The Old-Fashioned Candy That Might Remind You Of Boston Baked Beans

Sweet Boston Baked Beans may have a curious name, but these legume-looking candies have been winning over consumers since the 20s. Though stories surrounding this red candy's invention are hazy, the candy-coated peanuts have been linked to the Ferrara Pan Candy Company. Italian immigrant Salvatore Ferrara shared his love for sugared almonds, a colorful candy known as confetti that is often found at Italian weddings, before the small sugar-coated peanuts found a place in markets. The deep red hue of the crunchy candy shell could be mistaken for a bean and conceals a single peanut inside.

Considered a close cousin, colorful candy-coated almonds known as Italian confetti candy boast an even longer history. The most obvious difference is the flavor, with different cores resulting in wholly different experiences, even though they both possess the sweet crunch form the coating and are roughly the same size. Almonds are a more muted flavor, leading the Boston Baked Beans to pack more of a punch, while Italian confetti candy might appeal to a wider range of tasters. Sulmona is the Italian town home to one of the country's most iconic candies, yet the treat can be traced back to the Romans. Though candy makers in the city of Sulmona used sugarcane to coat almonds (the region remains the uncontested home of the Italian treat), coated candies were used in Roman ceremonies. Romans have also been credited with the practice of throwing confetti during celebrations, so the tradition of tossing the colorful Italian confetti almonds into the air could very well have started here. 

Initially, recipes to make candy coated nuts involved covering pine nuts and walnuts with honey. Once ingredients arrived from the Middle East, recipes were enhanced with different nuts like almonds and pistachios, and spices. Sometime in the 15th century, the honey coating evolved into a sugar coating, and guests attending important events were offered these treats. Actors in Italy were said to have received sugar-coated almonds as gifts. Even Napoleon wanted a gateway created of the sugar almonds to walk through.

While candy-coated peanuts are associated with Ferrara, Necco Wafers is linked to marketing Boston Baked Beans, and immigrants were selling candied peanuts before any brand started marketing them. Prior to America's Boston Baked Beans, the French were making red sugar-coated candied peanuts called burnt peanuts. The recipe is similar; however, the origin story is also uncertain. Regardless, at a time when candies were being made in the shapes of recognizable objects like candy corn, Boston Baked Beans was a cute hat tip for Boston residents.