photograph of woman spreading chocolate on slab
For coating chocolates, confectioners use what is called “Sweet Coating Chocolate,” which is prepared expressly for this purpose, and you will be able to purchase it of any confectioner who makes his own candy, or any candy supply house, if you live convenient to one, and also in some of the large grocery stores.
There are a great many different grades of coating chocolate, and we strongly encourage using a good chocolate, as the better grades give the best results; because there is less sugar in it, and it lends itself more readily to the manipulations, gives a more glossy finish, and has a much richer taste than the cheaper chocolates, which are adulterated. Chocolate which sells for about forty cents a pound is a good quality. You may, if you are unable to procure this coating, use the ordinary cooking chocolate, which you will find in all grocery stores. This is not so nice or satisfactory to use as the other coating, and if you use it, we would advise you to add enough XXXX sugar, after it is melted, to sweeten somewhat, and also to thicken it which improves it. In writing these directions, we take it for granted you will use the sweet coating, and will write them accordingly; but if you should use the cooking chocolate, handle it in the same manner.
The condition of the weather plays an important part in candy making, especially in the chocolate coating. Never attempt to coat on a rainy day, as the moisture in the air, prevents the chocolate from setting quickly, and the chocolates become grey. Dry weather is by far the most satisfactory, as the chocolate is easier to handle, works better, and coats with more luster.
As no doubt you will do the most of your chocolate work in the winter time, you must pay strict attention to the conditions under which you work. To begin with, the temperature of the room in which you work, must be about 75. Donot attempt to coat in a room that is cold, for your chocolate will harden on your hands and on the slab, before you can get it worked enough. The room should at least, be comfortable enough to sit in. Let us caution you right here, not to have your slab, nor the centers to be dipped, too cold. Warm the slab a little, before you pour the chocolate on it, but be careful not to get it hot, just warm enough to take the chill off. The centers, or whatever you are going to coat, should not be heated, but by merely leaving them set in the same room for awhile, they will be about right. Remember, it is just as bad to dip freshly run centers, or anything that has just been made, while they are still warm, as it is to dip the cold ones; the heat must have left them entirely before you coat them, or they will be grey and streaked. If you dip in warm weather, you will have to cool the chocolates in a refrigerator for about five or ten minutes. That is, when you have dipped about a dozen pieces of candy, you must set them in the refrigerator, so that the chocolate on them will harden quickly. In cold weather you will not have to use a refrigerator, but you must set the chocolates in a cool place as soon as you have about a dozen pieces coated. In real cold weather they may harden very quickly after being placed on the tray. Remember, you must have them cool quickly after being coated, for if they do not, it is liable to make them grey or streaked, and this is as important as working the chocolate.
It is best to lay these chocolates in boxes, with wax paper between the layers, and keep them in a cool place. If you lay them in the boxes carefully, they will not get scratched, and will keep fresh for several weeks if kept in a cool place.
The slab you use for making the other candies cannot be used for chocolate coating, because the chocolate will absorb the butter which has been used to grease the slab, and it will cause the chocolate to become rancid, if the bon-bon is kept for a length of time. If you have a piece of marble about twelve inches square, use that. If you have a large, heavy platter, it will do just as well as a slab.
If you wish to make the chocolate bon-bons for your own use, you can either use heavy wax paper to lay the coatedchocolates on, or buy enough white table oilcloth, to cover the under side of about six trays. Flat kettle lids, cake and pie pans may be utilized for this purpose. Pieces of heavy tin, cut to fit the shelves of your refrigerator, is about the best. If you wish to make the chocolate bon-bons for profit, we would advise you to equip yourself with conveniences for the work.
This chocolate coating is very easily and quickly done, and is exactly the same as all fine hand-made chocolates are coated, and it is practically all done by girls; so you will have no trouble in soon mastering it. Do not think it too difficult, for it is so simple that a child can coat after these directions.
The methods for working the chocolate as illustrated, are those used by a professional chocolate coater. Notice how the chocolate is kept in the palm of the hand. These pictures were taken after she had completed her work of preparing the chocolate, and at the end of the day her hand is just as free from chocolate as in the pictures.
