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CANDY-MAKING REVOLUTIONIZED
_CONFECTIONERY FROM VEGETABLES_
BY MARY ELIZABETH HALL
_ILLUSTRATED_
New York
STURGIS & WALTON
COMPANY
1912
_All rights reserved_
COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY
PERRY MASON COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY
STURGIS & WALTON COMPANY
Set up and Electrotyped. Published, December, 1912
TO
ONE ELIZABETH,
AND ALL ELIZABETHS WHO LOVE PURE
CANDY AND ITS MAKING
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
INTRODUCTION i
PREFACE vi
SECTION I
I FOR THE NOVICE 3
II FOR THE CANDY-MAKER'S TABLE 8
III THERMOMETER 19
IV USE OF STEAM 24
V CRYSTALLIZATION 27
VI CHOCOLATE COATING 33
VII SUGAR 41
SECTION II
VIII DECORATIVE CANDIES
I From Potato Paste 52
Green Leaves 56
II Violets
Pop-corn Violets 57
Cocoanut Violets 58
Violet Boutonniere 59
III From Potato Fondant
Uncooked Fondant 61
Cooked Potato Fondant 62
Modeled Candy 62
Coloring 64
White Daisy 66
Yellow Daisy 69
Calla Lily 69
Red Apples 70
Single Roses 72
Rose Buds 74
New Potato 75
Pea-Pod 76
Snow Ball 76
Grapes 79
Other Possibilities 79
IX POTATO CARAMEL
Potato Caramel No. 1 81
Potato Caramel No. 2 82
Potato Caramel No. 3 82
Opera Caramel 83
X POTATO--MISCELLANEOUS
Mocha Walnuts 84
Pecan Creams 85
Raisin Creams 85
Peppermint Chocolates 86
Celtic Almonds 86
Chocolate Bars 87
Vegetable Cream 88
XI SWEET POTATO
Sweet Potato Patties 90
Sweet Potato Knots 91
Sweet Potato Pastilles 93
XII PARSNIP
Candied Parsnips 93
Parsnip Boutonniere 95
XIII CARROT
Carrot Rings 97
Crystallized Carrot 98
Carrot Roll 98
"Gingers" 99
Garden "Ginger" 99
Variations 101
XIV BEAN
Candied Green Beans 102
Bean Taffy 103
Nut Bean Taffy 104
XV BEET
Frosted Beet Slice 105
Beet Puffs 106
Beet Cubes with Variations 107
Crystallized Beets 108
Spiced Beets 109
Spiced Beet Bon-bons 109
XVI TOMATO
Tomato Marshmallow 110
Chocolate Marshmallow 112
Vegetable Nougatine 112
Chocolate Nougatine 114
Nut Bur 114
XVII CORNLETTE
Nut Cornlettes 118
XVIII ONION COLD TABLETS 120
XIX ORIENTAL PASTE 123
Seaweed 124
XX STUFFED FRUITS
Dates for Candy 128
Sparkling Dates 128
Chocolate Covered Dates 129
Date Brilliants 129
Rhubarb Marmalade 129
Sugared Dates 130
Stuffed Dates 130
Stuffed Prunes 130
XXI ANGELIQUE
Rings 132
Orange Rings 133
Angelique as a Plant 133
Preserved Green Angelique 135
Dried Angelique 135
XXII FOR THE CATERER 136
XXIII FOR THE TEACHER 142
ILLUSTRATIONS
VEGETABLE CANDIES Frontispiece
OPPOSITE PAGE
FASCINATING TO THE CHILD 72
BOXED VEGETABLE CANDIES 98
DECORATIVE AND EDIBLE 118
ANGELICA ARCHANGELICA 132
FOR THE CATERER 138
INTRODUCTION
When Mary Elizabeth Hall first brought her discovery to my attention, I
thought that it was indeed one that would revolutionize candy-making,
both that of the amateur at home and of the manufacturer. And, in the
months that have followed, to this belief has been added the conviction
that this revolution is one very much worth while. Why so simple and
obvious a discovery was not made long ago is a mystery to me; perhaps
its very simplicity and obviousness is proof of its importance.
Of cookery, candy-making is a branch which is entitled to more dignity
than it ordinarily receives. Negatively and positively, the importance
of sweets to the child can hardly be over-estimated. If he consumes a
quantity of impure confectionery, his digestion will be ruined for life;
how much of the confectionery bought is rankly impure it is well for the
mother's peace of mind that she does not know! On the other hand, if the
child is not given sweets, he is deprived of a food element of the
greatest value to his development. And for the adult, the value of pure
candy is too obvious to warrant comment.
Vegetable candy, to my mind, is ideal confectionery. Of its purity,
there can be no doubt. Moreover, it furnishes the valuable element of
sugar so combined with nutritious vegetable bases that, because of the
bulk, there is no temptation to overeat. This quality of the new
confection would seem insurance against the evil effects of gluttony!
Before an undue amount of sugar is consumed, the very mass of the
vegetable base has satisfied the appetite.
Many sorts of vegetable candy have unusual keeping qualities; indeed,
some kinds will retain their flavor and moisture for as long as a year.
