The Candy Cookbook (2 page)

Heat and energy are estimated in calories, the average person requiring enough food in the form of fat, starch, sugar, and protein, to furnish about 2,500 calories a day.

Material for growth and repair is furnished by protein foods, of which from sixty to one hundred grams per day are needed, and by water and various ash constituents which are also needed to maintain the body in health.

Candy, especially when it contains fruit and nuts, can supply both calories and protein, and is therefore to be reckoned as food. Large amounts of candy taken in addition to regular meals may lead to increase in body weight, and to serious digestive disturbance. Reasonable amounts may well take the place of other desserts, or may be used to furnish energy in an emergency, as on a long tramp.

For satisfactory results in candymaking, as in other kinds of cooking with tested recipes, accurate measurements are necessary. With half-pint measuring cups divided into quarters and thirds, with teaspoons, tablespoons, and a case knife, the ingredients in the following recipes can be put together without the use of scales.

The table at the end of this book can be used to determine how much of any material needs to be purchased, or to change cup measurements to pounds or ounces.

Most of the recipes in this book are proportioned to make one pound of candy.

To measure a cup of dry material like sugar, fill the cup by putting in the sugar with a scoop or large spoon, until cup overflows, and level off with a knife. Tablespoons and teaspoons are filled and leveled in the same way. Divide with knife lengthwise of spoon for a half-spoonful; divide halves crosswise for quarters, and quarters crosswise for eighths. A cupful or spoonful of liquid is all the cup or spoon will hold. Less than a cupful of material should be measured to the proper mark upon the cup. Less than one eighth of a teaspoon is called a few grains.

Many varieties of candy can be made without any other utensils than are found in the average kitchen. The following list will be sufficient for the preparation of any candies found in this book. When candy is to be made commercially on a large scale, many other pieces of equipment will be found desirable.

Saucepan, 1 pint, agate or aluminum

Saucepan, 1 quart, agate or aluminum

Saucepan, 3 pint, agate or aluminum

Double boiler, 1 quart

Cup, half-pint, agate

Scotch kettle, iron or copper

Frying pan, iron

Case knife, 6 inches long

Spatula, 8 inches long

Wide spatula, 2½ inches wide, 6 inches long

Two-tined fork

Butter brush, rubber set

Wire bonbon dippers

Small round cutters

Small fancy cutters

Tin grater

Bowls, agate or crockery

Purée sieve

Wire strainer

Rolling pin

Marble slab or white agate tray

Cake pans

Scales

Wire whisks

Egg beaters

Half-pint measuring cups divided in quarters

Half-pint measuring cups divided in thirds

Teaspoons

Tablespoons

Wooden spoon, long handle

Mixing spoon, long handle

Sharp knife, 8 inches long

Sharp knife, 4 inches long

Candy thermometer

Small pair tweezers

Candy hook, to be attached to the wall

Plaster of Paris molds

Tin confectioners’ funnel for dropping candies

Steel bars

Sugar spinner

Nut cracker

Food chopper

White table oilcloth

Wax paper

Rice paper

Chocolate dipping paper

Paper cases

Cheesecloth

Timbale irons

Covered jars

Pastry bag and tubes

Saucepans and double boilers may be of agateware or aluminum. Tin is not desirable. An agate cup is useful for melting butter with which to grease pans.

An iron frying pan, or copper or iron Scotch kettle, is best for candies that are cooked to a very high temperature.

A marble slab is most convenient for receiving hot candies that are later worked with a spatula until creamy. A white agate tray, like those used by butchers for displaying meat, or a large platter, may be substituted. For turning over and scraping up the candy nothing is better than a wide, flexible steel spatula. A wooden butter paddle may be used, but it is not as convenient.

Bonbon dippers may be purchased or fashioned at home from a piece of Number 14 wire. They should be six inches long and the open bowl of dipper three quarters of an inch across.

Steel or iron bars, sixteen inches long and three quarters of an inch square, are convenient to keep the candy from running off a marble slab. The opening between may be made of any size, and candy may thus be cooled on the marble without the use of a pan.

Sugar spinners are made of a bundle of twenty coarse wires, ten inches long, fastened together at one end with wire coiled round and round to make a handle. A large wire egg whip, with the wires cut at the end, answers the purpose perfectly.