Take the desired amount of chocolate; break it into pieces, put them in a double boiler, and place it over the fire. The heat of the water in the lower part of the boiler melts the chocolate. Do not put on a lid or add water because moisture or water that gets into the chocolate ruins it for chocolate coating, but it may be used for cocoa or baking. In most cases where the chocolate becomes too thick to coat with, you can save it by adding cocoa butter, of which we will tell you later on. Stir the chocolate occasionally while melting, to help break up the lumps. As soon as the water in the lower part of the boiler comes to a boil, turn the fire down very low, so that the water does not boil and cause steam to fly over the top of the chocolate, as that is sufficient to thicken the chocolate. When it is about half melted, draw it to the back part of the stove, and stir it until all the lumps are dissolved. If you wish, you may test the chocolate with the thermometer. Put the thermometer in the chocolate assoon as you set the double boiler off the fire. The required degree is 125. If the chocolate is cooler than this, heat it until it registers 125. If it happens to get a little too hot, lift the upper part of the boiler out of the water for a few minutes, but do not leave it out long. After you have a little experience, it will not be necessary to test with the thermometer, as you can tell with the hand when it is about the required degree.
If you wish to coat a large amount of candy, it is best to melt all the chocolate at the same time. It can be kept the correct temperature by allowing it to stand on the back part of the stove, or if you use gas for cooking, keep a simmering flame under the double boiler. It is always necessary to melt more chocolate than you expect to use, because you must allow for that which cools around the edges, forms the base on the slab, and clings to the sides of the kettle.
Orientals are the favorite chocolate candy and that is why we use it in illustration. Three-fourths of a pound of chocolate is the actual amount of chocolate needed to coat a batch, but as you will put it on thicker, and use more when you are a beginner, melt 1½ pounds.
You will learn from experience only, about how long it is necessary to work and knead the coating before using it. This is done for two purposes: One is, to break up the small globules of oil in the chocolate to prevent them from being spotted when coated, and the other is, to get your chocolate thick enough, so it will not run off the cream after you lay it on the oilcloth or wax paper. As you all know, if you dip chocolate creams in thin chocolate, it runs off and forms a base on the bottom of them.
If you should use a bowl and a pan of water instead of double boiler, be very careful and do not get any water in it, and also in pouring the chocolate out in order to work it, do not pour it on a cold slab or platter, as that chills it too quickly, but have it lukewarm.
chocolate covered hand above melted chocolate on slabFig. 1
Fig. 1
Chocolate covered hand in chocolateFig. 2
Fig. 2
back of fist in chocolateFig. 3
Fig. 3
hand sideways in chocolate to scoop some upFig. 4
Fig. 4
Pour on the slab 1½ pounds of the melted chocolate. Assume the position of the hand as shown in figure 1; draw the fingers through the chocolate with a “pawing” motion as shown infigure 2. Each time that the fingers touched the chocolate on the downward motion, close the hand, and lightly squeeze the chocolate that is held between the fingers and the palm. The chocolate flows through the fingers and from thesides of the closed hand. Repeat this motion until the chocolate is spread out over the slab, (it will only be a few times), then encircle the outer edge, drawing the chocolate toward the center, as shown in figures 3 and 4. The thin layer of chocolate which remains is the foundation for the base which keeps the chocolate within bounds. Never draw into the center any of the chocolate that has become hard or that which is getting stiff. It will spoil the entire lot. Continue the “pawing” process, following it with the operations as shown infigures 3and4. Occasionally take up a handful andsqueeze it as shown infigure 5. The chocolate in these illustrations was allowed to become cold, so as to give you a better idea how it should be done.
fist of choclate oozing back onto slabFig. 5
Fig. 5
When the chocolate is warm it is thin, but by the time it has cooled enough it will be thick enough not to run off the center. You must continue working the mass of chocolate until the heat has all left it. There are several ways of telling when it is cooled enough.
For a beginner, we might advise you to use the thermometer until you have had a little experience. Slide the scale with the glass on, out of the case, so that the chocolate will cover all of the bulb, and after you have worked it for about five minutes, stand the thermometer in the center of the mass of chocolate until the mercury stops rising. If it registers about 82, it is then ready. If it is higher, continue working until it has reached the required degree. In cool weather the chocolate may be cooled sufficiently in from five to eight minutes, but in warm weather it may even take as long as twenty minutes. After you have used the thermometer a few times, you will know just how cool the chocolate should be, and then you can get along without it.
