Photograph woman making bon-bons
As nearly all bon-bons are made in the same manner, we will explain very carefully how to make one or two kinds, and after you understand the idea, you may make any shape, color, or flavor you desire. We will now tell you how to make pink, rose flavor bon-bons, in several shapes. Take a small amount of bon-bon cream, and from one third to one half as much ground cherries and citron (see article on Bon-Bon Fillings) as you have bon-bon cream, and with your hands work and knead them well together. This center, especially, is very sticky, and you will be obliged to work enough XXXX or confectioners’ sugar into it to make it stiff enough so that you can mould it up into different shapes easily. Right here we will say that in getting the XXXX sugar, do not allow them to give you XXX sugar, as it is a little gritty, while XXXX sugar is as smooth as flour. Of course, if you cannot obtain XXXX sugar the other will do, but is not so nice.
After you commence kneading this bon-bon cream and fruit, add a little sugar at a time, knead it in well and as soon as you get the mass so it feels a little dry, it is ready to mould up. You must use a little judgment in doing this, as you only need work sufficient sugar into it to make it stiff enough so that the centers will retain their shape after being moulded. If you wish any flavoring, put a few drops into it while you are working in the sugar. In centers where you use only chopped nuts, and no fruit of any kind, it is not necessary to use much, if any sugar at all, as the nuts have a tendency to make the cream work up dry. Sometimes bon-bon cream is stickier than it is at other times, so if necessary use the sugar, but never use any other than XXXX or confectioners’ sugar.
When worked sufficiently, cut off a piece and roll it with your hands into a long roll about as large around as a cigar; then cut in small pieces about one half inch long and roll each of them in your hands until they are perfectly round, then lay them on a piece of wax paper, and when they are all moulded, set them in a cool place for a while until they harden a little. We advise rolling out in this manner before cutting up to roll into balls, as it will enable you to get them all aboutthe same size. If you find upon starting to roll them into balls that it is still too sticky, you must knead in a little more sugar.
Do not get the centers too large, as your bon-bons are much prettier when small. Bear this in mind in all bon-bon making, as most amateurs have a tendency to make their bon-bons and chocolates too large, and the more dainty your candy looks, both as to size and color, the better it tastes. After making part of them round, take the remainder of the mass and pat it out into a flat piece about one-half inch thick and cut it up in strips seven-eighths inch wide; then take each strip and cut it into pieces about one-half inch wide and here you have oblong centers seven-eighths by one-half inch, which are for the centers of bon-bons, on top of which you put a nut. Remember, after these centers are coated they will be quite a little larger than this, and you must try and keep them small enough so that after they are coated, the half of an English walnut will almost completely cover the top of them. Of course if you use a smaller nut for the top, your bon-bons will necessarily be larger than the nut, and still they will not be large enough to look bad. The ones upon the top of which you use the half of a pistachio nut, must necessarily be considerably larger than the nut. We give you these little details, as they improve the looks of your candy so much, and you will be able to make them to look pretty the first time, and not be obliged to experiment any in order to get the correct size. If you wish to use a pistachio nut on these, they are prettier if you cut these centerssquare, instead of oblong, making them about five-eighths or three-fourths inch each way.