Paraffin or wax paper comes in different weights. The thinnest paper is generally used for wrapping caramels, or for receiving dipped candies. Chocolate dipping paper is stiff, with a high gloss on one side, and is desirable for receiving dipped chocolates, although white table oilcloth is equally good, and may be used over and over again. Rice paper is used for the top and bottom of nougatines, and may be eaten with the candy.

For accurate and uniform results in candymaking, a thermometer that registers up to 400°F (204.4°C) is almost indispensable.

Much experience is necessary to determine correctly the required condition by testing candy in cold water. With careful usage, a thermometer should last for years. It may be obtained at hardware and kitchen furnishing stores for one dollar and upwards.

The thermometer should be placed in syrup before the boiling point is reached, in order to avoid heating it too suddenly. If it is necessary to put it into candy heated beyond the boiling point, it should be held for a few moments just above the liquid that it may become warm, and then lowered gradually into syrup. When removing thermometer from candy, place it immediately in boiling water or very hot water, and allow it to cool slowly.

The following table gives tests for sugar syrup and corresponding degree on the thermometer.

Put cream and light-colored corn syrup in a bowl, add sifted sugar gradually, stirring until smooth, and add as much sugar as is necessary to make a stiff paste. Add flavoring or coloring as desired and use as a filling for dates, fruits, nuts, or as centers for bonbons or chocolates.

It may be warmed (but not made hot) over hot water, and nuts, cherries, grapes, sections of orange, and fondant centers be dipped in it. It will have to be kept over the hot water, stirred constantly, and frequently put for a few moments over the fire. See directions for dipping on page
33
.

Put egg white, water, and flavoring in a bowl, and beat until well blended. Sift sugar and add one spoonful at a time, stirring until well mixed, before each addition.

Continue adding a spoonful at a time until mixture is very stiff, then take out on a board, and knead with the hands until perfectly smooth. Use as stuffing for dates, for nut creams, or for centers for chocolates and bonbons.

Fondant may be colored by the addition of pink, green, yellow, lavender, or orange color paste, and other flavors may be used instead of vanilla.

Blanch almonds (see page
148
), and place one on each side of a small ball of fondant, or cover almonds with fondant, shape like a very small egg, and roll in granulated sugar.

Take fondant, cooked or uncooked, of any color or flavour, roll out one eighth inch thick, shape with round cutter one and one half inches in diameter, and roll around cherry, leaving a small portion exposed. Place in paper cases. Vanilla, coffee, and pistachio fondant look particularly well with the cherries.

Select as many firm, smooth, candied cherries as are desired. Cut each cherry, starting at the open end, into four sections, and separate into petals. Make a tiny hole at the other end, and insert a strip of angelica one and one half inches long for a stem. Place a small ball of fondant between the petals, and arrange on a doily, or use on top of a box of bonbons.

Cut candied cherries almost in two; between the halves of each cherry place a flat ball of fondant, press together gently, and roll in coarse granulated sugar.

Color the heavy cream a deep shade of lavender, add flavoring and coconut, and let stand 10 minutes. Then add sifted sugar, heat over hot water until softened, and drop from the tip of a fork on wax paper, in rough balls the size of a chocolate cream. Leave until firm. Color paste may be omitted, or other colors may be used instead of lavender.

Put water and coffee in a saucepan, bring to the boiling point, boil 2 minutes, and strain through double cheesecloth. Add sufficient confectioners’ sugar to stiffen, and knead until smooth. Use for walnut, pecan, or cherry creams, as centers for chocolates or bonbons, or roll out one fourth inch thick, cut with a small round cutter, and roll in granulated sugar.

Wash dates and remove stones. Fondant, either cooked or uncooked, may be used. Flavor and color fondant as desired, roll in small cylinders, put into the dates where the stone was removed, and roll in granulated sugar. Pile on a bonbon dish, or pack in layers in a candy box with waxed paper between each layer. Chopped nuts may be mixed with the fondant, or the edge of the fondant projecting from the date may be dipped in chopped nuts.

Melt chocolate over hot water, add butter, sugar, yolks of eggs beaten until thick and lemon colored, whites of eggs beaten stiff, walnuts cut in pieces, and vanilla. Spread in buttered pan, and when firm cut in squares. This fudge is always soft and creamy.