Another way to tell when the chocolate is cooled enough is, when you have worked it for five or six minutes, and it seems cold to the hand that is in it, simply dip the back of the fingers of the other hand in the chocolate, and if it is in reality cold, or you are sure the heat has all left it, then dip a piece or two, and cool them quickly, and you can soon tell. The chocolate has a high gloss, and retains the markings if it is cooled sufficiently.
Dipping bon-bons into chocolate with chocolate covered handFig. 6
Fig. 6
When the chocolate has been worked as directed, take a cream, (see directions “How to Mold in Cornstarch”), an Oriental center, or a nut and drop it on the mass of chocolate near the edge of the slab in front of you. Cover it thoroughly by using the thumb and first three fingers, as shown infigure 6. Pick up the cream from the mass of chocolate, wipe the side and back of your hand on the slab (or use the back of a knife) to clear it from the excess of chocolate which clings to it, otherwise this will drip over the paper when you lay down the cream. Smooth the chocolate covered cream by rolling it between your thumb and fingers until it is evenly covered withchocolate. Hold it with the tips of your fingers as shown infigure 7, and place it on the oil cloth at your right. In doing this, do not hurry or you will have strings of chocolate over the table and paper.
Voila, chocolate covered hand holding chocolate covered bon-bonFig. 7
Fig. 7
In laying the bon-bons on the oil cloth, LAY THEM DOWN SQUARELY. Do not allow them to slide or a base will form, which you wish to avoid. It is essential that the tray be level.
Coat the bon-bons as rapidly as possible so that it will not be necessary to reheat the chocolate before you have finished. If the chocolate is reheated, it must be worked again, as in the beginning.
In ornamenting bon-bons it is necessary to have some one help you. The ornament must be placed on each bon-bonas soon as coated, before the chocolate is set. Your helper can do this while you must continue with the work of coating.
A nut or silvered dragee, as shown infigure 8, may be put on top as an ornament. Do not press the ornament on the bon-bon, but place it lightly, otherwise it will form a base.
To acquire this skill in marking, begin by trying to mark the coated nuts. Roast some almonds in the oven with the skins on, which need not be removed when coating. English walnuts or pecans may also be used. The thread of chocolate is carried with the thumbnail across the top, as shown in figure 11. There is enough chocolate on the thumb, so that it is not necessary to touch the coated nut as you do when you mark the bon-bons.
bon-bon with dragee on topFig. 8bon-bon oval shaped with line on topFig. 11triangular shaped bon-bon with swirl on topFig. 9
bon-bon with dragee on topFig. 8
Fig. 8
bon-bon oval shaped with line on topFig. 11
Fig. 11
triangular shaped bon-bon with swirl on topFig. 9
Fig. 9
After you have coated for some time and become an expert, you can learn to make the pretty markings seen on chocolate bon-bons, as shown infigure 9, which always distinguishes the hand-coated bon-bon. After you have placed the chocolate coated bon-bon on the paper, touch the toplightly with the chocolate covered middle finger. Carry the thread of chocolate that lifts up with your finger in a circle as shown infigure 10.
last photo of completelly chocolate -covered hand adding top decoration to bon-bonsFig. 10
Fig. 10
Do not be discouraged with your work, if you do not succeed the first few times. Many persons prefer the rough appearing candies, because in their opinion they look more “home-made.”
When you coat begin by using the chocolate which is directly in front of you, and keep this cleared space to wipe the chocolate from your hand after you pick up the cream center from the mass of chocolate.
When you have used about one-third of the chocolate, sweep around the inside edge, as you did when working it, so that you may keep the entire mass the same temperature. Do this quite frequently.
Coating candies in the manner described here, your creams will have no base on them whatever, and will be very glossy, and not spotted in the least. If they are spotted after being coated, it is probably because you did not thoroughly work the chocolate, or because you worked in some of that around the edge that was too cold. Never mind how much there is around the edge of the slab, as none of it is wasted.
If they are not glossy, it is either because you commenced coating them before your chocolate was cool enough, or allowed it to get too cool, which would spoil the gloss, or did not put them in a cool place soon enough after coating them in order to set the chocolate.
When you are through coating, take your scraper and scrape all the chocolate off the slab, and also with a knife scrape it from your hand, and put it back in double boiler, and you will find that there is not enough chocolate wasted with which to coat one chocolate cream.