Experience alone will teach you as to how much bon-bon cream it will be necessary to melt up in order to cover the centers you have moulded. Put your bon-bon cream in the double boiler with boiling water under it, keep it on the fire and stir continually, that is, do not let it stand over a few minutes at a time without stirring, and when it is melted, flavor with a few drops of rose flavoring and color a delicate pink with Damask Rose coloring (Burnett’s), by adding a little at a time until you have the desired shade. It will probably be necessary to add a few drops of cold water to your fondant while melting in order to make it thin enough. Add the water verysparingly, as it does not require much to thin it, and if you get too much in, your bon-bons will not harden for you after being coated, and neither will they, if the cream is not hot before dipping. Test it the same as you do center cream, by sticking your tongue to it, and you should not allow it to get as hot as you do the center cream. Practice alone will tell you about how thin it should be. You must have it so that when you dip the bon-bons out and lay them on wax paper, they will not stick to the dipping fork, but drop off readily, and as you lift the fork the cream will string out a little so that you may make any design you wish on the top. After dipping a a few, you will understand more about this and will have no trouble. As soon as thin enough, and colored and flavored, set the double boiler on your table, leaving it in the hot water to keep it warm. You must avoid sitting in a draught while coating these, as this cream hardens very quickly. Now pick up a center, and with the dipping fork in your other hand stir the cream thoroughly on one side to break the crust which forms on top, then drop in the center, push it under with the fork, then stick the fork underneath it so it will rest as near the end of the fork as possible, lift it up and scrape off most of the surplus cream hanging to it by drawing it over the edge of kettle, then quickly turn your fork over and lay the bon-bon on the wax paper, lift the fork, and with the cream that strings up with it, make the design on top, by twisting it in the form of a knot. Do this by moving your fork quickly in a circle. You will see by this, as you lift the bon-bon out of the cream, the side, or bottom rather, which you scrape off on the edge of the kettle, is the top of the bon-bon after you turn your fork over and lay it on the paper; so do not scrape it off too much, as it is necessary to leave a little cream hanging there in order to have some lift up with the fork with which to make the design on top.
This whole operation, after you set the cream over on the table to commence dipping, must be done very rapidly, and you will soon learn to drop these centers in, lift them out, lay them on the paper, and make designs, with almostone continual motion, which is very necessary, as the bon-bons harden in a few seconds after lifting them out of the cream, and must bedropped from the fork very quickly or they will stick. You must stir this cream with a spoon occasionally while dipping, and it is necessary each time you throw a center in, to break this crust with the dipping fork first. When your cream commences to thicken so that they do not drop readily from the fork, add a few drops of cold water and stir it in well, and continue the dipping. If you have had it off the stove for quite a while, it is better to set it back until the water under it boils again, then add a little cold water, take it off, and continue the dipping. In dropping these off the fork, press it down so that your bon-bon will touch the paper, when it will stick a little, and you can easily lift your fork up. On these pink bon-bons, a little of the finely chopped pistachio nuts sprinkled over them, and pressed down slightly so that it will stick, makes them look very pretty. This must be done immediately after lifting the fork as they will harden in a few seconds.
In coating the oblong centers, when you lift the fork, simply allow the cream that comes up with it to drop back on the bon-bon, then quickly lay on the half of an English walnut and press it down a very little. These bon-bons do not stick to this wax paper a particle and aresetperfectly in a few moments after dipping them. They should be perfectly smooth all over, and very glossy, and will be like this if you have your bon-bon cream the right consistency when dipping them.
All bon-bons are coated in the same manner, and after you have tried it once or twice it will be very easy, and you will be able to dip a great many of them in a few moments, as you must necessarily work rapidly after your cream is once melted up. These are the swellest bon-bons made, and putting the chopped fruit and nuts in the center in this manner, and dipping them as directed, seals them up perfectly air-tight, and consequently they will keep for quite a while. You may use any combination of nuts or fruit that you wish in these centers, but always put in enough of either in order to have them taste sufficiently. We will now give a few ideas in regard to making other colored and flavored bon-bons, but if you have any ideas of your own you may adopt them.
Many candy makers make fine cream, but spoil it when melting the same because no matter how good the cream is,it can be spoiled when a little too much heat is applied. It is also a great mistake to reheat the cream more than once without getting it too watery and it will then dry out in a short time.
There is no dipping cream made that will keep the gloss for any length of time.
Do not attempt to make bon-bons at night, because it is difficult to get the colors the right shade. A color may look dainty at night, but be hideous in day time, especially yellow and lavender. Colors and flavors should be delicate as the taste of the candy seems to improve with its appearance. When adding colors always add a little at a time. More may be added but none can be taken out.
You will find from experience that it will always be necessary to melt more fondant than you will need to coat the centers you have made, because you must have a certain amount in the double boiler in order to dip them successfully. As you get to the bottom you will find it thickens very quickly and you will have to add more water. Do not get into the habit of adding too much water while dipping the bon-bons as it will spoil their looks; it is liable to dilute the coating so that it will not be hard enough.