It is significant to note that almost all non-vegetable confections that
can be successfully stored for any length of time contain artificial
preservatives; vegetable candy, however, keeps, not because of the
addition of alcohol or even benzoate of soda, but because of the
excellence of the processes themselves.
Notwithstanding its advantages, vegetable candy is no harder to make
than is any other good candy. For success in any sort of cookery, much
hard work is necessary; slipshod methods and intuition can not produce
food that is up to standard. Of even greater force is this rule when
applied to the most delicate brand of cookery--the making of
confectionery. Miss Hall has supplemented her major discovery by several
other valuable discoveries--or "adaptations," as she modestly styles
them. Her use of crystallization, for instance, enables the amateur
confectioner to secure results which were previously out of her reach.
Aside from its virtues from the hygienic, dietetic and practical points
of view, the new confectionery has much to commend it. By utilizing the
common and cheap vegetables of the home garden, it gives to the girls
and women on the farm and in the village an opportunity that previously
was not theirs. This discovery means that they can now make the finer
sorts of candy, the fashioning of which was formerly out of the question
to women who did not have at their command the resources of the
specialty stores of the large city--and plenty of money to spend in
them. This enlargement of the culinary horizon of these countless women
is not without broad significance; the removal of their
limitations--petty and otherwise, if you will--is necessary before we
shall cease to tremble because they who belong on the farm and in the
village refuse to stay there. Once banish the discontent of the farm
woman, and there is no rural problem of consequence. And vegetable
candy-making is not without sociological importance because it is a
step--though, perhaps, a very short one, comparatively!--in that
direction.
More definite, however, is another field for speculation in connection
with vegetable candy. It offers to the housewife, house-daughter, and to
the teacher a new modeling medium. That from a cheap and easily made
base attractive objects may be made--and then eaten--surely is a
recommendation of no slight moment. Miss Hall's discovery has placed
within easy reach of persons of moderate means and skill a medium
through which really beautiful objects can be made in candy. For the
first time, the amateur candy-maker can prove for herself that
candy-making is not only an art, but that it is one of the fine arts.
WARREN DUNHAM FOSTER.
PREFACE
The years of work in candy-making that have made possible this book, I
now look back upon with a certain feeling of satisfaction. The
satisfaction comes from the knowledge that because of the discovery that
is here recorded, the candy of the future will be purer, more wholesome,
more nourishing than that of the past has been. Even if the processes
that are here set forth fail of the widest adoption, I have still the
satisfaction of knowing that just so far as they are adopted will there
be greater healthfulness of confectionery.
Another reason for the satisfaction that I feel is my knowledge that my
discovery has opened to the home candy-maker a whole new world.
Previously many of the better sorts of confectionery--particularly of
the decorative kinds--were out of her range, either because of the cost
of the necessary ingredients or the difficulty of their purchase or
handling; particularly under a heavy disadvantage has been the village
or country cook who has not had the service rendered by the specialty
stores of the great cities. Now, however, with the ever present potato
substituted for marzipan--hard to obtain at more a pound than potatoes
cost a peck!--it is the girl or woman with her own garden who has the
advantage. Moreover, decorative candies that formerly required more
skill than most amateur confectioners possess can now be made by anyone
who can model clay or use a cooky cutter. Mothers who formerly were all
too often required to gratify their children's longing for candies that
told a story--candies modeled or otherwise decorative--by giving them
boughten confectionery that contained plaster of Paris, aniline dyes and
other ingredients equally harmful, can now in their own kitchen from
nourishing and harmless vegetables fashion sweets that are just as
beguiling to childish eyes.
Nor is this all. Children invariably have a craving for sweets that if
allowed to run its course is almost sure to lead to indigestion and
worse. On the other hand, if this craving is not satisfied, the children
will be deprived of a food of the utmost value--a food element, indeed,
that it is indispensable. Vegetable candy offers an ideal solution of
this difficulty. Sugar it of course contains, but the vegetable base
supplies no small part of the bulk; consequently children may eat their
fill of it and satisfy their natural longing for candy without having
gorged themselves with sugar. Moreover, the vegetable base has virtues
that are positive as well as negative; it itself supplies valuable food
elements and equally valuable vegetable salts.
Many colors and flavors are made available by this discovery. The use of
beets, for instance, has added to the candy-maker's palette a very
attractive new shade. Each vegetable contributes at least one new
flavor. Novel as are candies made from vegetables, they must not be
thought faddish. Caramels, marshmallows and bon-bons and all the rest
are here; tastes that have already won favor are here, and many new ones
as well.
In places, perhaps, the directions that follow may seem over detailed.
Invariably, however, I have tried to give information about all the
points that would come to the mind of the amateur confectioner. I have
tried to tell the _why_ as well as the _what_. Moreover, the processes
at times may seem, perhaps, a bit over long. It should be noted,
however, that vegetable candy-making is no more complicated, if as much
so, as is the making of any other confectionery. Good candy invariably
means effort, and intelligent painstaking effort at that.
It has been with the home candy-maker in mind that I have written this
book. Undoubtedly, however, the discovery will appeal to the
professional. I am glad, for the more vegetable candy is made, the less
unhealthful confectionery there will be consumed. For the same reason, I
hope, too, that women and girls seeking to make profitable their idle
hours at home, may embark in a small way in the manufacture and sale of
vegetable candy.