There is absolutely nothing necessary to put in this coating, but simply melt it and handle as described. If the chocolate is too thick to coat with, it is because you have allowed some of the steam, or a drop of water to get mixed in it, and you may then add a little melted cocoa butter to thin it a little. Do not get it too thin; remember that.
In using milk chocolate, you will find that it is much thicker than the sweet coating, and also, full of little lumps, which will be broken and worked through by the time it is cooled. If you wish you may add a very little melted cocoa butter to this coating, about the time you start to work it.
The bitter-sweet coating you will use in making Orientals, is thinner than most of the other coatings, and if you wish to thicken it a little, simply add a very little XXXX sugar to it, when you start to work it.
We will repeat again, that you must work the chocolate as much as you possibly can before you begin to dip; for, while it is absolutely necessary to have the chocolate cool, or until the heat has all left it, before you begin to coat.It is essential to work the chocolate as much as possible, until it is cool, even if it takes fifteen to twenty minutes. Otherwise your chocolates will be grey.
The secret in successful chocolate coating, is in working the chocolate properly, having it cool enough before you begin to dip, then cooling the dipped candies as soon as they have been dipped.
Never lift the dipped chocolates off the boards or trays, until they are set; you can tell this by lifting one piece off the wax paper or oilcloth, and if the bottom is glossy, then they are set.
The Finest Chocolate Cream Made.
We put this recipe last for the reason that you should learn to do the other chocolate coating before attempting this. The coating is done in exactly the same manner, except with these it is necessary to handle them very quickly, and consequently you must have a little experience in this line before attempting these, but after making them once, we do not think you will ever make the other different kinds, except for the purpose of filling your Christmas boxes, when it is very nice to have an assortment. With enough practice to enable you to coat them nicely, and if you are so disposed, you will have no trouble in selling all you can make at sixty cents per pound, to private customers only, as there are very few stores in the country where it is possible to purchase them. One reason of this is, they are too delicate to stand being boxed up and shipped around the country to the different dealers, and probably be kept for months, as some candies are, before being sold.
We tell you this to impress upon you how really fine they are, and the possibilities of profit, if you expect to make candy to sell. The formula is very simple, and known only to a very few, but you must follow directions very closely and cook it to the exact degree. The thermometer will do the cooking accurately, and the other part is not difficult in any manner. For the coating, it is best if possible, to get what is called a Bitter-Sweet Coating. This may be purchased in any large city, also of a great many candy manufacturers, or of any candy supply house or chocolate manufactory. If it is not possible to get the Bitter-Sweet Coating, you may make one which is nearly as nice as the other, by simply getting the pure unsweetened or bitter chocolate, which all confectionershandle, and sweeten it partly with XXXX sugar (never use granulated), in the proportion of one-fourth pound sugar to two and one-half pounds chocolate, by simply stirring the sugar in the chocolate after it is melted. If you should be unable to procure any other kind of chocolate, you could use the ordinary bitter baking chocolate, sweetened somewhat with XXXX sugar, but do not use it if you can possibly avoid doing so.
These creams should never be coated with a sweet coating, but always a bitter-sweet of some description, as the intensely sweet center, and the bitter coating, form a combination that makes them delicious.
They are made in the following manner, and a batch this size will use up about one pound of chocolate, but of course it will be necessary for you to have more melted up for reasons we mentioned before:
Put sugar and water in kettle, set on hot fire, stir until dissolved, then put in the glycerine, continue stirring and wipe down kettle same as for fondant, and when it commences to boil add the acid, then cover the kettle until it steams well, remove the cover, put in thermometer and cook toexactly236, then pour on moistened slab and allow it to remain undisturbed until all the heat has left it, the same as you do bon-bon cream. Now beat the whites of the eggs until dry, or will stand alone, then pour them on top of the batch, add the vanilla, and cream the batch in exactly the same manner as you do bon-bon cream, working the eggs right into it. If some of the syrup should be a little thick and not seem to mix with the eggs well, just take the scraper or whatever you are turning it with, and break the hard syrup a little, when it will readily mix.
