Lemon drop (candy)

Lemon drop

Alternative names	LemonHeads
Type	Confectionery
Place of origin	England
Main ingredients	Sugar,flavoring(lemon),food coloring

Alemon dropis a sugar coated,lemon-flavoredcandythat is typicallycoloredyellow and often shaped like a lemon. They can be sweet or have a more sour flavor. Lemon drops are made by boiling sugar, water and cream of tartar until it reaches thehard crackstage. As the mixture cools, lemon flavor is added. The candy is then rolled into long ropes, cut into small pieces and rolled in sugar. Lemon drops originated in England, where confectioners learned that adding acid such as lemon juice to the boiled sugar mixture prevented sugar from crystallizing.

The term "lemon drop" is also occasionally applied to lemon-flavoredthroat lozenges,and is the namesake of acocktailconsisting oflemon juice,vodkaandsugar.

A forerunner of the lemon drop is theSalem Gibraltar,and created in 1806. Modern lemon drops, like most hard candies we know today, descend from ancient medicinal lozenges. 18th century advances in sugar technology made hard sugar concoctions possible.

See also

• Lemon drop– a vodka-based cocktail
• Sherbet lemon
• Lemonhead (candy)