During the American Association of Confectionery Technologists (AACT)’s Annual Technical seminar, the organization stages s a friendly competition dubbed the AACT Iron Confectioner.

The competition consists of two teams with three members each. Each team makes three different types of confections in one hour. The confections are based on a secret ingredient, which is not revealed until the start of the competition.

A three-member judging panel will evaluate the confections on originality, flavor and appearance.

“It has become very popular and is a great way to finish the technical seminar,” says Randy Hofberger, president of AACT and president of R& D Candy Consultants, LLC. “We invite you to put together a team to participate in this event. This opportunity is open to anyone interested in confections who has a little technical skill. This might include friends, students, business colleagues, ROCM (retired old candy makers), etc.”

Interested parties should send an email providing name, affiliation and the names of tentative teammates to aactinfo@gomc.com by June 1, 2014. The Iron Confectioner Competition is scheduled for Wednesday evening, September 24, 2014.