My thanks are due to _The Youth's Companion_ for its kind permission to
reprint material that first appeared on its Girls' Page--a department
that, together with Family Page and Boys' Page, has done much for
better living throughout the nation.
No doubt I have been garrulous concerning my own discovery, but I trust
that the privilege of garrulity will be granted to the woman who has
been a pioneer and who, after suffering the hardships that are always
the lot of the pioneer, has, as she believes, opened up a whole new
world in candy-making and a very good world at that!
M. E. H.
BOSTON, MASS.,
June 12, 1912.
KEY TO FRONTISPIECE
1 Green Leaf
2 Violet
3 Wild-Rose With Angelique Leaf
4 Red Star From Potato Paste
5 Jellies--made from green peas
6 Carrot Ring
7 Celtic Almond
8 Mocha Walnut
9 Pastille Of Sweet Potato
10 Frosted Beet Slice
11 Carrot Ring
12 Beet Leaves
13 Daisy--attached to macaroon with a crystal
14 Pecan Cream
15 Angelique Ring
16 Raisin Cream
17 Heart From Potato Paste
18 Sweet Potato Knot
19 Triple Filled Orange Rings
20 Beet Puff
21 Nut Bur
22 Pea-Pod
23 Cocoanut Beet Square
24 Red Apple
25 Yellow Rose--on small round cake
26 Snow Ball
CANDY MAKING REVOLUTIONIZED
SECTION ONE
I
HELP FOR THE NOVICE
Almost all of the difficulties of the novice in the art of candy-making
come from lack of practice. Although it is a difficult branch of
cookery, experience in its intricacies will overcome many of the
handicaps under which the beginner struggles. It should be carefully
noted that these handicaps apply fully as much to the old-fashioned sort
of candy-making as to the new. The fundamental processes are often the
same. If the beginner in candy-making knows and will follow a few simple
rules, the measure of success that greets her efforts will be largely
increased.
Be accurate. If the rule calls for one-quarter teaspoonful of a
flavoring extract, measure that amount by a measuring-spoon; do not take
up any spoon that happens to be convenient, and pour in what seems to be
about the right quantity. More and more cooks are working by rule and
not by intuition; but in candy-making the caution against inaccuracy is
especially necessary, for the processes are delicate, and subtleties of
flavor and of texture are more evident than in more substantial food.
The weather is of more moment in candy-making than in plain cooking. Do
not try to make candy on a muggy day; the results probably will be
unsatisfactory. But if forced to disregard this warning, attempt but
little, act quickly, and remember that damp weather is the only excuse
for the substitution of intuition for rule. Just why humidity and low
barometric pressure play havoc with the work of the confectioner need
not be discussed here.
In making confectionery, cleanliness to the point of chemical purity is
highly desirable. Many successful cooks believe that candy should be
made in a pan that has never been used for anything else. That belief,
perhaps, may be extreme, but the fact remains that one cannot be too
careful in regard to the cleanliness of her utensils. And this necessity
for cleanliness holds for any receptacle in which any ingredient is
placed. Note particularly that heating lard will leave a taint which
will spoil the delicacy of flavor of candy made in the same dish.
Very often it is desirable that liquids remain hot after the actual
cooking has been done. The ordinary stove gives too much heat for the
purpose, and the confectioner's "working slab"--a device moderately
heated by steam--is expensive. A cheap and effective substitute,
however, is a humble soapstone. Use marbled cloth instead of waxed paper
to dry candy upon. Then there will be no danger that little particles of
the paper adhere to the candy. Candied fruit and similar confections,
however, should be drained on nickeled wire netting as explained in
another chapter. Place the netting over a dish, and pour upon it the
whole mass of fruit and syrup. By pouring all of it at once, the coating
of syrup will be uniform: It will dry evenly, as the air will reach all
sides alike. After most of the moisture has evaporated, the fruit will
be ready to be rolled in sugar.
Sprinkle a shallow dish with coarse sugar. Roll each piece of fruit in a
separate place in the dish, taking care that the sugar is absolutely
dry when the fruit is placed in it. If the sugar is damp, it will mat so
that the confection is "mussy" to the eye and unpleasant to the palate.
Moreover, the scales of damp sugar will jar off, leaving a break in the
complete covering which is necessary for the preservation of the fruit.
One rotting piece will contaminate another, until the whole boxful is
unfit for use. If the sugar is properly applied, candied fruit, well
packed, will keep for several weeks without injury.
Pack soft candies in layers separated by waxed papers backed by
cardboard. Remember that the best-made confections will be unappetizing
when presented or served unattractively.
In pulling taffies or other candies, corn starch may be put to good use.
No definite rules can be given, because the temperature and the humidity
of each pair of hands--to put the case euphemistically--are different.
Each time the material is pulled, the candy-maker should dust her hands
as lightly as possible with the corn starch. A moderate amount of it
worked into the mass will do no harm, but care must be taken not to use
so much that the candy becomes starchy. Moreover, a heavy coating of the
starch does not protect the hands any more than does a light dusting.