If you have melted too much it is not wasted. Have some shelled nuts ready and coat them after you have finished with the centers, or flavor the remaining cream with either peppermint or wintergreen, as these flavors will kill any flavor that you have used. With a spoon, drop it on wax paper in wafers.
If, after you have centers for chocolate coating and do not wish to coat all that you have made, they may be dipped in melted fondant the same as any other center.
If bon-bons become soft when brought into a warm room, it indicates that too much water was used when dissolving the fondant, or it was not heated enough.
Use chopped figs to mix with bon-bon cream for centers, and cut them oblong shape and coat with bon-bon cream, flavored with lemon and colored yellow. You will find Burnett’sGolden Yellow Paste makes a beautiful color. It is better to make this color in the daytime, as it is very difficult to get the desired shade at night. You must get your coating a pretty deep shade of yellow or it will not show up well on the bon-bons. Either an English walnut, or pecan, are very pretty on this bon-bon, and be sure to put it on just after you drop it from the fork, in order to have it stick.
Make same as others, using chopped pecans with bon-bon cream for the centers, and flavor slightly with nectar while kneading it. Roll it into small balls and coat with bon-bon cream colored pale green, and flavored with nectar.
Use any kind of chopped nuts to mix with bon-bon cream for centers, flavor slightly with violet if you have it, if not you may use nectar or vanilla. Make them round and coat with violet colored and flavored bon-bon cream. You will find when you are using violet colored cream with which to dip them, that by adding a small amount of the Damask Rose coloring to the cream after you get it a good violet shade, it will make them much prettier, as the violet shade will be a little brighter, more on the lavender order.
Use almond paste mixed with bon-bon cream for the centers, and do not use any flavoring, as the almond paste flavors it. Use about one-third as much paste as you do cream, in making the centers. It will be necessary to use more XXXX sugar in these than it is in the ones with nuts in, to enable you to get them stiff enough to retain their shape after cutting them in squares. Cut them in small squares as directed in first bon-bon recipe, and as soon as they dry a little, coat them in plain white bon-bon cream, flavored slightly with either pistachio or almond flavor, and put one-half of a pistachio nut or small piece of angelique on the top. Of course you may use any kind of nut on these if you have not the ones mentioned, but the green and white make a very pretty combination.These bon-bons are very fine and will keep for a long time. This same center, coated with bon-bon cream which has been colored a Mandarin Yellow (Burnett’s), makes a very pretty bon-bon.
Take as large and as round candied cherries as possible, and coat them in the same manner as you do the other centers, using a rose colored and flavored bon-bon cream for the coating and sprinkle chopped pistachio nuts on top, or leave them plain if desired. These makes a delicious bon-bon, but will not keep as long as the others, as the coating becomes hard in a few days, whereas it does not on the ones with the chopped fruit or nut centers.
Buy some fig paste, or Oriental jelly, as it is similar, at any candy store, cut it in small pieces, and coat with any desired color or flavor of bon-bon cream you wish, or you may leave the pieces large and coat them, and when they are cool cut them in two with a sharp knife, and they make a very pretty bon-bon.
Buy some marshmallows, as that is much cheaper and easier than making them, and coat with bon-bon cream same as other centers, and unless you are able to buy the very small marshmallows, it is best to cut them in pieces before coating them. You may color the coating in any manner you wish. Blanch a few almonds, split them open, and put a half of one on the top of each bon-bon as soon as dipped, putting the flat side of the nut up, or you may leave them perfectly plain if you prefer to.
Mix chopped nuts with either maple or white bon-bon cream for the centers, cut in oblong pieces, and coat with maple bon-bon cream, putting either a half of a pecan or English walnut on top of each. In melting your cream forthe coating, it requires no coloring or flavoring but simply use it just as it is, and this really makes the finest bon-bon there is made.
Mix fresh grated cocoanut with bon-bon cream for your centers, mould in balls, and coat same as others. Flavor and color coating as you wish, and as a great many prefer these and other cocoanut bon-bons coated with chocolate colored coating, you may do that by simply adding enough melted chocolate to your bon-bon cream after it is melted up to give it the desired color. These make a very nice bon-bon, but I will tell you later on how to make a cocoanut center which is far ahead of these, but a little more trouble.
