Jelly Babies
Born in Lancashire, renamed for peace.
- CategoryMisc
- First appeared1860s
- CountryBritain
- How it is madeMoulded gummy
What it is
A soft dusted jelly sweet shaped like a baby, in six colours and flavours. Firmer on the outside than a modern gummy, softer inside, and covered in a fine starch dust left over from how they are made. Britain's most recognisable sweet shape.
Taste
Where it comes from
The story starts in 1864 at Fryers of Lancashire, where an Austrian confectioner is said to have been asked to make a mould for jelly bears and produced something that looked more like babies. They were sold, with Victorian humour, as Unclaimed Babies. In 1918 Bassett's of Sheffield launched their own version as Peace Babies to mark the end of the First World War. Production stopped during the Second World War because of shortages, and when they returned in 1953 they came back as Jelly Babies. Bassett's gave each colour its own name and shape in 1989.
What it's made of
Sugar, glucose syrup, water and beef gelatine, set in starch moulds. The starch is what leaves the soft dust on the outside, and it is also why jelly babies have a firmer skin than a gummy bear.
Ingredients and allergens
Ingredients
Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Water, Modified Maize Starch, Beef Gelatine, Acidity Regulators (Citric Acid, Malic Acid), Flavourings, Colours (Carmine, Curcumin, Vegetable Carbon), Safflower Concentrate, Spirulina Concentrate
Allergens
No allergens in the ingredients
