candy vs confection

candy and confection both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
candy	Yes	No	Yes	No
confection	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, confection is a hypernym of candy; that is, confection is a word with a broader meaning than candy:

candy: a rich sweet made of flavored sugar and often combined with fruit or nuts
confection: a food rich in sugar

Other hypernyms of candy include sweet.

candy (noun)	confection (noun)
a rich sweet made of flavored sugar and often combined with fruit or nuts	the act of creating something (a medicine or drink or soup etc.) by compounding or mixing a variety of components
	a food rich in sugar

candy (verb)	confection (verb)
coat with something sweet, such as a hard sugar glaze	make into a confection