While the candy is being pulled, it should be handled as little as
possible. Let the candy's own weight over the hook do the real work. To
avoid "bunchiness," the confectioner must keep the mass moving in
uniform thickness--a difficult task, success in which comes only from
practice.
II
FOR THE CANDY-MAKER'S TABLE
For real success in candy-making the amateur needs a few small utensils
similar to those that have long been used by confectioners. The advice
which follows can be as well applied to old-fashioned candy making as to
the new sort.
A copper bon-bon dipper, really nothing more than wire twisted so as to
outline a spoon, will be found convenient for any sort of dipping likely
to be attempted in the home kitchen. The wire dipper is a much more
satisfactory tool than a silver fork, the implement usually recommended
for this purpose.
Get fourteen inches of copper wire--preferably number eighteen--heavy
enough to bear a few ounces of weight without bending, but soft enough
to be shaped easily by the fingers. A quarter-pound spool should not
cost over ten cents. Grasp the wire five inches from one end and bend
it double at that point. The double strand--which makes the handle--will
then be five inches long, and the single four. Out of this single
strand, beginning half an inch from the end of the doubled strand, form
a loop three-quarters of an inch long. Twisting the wire round the
forefinger or a small empty spool will make the loop. Wind the two
inches of wire left free about the two parallel strands, carrying it up
as far as it will reach.
This skeleton spoon is excellent for dipping bon-bons, fruits or nuts.
To hold objects of different sizes, the soft copper wire may be bent
easily; and in this respect the home-made dippers are better than the
nickeled ones on the market. For dipping creams into chocolate, this
dipper is probably the best device which is available for the amateur.
Another help is the so-called rubber mat, useful for modeling wafers and
centers. This is nothing more than a sheet of heavy rubber fabric,
stamped so that molds are formed. Before using, place the mat in cold
water, dry, and then pour the fondant into the depressions until they
are entirely filled. When the fondant is dry enough to hold its form,
the mat is turned upside down, and the wafers and centers easily freed.
After being washed in cold water and carefully dried, the mat is ready
for use again.
[Illustration: Rubber Mat. Fig. 1]
The advantage of the mat is that all the candies are of the same size
and regular in shape, and that no material is wasted. For the girl who
intends to get only one mat, the kind with round molds--"truncated
cones," to be accurate--is the best to buy, because it may be used
equally well for centers or wafers. See Fig. 1 above.
The candy-maker who is prepared to spend more for her equipment may well
buy several mats, each with molds of different shapes. Then she should
reserve one shape for each flavoring or mixture, so that she can easily
distinguish by sight different kinds of creams after they are made. The
mats are sold by weight, generally at the rate of a dollar and a half a
pound. The one shown in Fig. 1 weighs eighteen ounces.
[Illustration: Dropping Funnel. Fig. 2]
Either to fill molds or to drop masses upon slabs or waxed paper in the
old way, the candy-maker will find a dropping funnel useful. This is a
small tin cornucopia with a long handle. Whittle a clean stick so that
one end of it will fit into the outlet of the funnel, and plug the hole
from above. Fill the funnel with the mass to be dropped, and then raise
the stick just long enough to allow enough of the mass to run out to
fill the mold--or if the old plan is followed, to form a wafer or cream
of proper size. See Fig. 2, on the preceding page.
Intelligent operation of the funnel makes the work more rapid and
accurate, and the mass holds its heat longer, and is kept better mixed
than if poured or spooned from a dish. Funnels especially made for this
purpose cost from twenty-five cents to one dollar; but any tinsmith can
easily make one out of an eight-inch piece of heavy tin, shaped so as to
form a cornucopia, with the smaller opening not more than three-eighths
of an inch in diameter, and attached to a handle at least twelve inches
long.
For heating mixtures, white enamel dishes are preferable to tin or
aluminum. For mixing, wooden spoons are better than metal ones, because
the mass which is being stirred does not stick so readily. Wooden
paddles are often better yet, for their flat surfaces do not retain
masses so tenaciously.
Perhaps the most useful tool of all is a nameless instrument which does
duty for both knife and spoon, and in addition has virtues all its own.
It is particularly valuable for reaching the corners of pans. This tool
is not on the general market, but can be made by most metal-workers--either
tinsmiths or blacksmiths. A piece of spring steel, about ten inches
long, rounded at the end, and curved as shown in Fig. 3, is riveted into
a wooden handle. Heavy tin may be substituted for the steel, if desired.
[Illustration: Special Knife. Fig. 3]
A molasses-candy or taffy pull without a hook may be good fun, but it is
hard on the candy as well as on the hands. A blacksmith can easily make
the hook of round iron, about a half-inch in diameter and eighteen or
twenty inches long. The rod should be bent until it forms roughly a
letter J, with the tip about seven inches from the horizontal line. The
top--the upper part of the horizontal line of the J--should be pounded
flat, and two holes bored for screws.
Be sure to attach the hook to the wall firmly, and about level with the
shoulders. Hooks may be purchased for about fifty cents apiece, but
those made by the blacksmith will do as well. Even with the hook, it is
well to wear canvas gloves, so that the mass can be handled hotter, and
in a more hygienic fashion than with bare hands. Canvas gloves are
easily laundered--something which cannot be said of the expensive
buckskin gloves recommended for this purpose.