Mix syrup from a jar of preserved ginger with two tablespoons of the chopped ginger, and add sifted confectioners’ sugar until stiff enough to knead. Knead until smooth, shape in small balls, and decorate with small pieces of preserved ginger.

Mix lemon juice and extract, and add sugar slowly until stiff enough to knead, adding color paste to make a delicate yellow. Knead with the hands until smooth, roll one fourth inch thick, and cut out with a small round cutter.

Put maple syrup in a small bowl, add sifted confectioners’ sugar a tablespoon at a time, stirring until smooth, and adding sufficient sugar to make candy stiff. Knead until smooth. Shape in small balls, and roll in nut meats.

Put corn syrup, boiling water, and one fourth cup sifted confectioners’ sugar in a saucepan or bowl, and stir until ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Then add another quarter cup of sugar, and beat vigorously until thick and smooth. Continue adding sugar, one fourth cup at a time, and beating between each addition of sugar, until about two cups of sugar have been used. Flavor with maraschino cordial or vanilla. This frosting should be kept at an even, lukewarm temperature while it is being made, and the saucepan or bowl should be frequently placed in a larger bowl of hot water. The beating of this frosting should continue for about 20 minutes.

Dip walnuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, or hickory nuts, one at a time, into the frosting, and remove with a fork or candy dipper to an oiled marble slab or to waxed paper.

Before cutting the orange, wipe carefully, and grate the yellow part only from the skin; then cut the orange in two and extract the juice.

Mix rind and fruit juice, let stand 10 minutes, and strain. Add slowly to the egg yolk, and when well mixed add sugar gradually until stiff enough to knead. Knead until smooth, and use for date, nut, prune, or cherry creams, or for centers of chocolates or bonbons.

Wash prunes, soak until plump in orange juice to cover, then steam until soft. Drain, remove stones, fill prunes with fondant rolled into balls a little larger than a prune stone, close the prunes, and roll in granulated sugar.

Put white of egg, cold water, and peppermint in a bowl, beat until very light, and add sugar a tablespoon at a time, beating between each addition, until mixture is stiff enough to hold its shape. Reserve one third of the mixture, and add sugar slowly to the remainder until it is stiff enough to knead. Work it with the hands until smooth, put on a board, roll out one eighth inch thick, and cut with a small round cutter. Decorate with the remaining mixture, colored pink, blue, lavender, yellow, or green, forced through paper tubes, making tiny roses, forget-me-nots, violets, or sweet peas, with stems and leaves on each mint, as described in Chapter XV.

Children will amuse themselves for hours making original designs with different colored frostings, and will exhibit their results with the greatest pride at the close of the happy afternoon. Half a dozen paper cones may be provided as described on page
177
, and filled with different colored frostings. If color pastes are not at hand, a bit of melted chocolate may be used in one portion, the yolk of an egg in another; a color tablet from a box of gelatine, dissolved in a few drops of water, will answer very well to color a third portion.

Cook potato in boiling water until soft, and force through a coarse sieve or a potato ricer.

There should be half a cup of potato. To this add sugar, coconut, and vanilla, working together until well mixed. Press one inch thick into small bread pan, and spread top with a thin layer of melted bitter chocolate or sweet chocolate. When chocolate is firm, cut in small squares. This can be varied by using nuts or fruits instead of coconut.

Wash and hull strawberries, sprinkle with half a cup of confectioners’ sugar, and let stand half an hour. Mash, rub through a fine sieve, add lemon juice, and stir in, a tablespoon at a time, enough more confectioners’ sugar to make mixture stiff enough to shape. Make into small balls, and roll in granulated sugar, or roll out in a sheet one fourth inch thick, cut with small round cutter, and roll in sugar, or dip in melted coating chocolate.

Other fruit, or syrup from a well-flavored jar of fruit, may be used instead of strawberries.

Use any of the recipes for cooked or uncooked fondant, color and flavor as desired, shape in small balls, using one tablespoon of fondant for each ball. Press half of a walnut meat firmly on each side, and roll edges in granulated sugar, either plain or colored.

Maple, vanilla, or coffee flavor are good, or raspberry flavor and pink color paste may be used.

Follow recipe for Walnut Creams, using pecan nut meats in place of walnuts.