Of course this will be thinner than bon-bon cream, and will require more attention in order to keep it in a mass and not allow it to spread all over the slab. It will be a little thinner just before it commences to set, the same as bon-bon cream does, and now turn itvery gentlyin order to give it all the chance possible, as this is the delicate point. Keep turning it over and oververy slowly, always working from the edge, and gradually work it up in a mass until it will stand alone and not spread any, and it is then done. About the only trouble you will have in making these will be at this point. The egg whites have a peculiar action on the cream, and sometimes it sets very quickly and gets hard enough to handle easily, and at other times it seems as though it never will set, and even when it does, on such occasions it is very soft and difficult to coat. Each batch you make will probably vary a little from the other, owing to the peculiar nature of it, but it will all come out the same when coated, and allowed to stand awhile. When properly made, this cream at this stage is an intensely white, rather fluffy mass, about the consistency of a soft marshmallow, only it is very tender, and not tough as they are. When creamed up, cut the batch in two after allowing it to stand for three or four minutes in order toseta little more, and to one-half of it work in some chopped English walnuts by kneading them in with your scraper, and allow the other half to remain plain; then cut both halves into several pieces so as to allow the air to strike it as much as possible, which has a tendency to dry it and make it easier to handle. It is now ready to mould up, and must be done so atonce. Have a small dish with some XXXX sugar in it, take a knife and cut off a small portion of the cream, and with your fingers shape it up slightly into a ball, then as it will probably be a little sticky, lay it in the XXXX sugar and turn it over in order to get the sugar all over it, then lay it on wax paper, and proceed in this manner until you get them all moulded. The ones with nuts in should be made just a trifle oblong, so as to distinguish them after being coated. In moulding these up, remember that thelessthey are handled, the easier they will be to coat, as handling them has a tendency to make them softer. After they are moulded, it isbest to turn them all over, as they lay on the wax paper, before coating them, in order to allow the bottom to dry off a little. These must be coated immediately after being moulded, and the better way is to have someone mould them and you coat them as fast as they are moulded. The person moulding, will do so faster than you can coat them, and thus they will be able to dry off a little by the time you are ready for them.
Coat them in the same manner as other chocolate creams, but remember that it must be done rapidly, for you cannot hold them in your hand but a few seconds, as they get too soft, and will lose their shape and spread out after dropping on the oilcloth.
They have a tendency to pop out, after the chocolate is set, if there is a thin spot anywhere in the coating, but this does not hurt them. They will be very soft inside, several hours after being coated, and are best if eaten within a week after they are made. If you should put them in boxes, it is better to wrap each one separately in a small piece of thin wax paper, as they are so soft inside. If one should break it would run out and spoil the looks of the others.
The length of these directions may cause you to think they are very difficult to make, but such is not the case, as you will see after trying them, for the thermometer does the most difficult part, it being necessary to cook them to the exact degree. In moulding them, do not try to get them all the same size or the same shape, as they look prettier made in odd shapes and this sized batch will make about one hundred ordinary sized creams.
Put both kinds of sugar and the water into a kettle, stir till dissolved, add the glycerine, continue stirring and wipe down kettle same as for fondant, and when it commences toboil add the acid, then cover the kettle until it steams well, remove the cover, put in the thermometer and cook to exactly 238, then pour on a moistened slab, and finish exactly the same as vanilla Orientals. You will notice that we tell you to cook this to 238, while the vanilla Orientals are only cooked to 236. The reason of this is, that the maple sugar always has a tendency to make candies softer than white sugar, and most necessarily must be cooked to a higher degree.
This is not a cook book; but as it is intended principally for ladies, we will include in it a few ideas we have in regard to cake baking, and also a few recipes for refreshments to be served when entertaining.
We are not advertising any particular brand of baking powder, as we use none, neither are we advertising any particular brand of flour. In place of baking powder, we use cream of tartar and soda, and as all pure baking powder is composed practically of nothing but these two ingredients mixed with rice flour, they will, when used in the following manner, give you the same results as baking powder, and also prevent your cake from falling.
Always use winter wheat flour for cake baking. One pound of pure baking powder is composed of one-half pound cream of tartar, one-fourth pound of soda, and one-fourth pound of rice flour. In all recipes that call for baking powder, use just one-half as much cream of tartar as it calls for baking powder, and one-half as much soda as you use of cream of tartar; that is, if a recipe calls for two teaspoonfuls baking powder, you simply use one teaspoonful of cream of tartar and a scant half teaspoonful soda. In measuring soda,always level your spoon off, and in cream of tartar, have it slightly rounding. Always sift your soda with the flour two or three times, and always put the cream of tartar in the eggs. If you use only yolks, when beating them beat the cream of tartar with them, but if your cake calls for the whites, then put inthe cream of tartar and beat them until they are stiff. In order to tell when your whites are beaten sufficiently, lift your whipper or beater, turn it over quickly, and the whites that lift with it should stand up perfectly straight, and if they do this, your eggs are beaten sufficiently.