For use in "cutting in" fondant and other small masses it is well to buy
a four inch wall paper knife--a tool which can be bought for from ten to
twenty-five cents. Fondant should never be beaten, but instead it should
be "cut in." This process is scraping up the whole mass, folding it over
and cutting through with the knife. This motion is repeated, from each
side of the pan, until the fondant becomes a ball which can be kneaded
by the hand.
Procure smooth iron bars, two fifteen inches long and two eighteen
inches long, all three-eighths of an inch thick and two inches wide. Any
blacksmith shop can furnish them at slight expense, or they may be
purchased more cheaply from the confectioner's supply stores. The bars
are to be placed--set on edge--in the form of a rectangle on a marble
slab. Be sure that the bars are carefully smoothed, for otherwise they
will be untidy and soon rust. By lapping the edges and moving the bars
back and forth, a receptacle of any size desired can be made. After
buttering slab and bars, pour the candy into the enclosure. When it has
cooled, remove the bars, and with one sharp incision cut the candy clear
across. Use a sharp knife of uniform thickness and width, preferably
with a thin blade.
It is also convenient to have two bars six inches long. They are useful
in dividing a batch when different flavors or colors are used. The
partitions will be useful for dividing the filling from the outside
layers when a three-storied candy is to be made.
The need for these bars comes from the fact that one should never cut
candy in a pan. The attempt to do so will always result in pieces with
crumbling edges, as the knife has to be dragged through the candy
instead of cutting down sharply, and as the sides of the pan allow no
room for the expansion which the width of the knife will cause.
Moreover, there is always waste in the corners and at the sides.
The candy-maker should appreciate the palette knife. The flexibility of
the blade is such that it can be put to many uses for which the ordinary
knife is unfitted. For instance, with a palette knife it is possible to
coax refractory substances from the corners and edges of pans. Because
of this flexibility, it is particularly useful in lifting modeled forms
from a flat surface, as is explained in Chapter VIII.
To the confectioner, one of the most useful tools is a modeling stick.
This small tool is of great value to the candy-maker. It can be grasped
easily and its shape allows of its use at many angles that would be
inconvenient or impossible for a less adaptable tool. The roundness of
the blunt end serves many purposes; the straighter side is particularly
useful for smoothing off work, and the inside curves lend themselves to
a great number of processes.
Wire screens, often known as "wire baking forms," are very useful for
drying candies that have been sugared or for draining confections that
need to be exposed to the air. Those that are oblong in shape are much
more convenient than the round ones. The wires forming the screens cross
at distances of about one-sixteenth of an inch, making really a coarse
sieve. The sides extend up about one-half inch. The screens make
excellently ventilated trays, but for candies that come from an ordinary
crystal the mesh is too fine to allow proper draining. Should the
crystal be very thin, however, the screen can be used for draining,
provided the pieces are well separated and placed only one layer deep.
Wire racks for the drying of candy are among the necessary equipment of
the candy-maker. These may be had in varying degrees of fineness, the
wires forming squares of from three-eighths to three-quarters of an
inch. Squares of one-half inch and under give the best support for
confections, however, and allow ample room for draining. If the candies
are small or soft the large squares give insufficient support. The racks
are without sides, the edges being formed either by a heavy wire or a
metal binding. The supports are made by wires bent down at the ends and
at the center. These racks are the same as the "cake coolers" of
ordinary cookery.
Another method of drying particularly useful for models and cream
centers is a bed of corn starch. Do not use this plan with any
confection the surface of which is wet from the application of pastes.
As the basis for this process buy two or three packages of a cheap grade
of corn starch. The corn starch can be kept ready for use by
occasionally drying it out and sifting it.
Spread the corn starch in a large shallow pan or tray thick enough to
hold the weight of your candy. This gives a non-resisting surface which
keeps the models in form and when dry the corn starch will easily brush
off.
By all odds the most valuable tool for the confectioner, amateur or
professional, is the candy thermometer. Its use is so important that the
following chapter is devoted to a discussion of it.
III
THE CANDY THERMOMETER
For real success in candy-making, the home confectioner needs a candy
thermometer. As is emphasized throughout the volume, accuracy is of the
greatest importance in candy-making. Cooking must stop at just the right
moment, or the candy is either harmed or actually spoiled. Until the
last few years, for the amateur, the only tests to determine the
completion of cooking have been known as "thread," "soft ball," "hard
ball," "crack" and "hard crack." While the candy-maker has been
struggling with these unsatisfactory tests, the candy has kept on
cooking, perhaps until it has reached the next stage of temperature,
changed texture, and so become unfit for the use for which it was
intended.
