Kids who ring Alton Brown's doorbell on Halloween don't get the usual fun-size candy bar. Over the years, the Browns have handed out homemade taffy, candied apples, headless marshmallow bunnies — you name it. But of all of Alton's Halloween creations, nothing tops his candy corn. As usual, Alton and the Good Eats team approached the project as a science experiment: They created the recipe in April but used a dehumidifier in the kitchen to mimic crisp fall air. Alton also tested every imaginable food coloring before choosing gel paste. The resulting recipe, which appears in his latest cookbook, Good Eats 3: The Later Years, is easy — and super impressive, Alton says. "When you tell people you've made candy corn, they say, 'Holy cow, you made your own?!'" Plus, a lot of candy corn haters realize they actually like the stuff when it's homemade. For the record, Alton will take his candy corn any which way. "I'm not a snob," he says. "I won't turn down the store-bought stuff."

Alton says the candy corn tastes better after a few days: It dries out a little and becomes chewier, and the flavor intensifies. Find out how to make it with this step-by-step.