The heat of your oven has everything to do with successful cake baking and you must be careful and not allow it to get too hot. Your cake should firstraisein the oven, before it commences to brown on the top, if you wish to make a success of it. If you follow the directions exactly as written here, you need have no fear of your cake falling, from opening the oven doors and looking at it at any time, or from jarring the oven in any manner, as you may take any of these cakes out of the oven when they are onlypartiallydone, shake them around, then put them back in the oven, and they will raise perfectly, providing your oven is not too hot, and you mix these cakes exactly as we direct you. This may seem a rather broad assertion, and shatter a great many ideas you now hold in regard to cake baking, but it will only cost you the time and trouble of making one cake to find out that this is correct. We have done this with cakes repeatedly in order to convince people it would not hurt them, and they would come out of the oven as light and as perfect as any cake ever baked.
It does not make a particle of difference which way you beat your cake, or whether you put all of the flour or milk in at once or a little at a time, as some cake makers direct you to, so long as you beat itthoroughly, which is a very essential point. Always put all of the flour and milk in at once, as it is much easier than adding a little at a time. If your cake falls a particle, or fails to come out perfect in any way, the faultbeyond a doubtis with your oven, providing you have followed the directions. A gas or gasoline oven is by far the best for cake baking, as you are able to get the heat more regular with them. If you will measure and sift your sugar on a plate, then set it in the oven for just a few moments, until it gets warmed through, you will find it will cream nicer with the butter, as the heat in the sugar softens the butter.
You may take any cake recipe you have, and apply these same directions in making it, using cream of tartar and sodain the proportions directed, follow other directions carefully, and you will never experience any trouble with your cakes.
If you are much of a cake baker, this article alone is worth a great deal to you, and if you never had much success with your cakes, you will find it a very easy branch of domestic science to learn, instead of a difficult one, as some have led you to believe.
Sift your flour three or four times. If you have powdered sugar, use it for this cake; if not, use granulated and sift it two or three times. Add a pinch of salt to your whites of eggs, beat them a little, then add the cream of tartar and beat until stiff; then stir the sugar and vanilla into the beaten whites, and in doing this always stir from the bottom, as it keeps them fluffy, and do not stir it any more than is necessary. Remember this in all cake recipes where you stir sugar into whites of eggs. Now gently fold in the flour, and put in pan and bake in moderate oven, and it will require about forty-five minutes.
Sift the flour and soda together three times, and remember in all cake recipes, in measuringsodato usescantmeasure. Put cream of tartar in yolks and beat them stiff as possible. Sift your sugar on a plate, warm it in the oven a little and then cream it and the butter together thoroughly and add the flavoring while doing this; add beaten yolks to this and beat in well. Now add the milk and flour and beat it hard for about two minutes, then bake in two layers and lay up with white frosting. Have oven moderate and it will bake in thirty or forty minutes. This cake is also very fine when baked in loaf form, and in that, only use two and one-half cups flour, making it otherwise just the same.
Grate your chocolate, and to it add half of the milk, and set on stove and stir until dissolved. Then stir in half cup of your sugar and set away to cool. Sift the soda in the flour three times. Beat the yolks very stiff. Warm the remainder of the sugar in the oven a little; then cream thoroughly withthe butter, then add the beaten yolks to this and stir in well. Add the cream of tartar to the whites of the eggs after beating them a little and then beat until stiff. Add the remainder of the milk to the chocolate and stir in well, and then pour it into the creamed butter and sugar, add flour and beat very hard. Then stir in the egg whites and bake in two layers and lay up with Oriental frosting.
Beat the yolks very stiff. Add pinch of salt to the whites, beat a little, then add cream of tartar and beat stiff. Then stir in gently the sugar and vanilla, and the beaten yolks, then fold in the flour and bake in a very moderate oven. This makes a delicious sponge cake.