Take either English walnuts, pecans, or Brazil nuts, and coat them with bon-bon cream same as you do the other centers. You may use any flavor or color coating desired, but I think that the lemon flavored coating tastes the best on these nuts. Of course, if you use maple cream with which to coat nuts, they are much nicer.
Dates, with the seeds removed and then rolled up together, coated in the same manner, are very nice, and if you take a sharp knife and cut them in two diagonally after coating them, they look very pretty.
All kinds of cream wafers, such as peppermint, wintergreen, chocolate, and also maple, are made from bon-bon cream. Take the desired amount of fondant and put it in the double boiler, set it on the fire, keep stirring it, and when it has melted, flavor and color as you wish.
If you make peppermint wafers, leave it just a plain white. In wintergreen wafers, add a small amount of damask rose coloring, to make them a delicate pink.
If your cream is not thin enough to drop off the spoon readily, you may add a few drops of water, then drop out onwax paper in small patties about as large as a half dollar. In dropping them out, if you have no funnel, you may use the spoon with which you stirred the cream, and try to take just enough each time on the spoon to make one wafer, but in case you dip out too much, when the wafer is the desired size, quickly turn your spoon up, in order to stop its running, and continue dropping them until your cream is too stiff to drop, when you may add a few more drops of water, stir in well and continue as before.
If you use a funnel, heat it with hot water; push the stick down into the funnel until it fits the opening tightly, because the stick keeps the melted fondant from running through. Pour the heated cream into the funnel; hold the funnel over the wax paper and with one hand raise the stick a trifle; let enough cream run out to form a wafer; push the stick into the opening immediately and continue to drop the wafers in the same manner. You must work rapidly, for the cream gets chilled in a few seconds.
These wafers are very easily made as you see, and by always having your bon-bon cream made up as we directed you, it is only a few minutes work to make up quite a number of these wafers.
In making chocolate wafers, simply add enough finely chopped chocolate to give them a good color, and finish same as the others.
Always lay the wax paper on wood, to prevent white spots in the wafers.
Put sugar, glucose, and water in the kettle, set on the fire, stir until it boils, wash down the sides of the kettle with a damp cloth, put in the thermometer and cook to 238, then set off stove and stir in the cocoanut, and a small lump of butter about the size of a hickory nut, and the vanilla flavoring. Ifby pressing your hand down on the batch it does not stick much, it is about right, but if it should stick, simply work in a little more cocoanut. The idea is, that it is necessary to have this to the consistency where it may be moulded into balls; and of course if it is not thick enough, add cocoanut until it is. The amount of glucose you use in this prevents it from sugaring. As soon as you have mixed it thoroughly, scrape it out of the kettle and spread on slab or platter until it gets cold; then mould it into balls, lay them on wax paper, and allow to stand for a while until they dry off a little, then coat with either bon-bon cream the same as other bon-bons, or with pure chocolate the same as other chocolate dipping is done. If you do not get these centers too stiff, they sweat a great deal after being coated, and become very soft and sticky inside, and for anyone liking cocoanut, they make a fine piece of candy.
This center is not liable to turn to sugar for you, but if it should happen to grain a little, you will know that you have stirred it too much, when adding the cocoanut.
Put the sugar and water on the fire, stir until it commences boiling, but just before it boils, wash down the sides of the kettle with a damp cloth and cold water, then add the grated cocoanut, and continue stirring until it has boiled a little while, when you test it by lifting the paddle out, and if by taking a little of the candy between your thumb and forefinger it is good and sticky, and strings out when you pull your fingers apart, it has cooked enough. This is about the only method of testing it, and you need have no fear of spoiling it, as it is a very easy candy to make as you will see.
