premium confections; today confectioners may work in artisanal shops or large-scale factories.

See also: chocolatier, candy maker, sugar art.