Rock (confectionery)

Sticks of rock packaged for sale, with strawberry patterns and "BLACKPOOL ROCK"

Letters are formed by combining thin strips of multi-coloured and white toffee. When they are made, the face of each letter is approximately the size of a thumbprint, not the tiny size seen in the final, stretched product.

The letters are not made in order of appearance in the name (B, L, A, C, K, P, O, O, L) but by their shape; "square" letters, (B, E, F, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, R, T, W, X, Y and Z), are made first, as they will not lose their shape, while "triangle" (A and V) and "round" (C, D, G, O, Q, S, U) letters are made last to prevent them from losing their shape, as the toffee is still reasonably soft at this point. For example, the letters that make up "BLACKPOOL ROCK" may be made in this order: B, P, R, K(×2), L(×2), A, C(×2) and O(×3). The individual letters are placed between blocks or sticks at this point, to prevent them from losing shape and going flat. The letters are then placed in their correct spelling order with a "strip" of white, aerated toffee between each letter to make it readable.

Capital letters are the most common form of lettering as small case lettering is far more complicated, owing to their tails and high backs.

The now aerated white toffee from the pulling machine is divided into three parts; one will form the centre and two will form the "flaps". The flaps are kneaded and spread thinly and evenly before being placed directly onto the letters; these form the space between the casing and letters, and are then wrapped around the stiffened centre. The casing is then kneaded and evenly rolled out, using a rolling pin, and this is then wrapped around the assembled "boiling", which is one very large bar of rock, usually too thick for a person to encircle in their hands, that is still pliable and warm. This is then placed into a "batch roller", which has several tapered rollers and heaters. The rollers keep the boiling of rock round and the heaters keep it just soft enough to work.

A worker known as a sugar boiler then proceeds to "spin out", or stretch, the boiling onto a long flat slab, where rollers make sure it is kept rolling until it has set hard enough to maintain its round shape. The process of spinning out is what turns the very thick boiling into the much longer and much thinner final size. Once set, the strings of toffee are cut to length and wrapped in clear paper with a label, known as a "view" as it usually has a view of a landmark.

The whole process of making lettered rock is done by hand by skilled workers. Smaller sticks of rock, without letters or a "view", can be machine manufactured.

• In Graham Greene's novel Brighton Rock (1938), the character Ida says, "It's like those sticks of rock: bite it all the way down, you'll still read Brighton."[1]
• In Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole books, Adrian's American penpal Hamish Mancini asks Adrian what "Skegness Rock" is, and Adrian replies that it is "tubular candy".

• British music-hall entertainer and film star George Formby helped write, and performed, the song "With My Little Stick of Blackpool Rock".
• "Floating", a whimsical Moody Blues song from their album To Our Children's Children's Children (1969), has the lines "The candy stores will be brand new, and you'll buy rock with the Moon right through!", referring to rock being sold at a resort on the Moon.
• Brian May, lead guitarist of the British rock band Queen, wrote the song "Brighton Rock", which appeared on Queen's album Sheer Heart Attack (1974). It concerns a young couple's illicit weekend away without their parents' knowledge in a seaside town and became the basis for May's famous "Brighton Rock" guitar solos, which became a standard feature of the group's live shows.

Edinburgh rock is another confection, based on sugar and cream of tartar, made into sticks. It is friable and flavoured, for example, with ginger or lemon.

Another distinctively Scottish form of rock is star rock (also sometimes known as starry rock), or "starrie", which is made in Kirriemuir. It is sold in small bundles of pencil-sized sticks, and is less brittle than seaside rock.

A Dutch type of confection closely resembling rock is the so-called zuurstok (sour stick). Like rock with seaside resorts, the zuurstok is specifically associated with fairgrounds. Its composition is roughly the same as Edinburgh rock but it comes in a different range of flavours, basically with cream of tartar (thus rendering it more or less sour), but also aromatised with cherry, cinnamon or liquorice for example.

A Swedish variety of the candy is called polkagris.

Japanese Kintarō-ame is made by a similar process.[2]

Japanese Kintarō-ame