At nine years old, a summer family trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida introduced me to many wonders of the world, like the Apollo 11 Moon landing and the rovers on Mars, but none was more impactful than astronaut ice cream. It was a shiny, rectangular block of sugar stationed at the gift shop, a prize for traveling to Pluto and back, marked by a classic Neapolitan triad of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry—only dry and powdery instead of cold and creamy.
Harder than cotton candy but comparable in lightness, the astronaut ice cream kept me entertained as we left the space center. It had a familiar taste but a texture I’d never encountered before: brittle, almost petrified instead of icy, and easily snapped into little cubes. A soft-but-crisp bite instantly melted in my mouth, filling it with an intense sweetness that contrasted against the light, faint smell of vanilla emitted when I first opened the package. Soon enough, the sugary powder crumbled into the bag and onto the car floor.
Modern freeze-drying was invented after World War II to preserve and store foods without refrigeration. While dehydration uses warm air to reduce a food’s moisture content to 5 to 20 percent while forever altering its shape, freeze-drying removes 98 percent of water, which retains the appearance, nutrients, and flavor of the food. As important in space food as it is on Earth, self-sufficient homesteaders and end-of-world preppers use this process to make foods like produce, protein, and dairy easily storable and shelf-stable for up to 25 years. But lately, freeze-drying is picking up steam online as the next generation’s version of astronaut ice cream: freeze-dried candy.
“Freeze-dried candy is a novelty item, and its uniqueness, along with its texture, is what has made it so popular,” Melinna Gonzalez, COO of Trendy Treats, shares. The freeze-dried candy company launched in the summer of 2020 and quickly began creating TikTok “before and after” videos showcasing the making of their candy. Each post averages several hundred thousand views. Gonzalez says the videos often intrigue new customers, inspiring them to try the transformed versions of their favorite candies while encouraging repeat customers to sample new flavors.