When it is cooked to the right consistency, set off the fire and add the bon-bon cream, and stir this through thebatch thoroughly until it is dissolved, and the batch becomes creamy looking and commences to stiffen up. In case it does not get stiff enough to dip out as directed later on, it is because it was not cooked quite enough, and you may overcome this by simply adding a little more bon-bon cream. Add the vanilla extract when creaming it. Now take an ordinary table fork, and commence at the edge and take up a small quantity of the candy on the fork, and lay it on wax paper, and as you lift the fork up from it, the same as bon-bons, the cocoanut will string up to some extent and make them rough looking, which improves their looks. As to the amount to take out on the fork each time, will say that you should take enough to make the kisses about the size of your thumb, as they will be oblong in shape, when dipping them out with an ordinary fork in this manner. They should retain their shape when dropped on the wax paper, but if they do not do so, simply work in a little more bon-bon cream. Always dip it from around the edge, as it gets harder there first. After dropping out about one-third of the batch in this manner, color the remainder a pink, and flavor with strawberry, but work it in well with the paddle, and in case the batch is a little too thick by this time, you may add a very little cold water to thin it. Now dip them out the same as before, until you have about half of it remaining, then into this remainder pour some melted chocolate, which you must have ready, add a little more vanilla, work it in well, and dip out the same as before. You now see you have three different colored and flavored kisses from the same batch, and these different flavors do not interfere with each other by putting them in as directed, as the strawberry kills the vanilla, and in the last instance the chocolate kills the strawberry. You may, if you prefer, make the whole batch one flavor, but you have more of a variety if you make them in this manner. You may use the ordinary desiccated cocoanut, which comes put up in packages if you wish, but if you use fresh grated cocoanut, you will find they are much nicer and will keep longer. While it is not necessary, it improves them greatly, by adding the well beaten whites of two eggs to the batch when you put in the bon-bon cream, and working it in at the same time. This has a tendency to make them a little lighter, smoother, and more fluffy.
If your batch gets too hard to drop out nicely before you have finished, it indicates that you either have cooked it too long, or you did not work fast enough after you had mixed in the bon-bon cream. But the chances are that you did not work fast enough.
Put the sugar, glucose, cream (or milk) and the butter in a kettle large enough to allow for its boiling up, set on the fire and stir constantly, and when it comes to a good boil put in the thermometer, see that the bulb is covered all the time, and cook to 236 or 238, being careful to slide the thermometer around the kettle occasionally, and stir where it stood or it will stick. Then set off the fire, and cream (or rub) it with a spoon against the sides of your kettle, until you see it just commences to grain a little; add the vanilla, and it is then ready to pour out, and it does not hurt this any to scrape the kettle when pouring.
Most people pour their fudge into a buttered platter, but the best way is to take a shallow square pan, or make a square place on your slab with the iron bars, and lay into it or into the pan, some old wax paper that has been used several times for dropping purposes, and pour the candy directly on it, and as soon as your fudge has set you can very easily lift the paper out with the fudge, and it may be peeled off without any trouble; in fact you may use any kind of a heavy paper with a gloss on it, in place of the wax paper, and you will find that this fudge will not stick to it at all. After you pour the fudge out, it should be set in fifteen or twenty minutes at the most, and then if you will take a knife and mark it into squares any size desired, it will readily break wherever marked, which is easier than cutting it up. If you use a glossy paper instead of a wax paper upon which topour it, it is best not to allow it to stand very long after it sets, before removing the paper; but in using wax paper you will have no trouble at all with it sticking. A shallow pan, about nine by fifteen inches, will hold a batch this size, and make it about the right thickness.
If the fudge gets sticky instead of creamy and is soft, cook it two degrees higher the next time. You may dilute condensed milk with one-half water, which may also be used instead of cream, but in using sweet cream you get a nice rich fudge, and there is not as much danger of its curdling.
Use the recipe for Vanilla fudge, and make it in the same manner, but do not add your chocolate until you take it from the stove and commence creaming it. Then add enough finely grated or chopped chocolate to give it a good chocolate color, also add the tablespoon of vanilla to it, and you will find that you have a much finer chocolate fudge than you would have by cooking the chocolate in it, as most people do, and also, they generally put too much chocolate in their fudge; so only put enough in it to give it a good color. As this is very hot when you put the chocolate in, it will readily melt, and work through the batch while creaming it.
Make a batch of vanilla fudge, and when it is creamed and just about to be poured out of the kettle, add a large handful of black walnut meats, stir them through, then finish just the same as the vanilla fudge.
You may also use any kind of nuts or candied fruit you have, in the same manner, but black walnuts are considered the best by the majority of persons.