Beat yolks very stiff; add pinch of salt to whites, beat a little, then add cream of tartar and beat until stiff. Sift your sugar once or twice, then add it and the beaten yolks to the whites and stir in gently, adding the vanilla when doing this, then fold in the flour carefully and bake in a moderate oven. This cake is very fine to use in making Charlotte Russe, as follows: cut it up in very thin strips, then cut the strips just long enough to fit around the inside of the cup, then fill center with the whipped cream as we direct you in recipe.
Sift first, then warm the sugar as directed before, and cream thoroughly with the butter and add vanilla while doing this. If you wish, you may add a little violet flavoring, as it improves it. Put the soda in the flour and sift three or four times. Then add it and the milk to the creamed butter and sugar and mix well. Beat the whites a little, then add the cream of tartar and beat until stiff; then mix them with the other ingredients, and bake in a deep pan in a moderate oven, and will require from forty-five to sixty minutes.
Cook the sugar with just enough water to dissolve it to 236, and do this operation the same as directed in making fondant or Oriental cream for centers, adding the glycerine when the sugar is dissolved and the acid when it commences boiling, and be sure and wipe down sides of kettle and steam it. When cooked to 236 pour out on slab or platter, which has been dampened a little, and allow it to get cold; then beat your eggs white and put it on the syrup and cream up the same as in Oriental creams, adding the vanilla when you commence to cream it. When you see this is justcommencingto set or thicken a little, it must be put on the cake, and done very rapidly. If you attempt to put it on thecake too soon, it will run off, and if it should commence running off, simply cream it up a little more before putting any more on, and also if you should allow it to get toostiffbefore putting it on the cake, it would make your cake rough looking. There is just a certain point where you really should commence putting this on the cake, and after trying it once, you will have no difficulty in telling when you have creamed it to the right consistency.
This is beyond a doubt the finest icing made, in every respect, as it is smoother than other icings, and also does not get hard and chip off, as other icings do when you cut the cake. It forms a slight crust on the outside, but next to the cake it remains soft, and will keep nicely for about a week. In using this on a layer cake, the better way is to ice your top first, as the first icing you put on is much smoother than the last, then use the last of the icing for the middle of your cake, as that does not show. After making this icing once, in this manner, we do not think you will ever attempt the other icing which everybody makes. This amount will cover one cake.
Beat the cream stiff enough to stand alone, and this cannot be done unless you have very thick cream; add the sugar and the vanilla to it and mix thoroughly; beat the whites after adding a pinch of salt to them, until very stiff, then mix them well with the whipped cream, and with a spoon, fill your cups which have previously been lined with the Sunshine cake, cut up as directed, or with Lady Fingers, split open. This makes a delicious dessert, and putting a candied cherry on top of each one, sets them off a great deal.
Mix the water, lemon juice, and orange juice together, and add enough sugar to sweeten to suit the taste. Then strain it and add enough green coloring to make it a very pale green; then add the peppermint, which will give it a peculiar flavor that is very fine.
Claret punch may be made in the same manner, only leave out the peppermint and green coloring, and in their place add enough claret to flavor and color it. Serve these cold.
Mix sugar and cocoa well together, then add the hot water, set on stove, stir until it commences to boil, then add a pinch of salt and stop stirring, and cookexactly two minutesafter it starts boiling. Set off the stove, and when cool stir into it the vanilla. Then pour it into a glass jar and put away until needed. This syrup is to use in making hot chocolate or cocoa, and is done in the following manner: put a tablespoon of the syrup in your cup, then put in two tablespoonfuls of cream, and stir them together thoroughly, then fill your cup with boiling water, and you have a cup of hot cocoa which is very hard to beat, and is made as you see, much easier than stopping to cook it each time, as by having the syrup on hand, the only thing necessary, when you wish a cup of hot cocoa, is to simply have some boiling water. A little whipped cream put on top, after adding the hot water, improves it very much.
This recipe alone, to anyone fond of this drink, is worth a great deal. If the syrup gets too thick at any time, thin it a little with a syrup made of sugar and water. You may also use it in making chocolate icing. It is also used in making chocolate ice cream; and you use for this purpose, one-half pint of the syrup to each gallon of cream, putting it in when the cream is partly frozen.
Put all this in a kettle, stir till it boils, then wash down sides of kettle, and cook to about 218 or 220. Set in a cool place, and do not disturb till cold. If it is a little too thick when cold, add a little water. This makes a fine syrup and with the thermometer, it can be made the same every time. If it is allowed to cool without being disturbed, it will not sugar, and will keep indefinitely.