Pear Drops are a traditional British sweet a moreish sugary pear flavour…

A Pear Drop is a traditional British hard boiled sweet, exuberant of a moreish sugary pear flavour that has been a favourite confectionery for decades. Definitely a long lasting melt in your mouth kind of sweet and don’t be tempted to crunch too soon as they are surprisingly hard and the pear drop might not be the only thing that crunches!

Interestingly these sweets garnered their name not just through their shape and taste but thanks to the process of shaping them. A mass of hot syrupy pear flavoured boiled sugary yumminess is slowly pulled downwards and the pear shaped drops this created became these instantly recognisable sweets!

Want to know how it’s made? The cane sugar and glucose syrup are dissolved in water and boiled on high heat, while constantly stirring, until the mix thickens. The gooey sugary mix is then poured onto a flat surface and the pear flavouring is melded into it. The mix is then divided into two parts and coloured with those bright and recognisable yellow or pink tones.  The thick hot coloured sugar is then processed into a rolling machine which cuts them into the classic pear shapes. As the sweet drops from the machine it gets that classic shape that drops down and gives it that iconic name Pear Drops.