A Hard Candy Christmas: Advent 2023, DAY 15

For Today's Advent, even though you might have been nice all this year, you're all getting coal. One of the things I always got a kick out of was finding coal in my stocking. And I got coal in many different ways. 

The first coal candy I remember getting was this block of hard licorice candy. It came in a tiny bucket like my grandparents would use to bring firewood in with, as well as dumping the ash with. The candy also came with a tiny hammer. Kids got to take their aggression out on this hunk of rock with the hammer, which was actually made of metal, before breaking the coal into bite sized pieces that ended up turning your tongue blue instead of black! This stuff should have come with protective eye-wear because if you gave the candy a hard enough whack, it's send shards of it shooting in every direction!

The next sugary treat based on coal that I remember as a kid was the Coal Mine Naughty Nugget Bubble Gum. It came in a tiny red sack that looked just like Santa's. On the bag was a cartoon image of Santa dressed as a miner. Inside were these teeny tiny little bits of jet black little pebbles of candy coated gum. Made by ESPEEZ, the company website says that the flavor of the gum is 'fruity'. I'll have to take their word for it as I can't recall what they tasted like. But I do recall being a fan. The only drawback was that in order to make a decent sized bubble with the gum, you had to put the entire pack of coal in your mouth. That's because half of each piece of coal was the sugar coating that dissolved. A great novelty but not sufficient for those of us who loved to blow bubbles with our food.

The third coal candy I recall having as a kid are Palmers Double Crisp Coal. These pieces of coal were actually little lumps of chocolate wrapped in pure black foil. The filling contained a goodly amount of crisped rice. Instead of a burlap sack, you would get a small red net plastic bag containing about a dozen pieces.

While in the 80s getting coal candy for Christmas was a novelty, nowadays, it's almost become universal. Zots, Sour Patch Kids, Tic Tacs and dozens of independent confectioners produce some sort of candy for naughty boys and girls--- of all ages! Even Archie McPhee made a coal candy cane. Though I'd be careful of those as they probably tasted like soot. 

The good thing about the 3 coal candies I remember getting as gag gifts from Santa is that all 3 are still being made to this day. And yes- they were gags gifts as I've never gotten an actual lump of bituminous coal rock from Santa or anyone else for that matter! It's strictly the edible variety for me!

A very fun cookie that I've taught my high school culinary students to make every year is called Lumps o' Coal. It's a very simple recipe of butter, crushed up Oreos, and marshmallow, along with a little bit of powdered sugar for decoration (to help them achieve a slightly ashy look). As my Advent present for you today, here's a quick 2 minute video on how to make these treats that both the naughty and nice all love to eat!

Enjoy!