The professional confectioner has long been able, by the use of a
thermometer, to determine just how hot his candy was and to remove it
from the heat at exactly the right moment. His thermometer, however, was
not only too expensive for the amateur, but also too long to be used
except in a large vat. There are now on the market, however,
thermometers that the amateur confectioner or small manufacturer can use
to advantage. Even when hardware dealers do not keep the thermometers in
stock, they can--and will--order them from their jobbers. The
instruments, of which there are several makes, are about nine inches
long, and sell for from one dollar to two dollars and fifty cents. Most
of these instruments register from about eighty degrees to three hundred
and eighty degrees Fahrenheit, although the range which interests
candy-makers most is only from two hundred degrees to three hundred and
twenty degrees. There are a few facts which the girl confectioner who
uses a thermometer should keep in mind.
Buy a thermometer which is guaranteed by its maker. See that the
markings are so well defined that they can be read easily. Before use,
the thermometer must be regulated to conform to the local altitude.
Place the thermometer in a kettle of water, heat, and let it boil for
ten minutes. If the mercury marks two hundred and twelve degrees, the
thermometer is correct as it is, but if there is a variation of two
degrees or more, allowance must be made. If water boils at two hundred
and ten degrees, two degrees must be subtracted every time the
thermometer is read. Then "soft ball" means two hundred and thirty-six
degrees, not two hundred and thirty-eight degrees, as it would had the
water boiled at the normal two hundred and twelve degrees, or two
hundred and forty degrees, as it would had the water boiled at two
hundred and fourteen degrees. Do not think that a variation of even two
degrees is too slight to count; absolute accuracy is essential.
For safety in transit, manufacturers often pinch together the case of
the instrument so that the scale-piece can not work loose and become
broken. A very little tinkering with the copper jacket, however, will be
sufficient to free the scale-piece. This must be done, not only so that
the thermometer can be cleaned readily, but so that, when the mixture to
be tested is shallow, the dial can be pushed out in order that the bulb
can be covered by the hot mass. Unless the bulb is covered, the
thermometer will not register correctly.
Allow the thermometer to become hot gradually; do not thrust a cold
instrument into boiling water. Do not remove the thermometer to read it,
as it quickly changes. Read it with the eye on the level. Remember that
mixtures which require stirring must be stirred below the thermometer as
well as elsewhere. Be sure that the thermometer is clean. Each time
after it has been used push the dial out of the copper case and wash
both thoroughly. Do not neglect the back of the piece of metal to which
the tube is attached. Be particularly careful after mixtures which
contain milk or cream. This removable scale is a great convenience.
The amateur candy-maker will be glad to know that sugar and water will
not burn until all the moisture is evaporated, and that does not happen
until three hundred and fifty degrees is reached. If, however, she is
making an unusually small quantity, and the thermometer begins to climb
above three hundred degrees--beware! The large quantity, however, will
take care of itself because of the moisture it contains.
Below is a table which will enable one to interpret the old stages in
terms of degrees. Fortunately most candy thermometers have this
information stamped upon their dials.
310 deg.--Hard Cracked
290 deg.--Cracked
254 deg.--Hard Ball
238 deg.--Soft Ball
230 deg.--Thread
In the following pages it is assumed that the cook has a thermometer. If
she has not, the degrees given may be translated into the old stages and
the old tests used. Thus, if the directions read "cook to two hundred
and thirty-eight degrees," the confectioner who has no thermometer will
stop the cooking when a portion of the mass will "form a 'soft ball' in
cold water." If the directions read two hundred and thirty-six degrees,
the "soft ball" must be softer; if two hundred and forty degrees, the
"soft ball" not so soft. Thus, without the thermometer, the thermometer
readings form a scale which makes easier the application of the old
tests. Be it noted that the thermometer is no more necessary in
vegetable candy-making than in the traditional sort.
IV
THE USE OF STEAM IN CANDY-MAKING.
Steam may be used so that it will be of much help to amateur
candy-makers, few of whom realize its possibilities. These
possibilities, which range from actual cooking to the maintenance of the
minimum of heat, may all be grouped under four processes.
First, to steam: Steaming is cooking by moist heat but not immersing the
material in the water as in the boiling process. It should be followed
to soften dried fruits or other ingredients, as often required by candy
receipts. The best way is to place the materials upon a rack supported a
couple of inches above the water in the cooking vessel, covering it
tightly and placing it on the fire. The confined vapor will soon soften
whatever is within the vessel.
Second, the double boiler: The double boiler is of particular value
when protective cooking is desired. This method will hold all juices
present but neither adds moisture nor dries out existing moisture as
happens when the mixture is over a direct blaze. In this way, the
materials can be heated without burning. It is of particular value with
materials that need heat but need no further moisture--simply the
development of that moisture which they already have.
Third, a modification of the use of the double boiler by leaving off the
cover: Thus the temperature is lowered and the actual cooking operation
lengthened. Vapors that may arise from the cooking mass are allowed to
escape instead of being absorbed.
Fourth, the steam bath: The steam bath is obtained by placing the
receptacle containing the mass over a smaller vessel containing boiling
water. In this way, the steam is applied only to the bottom of the
receptacle and its intensity may be varied. The lowest possible heat may
be applied; temperatures far below the boiling point, or even the
cooking point, are made possible. The temperature of the upper dish is
regulated by the distance from the direct heat of vessel containing the
water. Always start with boiling water so that the material treated will
be affected only by the heat of the steam and not the direct heat which
is bringing the water to the boiling point. This method is particularly
valuable for keeping fondant and other masses moderately hot for
dipping, or for melting chocolate or bon-bon creams, which should be
melted at less than one hundred degrees.
V
CRYSTALLIZATION
One often wonders why the candy-eating public has the chocolate habit.
The answer is simple. The manufacturer generally offers the public
chocolates. To one not conversant with candy-making, it is not so easy,
however, to explain why the candy-maker offers the chocolates largely to
the exclusion of other confections. To the initiated, however, the
matter is simple indeed. Chocolate makes an air-tight covering that
protects all sides alike. It makes it possible to keep candy not
intended for immediate consumption and to ship it from one place to
another without injury. Without it, the manufacturer would be in a bad
way indeed. The confectioner, then, has fostered the chocolate habit
because it is useful to him.
Crystallization enables the candy-cook to put ordinary cream and sugar
mixtures into good society dress and make them a pleasure to the people
who are not devoted to chocolate. Although the crystal coated confection
may not stand some of the harder tests that the chocolate coated candy
will withstand, it will be found sufficiently reliable to mark a very
great advance in candy-making, particularly in home candy-making. And
after all, the basic mixtures in home-made candy are not so very
different from those in the candy of the professional manufacturer. The
home candy-cook, the small maker and the professional manufacturer, who
is, of course, far better equipped for crystallizing than either of the
others, can, after a careful study of the different degrees of sugar
crystallizing, make almost any candy as satisfactory in texture and
appearance, and as easy to handle, as are the chocolate confections. A
sufficient number of dippings in the crystal accomplishes the result.
"One part water and three parts sugar," is the slogan of the
crystallizer. This is the composition of any crystal syrup. Although
crystal syrups differ only in the temperature to which they are raised,
their foundation is invariable. As long as the proportions are kept the
same, the quantities do not matter much--theoretically. Practically,
however, one cupful of sugar and one-third of a cupful of water is about
as much as can be handled effectively at one time. The success of the
process lies in repeated dippings. With each immersion, the confection
takes to itself a little more syrup; it thus acquires a heavier coating
of the protective covering. The actual process is very simple. Each
piece is separately dropped into the syrup and, after thorough
immersion, is lifted out with a wire dipper, the surplus syrup allowed
to run off, and placed for drying upon a wire screen.
In the pages that follow, frequent use is made of crystallization. In
each case, the degree to which the syrup is to be heated is given.
It must be understood, be it noted, that this simple crystal dipping
does not make the candy; it merely adds a protective and beautifying
covering. The candy, already complete in a way, is dipped into the
mixture of sugar and water. In the process that follows, however, the
crystallization is of a different and more fundamental sort. In this
second case, the crystallization is the method of making the candy
completely.
For small candies, a novel modification of French hand crystallization
is useful because the process can be put to good use in the many sorts
of candy-making. The candy-cook can well afford to make herself master
of it. She should know, however, that the process is not so difficult as
the description of it would indicate. Although the labor must be done on
six successive days, the work requires but a very few moments except
upon the first day.
The result desired is a slow crystallization which thoroughly cooks the
base so treated and preserves it perfectly. In addition, the process
ensures an appearance attractive to the eye and a flavor equally
attractive to the palate.
A drying rack and a pan are the only utensils that are necessary. They
should be of a size so that the rack will drop about one-half way into
the pan and be upheld by the sloping sides. Note that the pan must be
reserved for crystallization. If it is used for other purposes, it is
likely to absorb flavors that will work havoc with the delicate
confectionery that is placed within it.
Make a syrup by boiling one part of water and three parts of granulated
sugar for ten minutes. Thereupon place in it the base to be treated by
this process. That all the pieces may be very thoroughly separated, stir
the mass carefully with a wooden paddle; it is absolutely necessary that
all the surfaces of all of the mass come into direct contact with the
hot syrup. All that is necessary, however, is that each piece be
thoroughly immersed in the hot syrup; in a surprisingly short space of
time, the little pieces of confectionery will be heated through.
Have the rack in position in the pan; over it, pour the hot mass--syrup
and all. See that the candy is evenly distributed over the rack.
Immediately place a board over the pan; a molding board will do very
well indeed. If a tin cover were used in place of the wooden, the steam
would condense and drop back on to the candy instead of being absorbed.
After the pan has been left undisturbed for a full day, lift the rack
out and pour the syrup into a suitable receptacle, cook to two hundred
and twenty degrees and place in it again the candy. Take the crystal
from the fire. Stir carefully, making sure that each piece is thoroughly
immersed. Place the rack in the pan as directed above, and again pour
over it the syrup with the candy in it. Note, however, that it is
necessary that the wire netting be free from hardened particles of the
syrup. Cleanliness, almost to the point of chemical purity, is
necessary. This process must be repeated four times more, but each time
the mass should be cooked two degrees higher--in each case, twenty-four
hours must elapse between each treatment. After the last operation, the
candy should be allowed to dry on the racks. The result will be found
well worth the time expended.
VI
CHOCOLATE COATING
The ability to handle chocolate successfully is a great assistance to
the maker of vegetable candy. Although chocolate coating is no more an
essential in vegetable candy-making than in the old fashioned kind,
there are very many times when the ability to use it effectively will be
very useful to the confectioner. In either sort of candy-making, it is
but a finish--as acceptable a finish to the one as to the other. Many
people like the flavor of chocolate, and it is extremely serviceable
because it furnishes a uniform covering for confections. Thus, when
chocolate coated candies rub against one another in the box in which
they are packed, their uniformity prevents their taking to themselves
strange flavors and colors. No candy-maker should scorn to make herself
master of the intricacies of chocolate coating.
The best instructor in chocolate coating is a few pounds of chocolate,
firm, well-shaped centers, an allowance of time and interest, plenty of
good common sense and inclination to profit by the hints given below.
With the knowledge that will be accumulated after a few trials, the
candy-maker will soon be able to give to her candy the niceties of the
professional product. The confectioner can well begin with nuts, or some
other hard centers, for they are comparatively easy to handle. By
handling them, she will soon gain the experience necessary to the
successful finishing of other textures. From surprisingly little
experimentation, she will obtain sufficient skill to handle successfully
almost any center that will take the covering.
A thorough general knowledge of the behavior of chocolate and a clear
understanding of the behavior of the stock on hand are of more value
than the methods of application of the coating. Since no two lots of
chocolate are exactly the same, it is well to buy a fairly large supply
at one time. In this way it is possible when handling the first batch
to learn the peculiarities of all the chocolate purchased and thereafter
to handle the stock with assurance. For good results it is well to buy
the regular "coating chocolate" which is sold by many grocery and
specialty stores for just this purpose. If coating chocolate cannot be
obtained, ordinary baking chocolate sweetened with confectioner's sugar
can be substituted, but the substitution is to be avoided, for the
finished work is sure to be inferior.
In all sorts of candy-making, climatic conditions are of the utmost
importance. In no other branch of cooking is the cook so dependent upon
the weather. In muggy weather it is impossible to do good work; often,
indeed, it is impossible to do any work at all. Therefore, it is of the
utmost importance that the confectioner yield respectful obedience to
the humidity.
This warning is of particular weight in connection with the handling of
chocolate. Even if the day is only slightly rainy, or foggy, do not try
to use chocolate. Even experts do not defy this law, but since they
work under commercial conditions, they are generally able absolutely to
control the atmosphere.
The room in which the actual operation of coating is conducted should be
warm and dry. First, break into small pieces more chocolate than you
will actually use in the coating. Put these lumps in a dish set over hot
water and melt them slowly at a low temperature. To do this most
effectually the water should previously have been boiled and the steam
allowed to subside. Of course, the water must be very hot when the dish
with the chocolate is placed over it. As the first piece melts, stir
slowly from time to time. When the chocolate has melted, remove the dish
from the heat and work all of the oil globules from the mass. This is
accomplished not by hard or rapid motion, but by perseveringly and
persuasively smoothing the mass until it is sufficiently cool. These oil
globules, be it noted, must be treated with the greatest respect. If
they become over heated, they are likely to require much more work, even
if they do not ruin the batch.
In studying this melting process, it is well to think of the action of
heat upon butter. Suppose, for illustration, it is desired to cream a
lump of cold butter. If much heat is applied to the butter the outside
immediately becomes running grease. It is possible that the cooler
inside portion of the lump may be beaten into it, but the result will
not be smooth. On the other hand, if the butter is allowed to soften
gradually under the influence of moderate warmth, the whole mass would
melt uniformly and could be beaten into the desired smoothness.
The warning that water must not be allowed accidentally to enter the
chocolate cannot be too often repeated.
Probably this is the surest test as to whether or not the chocolate is
ready for the dipping: Drop a center into the mass so that it will be
covered with the chocolate, remove the surplus either by pulling it over
the edge of the dish, or by shaking, and let the drop fall squarely upon
the sheet of special confectioner's glazed paper, or of oilcloth, or
oiled paper, upon which it is to be cooled. Take care lest the piece
slips when dropped. If it does slip, the base will have a thin
projection that may break off and, even if it does not render the
coating pervious, become unsightly. If the candy-maker is careful and
the coating has been worked sufficiently and has been allowed to become
sufficiently cool, the base will form squarely and evenly and the
chocolate immediately will become firm. In other words, the candies
should begin to set at once without forming projecting bases as soon as
they are dropped upon the sheet upon which they are to dry.
Although chocolates should be covered in a warm room, they should be
cooled as rapidly as possible. As soon as they are finished, they should
be placed upon a small tray and removed to a cool place. The small tray
is desirable since by its use the candies can be quickly transferred. In
summer the tray should be placed in the refrigerator, but should not be
allowed to remain for more than five minutes. If the chocolate coated
confections are kept upon the ice for longer than that time, they will
soon be covered by a sweat that will ruin them.
After the coated drops have become cold, the candy-maker should examine
them carefully. If the bases have spread, she can assume that the
chocolate was not cooled sufficiently or that the surplus was not
effectively removed. If the coating is streaked or light colored, she
will know that the chocolate was not worked sufficiently, or that the
drops did not cool quickly enough after they were coated. If the candy
becomes sticky when it is brought into a warm room, the verdict will be
that the oil was not properly worked into the mass.