Put all this in a kettle and follow the directions for making vanilla fudge, except be sure to cook this to 238. This makes a fine eating piece of candy, if you add a handful of pecans or English walnuts, just before you pour it out. If you use maple syrup, as in making maple bon-bon cream, take out a piece of glucose about the size of a whole English walnut, (not more), before you start to cook.
Put sugar and cream in kettle, set on hot fire, stir until it commences to boil, then add the cream of tartar, and put in the thermometer, and stir constantly but very gently until it is cooked to 238, being sure to move the thermometer very often with paddle, and stir underneath it, to prevent it from sticking; then pour on slab, moistened a little previously, but do not scrape out the kettle, and allow it to stand until it is perfectly cold, then cream or turn it exactly as directed for bon-bon cream, and when it works up into a hard ball, cover with a damp cloth for about thirty to forty minutes, when you will see that it has sweat enough so that it may be taken in the hands and moulded up in any way desired, or may be sliced down with the knife, cut into squares, and eaten at once if you wish. If you wish you may add a good teaspoonful of vanilla while creaming it, and thus have a vanilla fudge. If you wish to make a chocolate fudge out of this, as soon as you remove the damp cloth, take part or all of it, and work into it, with your hands, by kneading it, enough melted chocolate to color it well, then pat it out into a thin cake and put it into a small box cover previously lined with wax paper, smoothing it out to about three-fourths of an inch thick, then set it away for several hours to harden a little. To remove it, simply turn the lid over, letting it fall out, and then peel the wax paper from it, and cut it up in small squares. Take the remainder, after making part of it chocolate, and into it work sufficient chopped nuts or chopped cherries and citron to show up well, and if desired, color it pink and flavor with rose, and mould up in the same manner as directed for chocolate fudge.As you see, you may make this fudge any color or flavor you desire; but the ones we have mentioned you will find about the best. You have probably noticed that this fudge is made about the same as bon-bon cream, only with this you do not cover and steam it, and also must stir it constantly but gently, or it will sugar for you. You will also notice that it takes longer to cream up than it does bon-bon cream, and is very stiff when you commence turning it, but do not notice that, nor get discouraged, because if you cooked it to the required degree, it will not fail to come out all right for you. You will find that fudge will keep fresh for quite a while, if you put it in a can or jar with a tight cover, and keep it in a cool dry place.
If the fudge sugars for you, you will know that you have either stirred it too much, started to cream it when too warm, or disturbed it while cooling; try adding a pinch more of the cream of tartar in your next batch.
Don’t forget to make the correct allowance, in case your thermometer does not register 212 in boiling water.
If it should sugar and not cream up into a hard ball, it must not be used for this fudge again, but add a little cream to it, also a small amount of glucose, and make the plain fudge out of it.
Don’t have the slab too wet when pouring out this fudge, but just moist, as it is liable to throw your batch back a few degrees.
Use the recipe for “Opera Fudge,” adding a tablespoonful of vanilla extract when starting to cream the batch. Follow the directions for making opera fudge exactly until you have poured the batch on the slab to cool, and when it is nearly creamed, pour on some melted chocolate and continue to cream until the batch sets. When it sets in a hard ball cover it with a damp cloth and allow it to sweat for thirty or forty minutes. Knead it with the hands until it is smooth, or if the chocolate, which you added while creaming it, did not mix thoroughly, keep working it with the hands until it is all mixed, adding more melted chocolate if necessary;sufficient chocolate should be used to make it a nice brown color. Mould into balls at once, the size of a small nutmeg, and lay them on wax paper to dry a little, and then coat them in chocolate, and have someone lay a small round dragee on top of them immediately after being coated. This makes a swell topping piece for your Christmas boxes. You may also dip them all, or just about half of them, in chocolate bon-bon cream, as directed for dipping “Cocoanut Bon-bons,” only you may have to let these last centers, those to be dipped in the chocolate bon-bon cream, dry out a little longer than those to be dipped in the chocolate, for if very soft, they might break when being handled with the bon-bon fork. In making your Christmas candies it would be well for you to dip them this way and you will have a bigger assortment.
Put sugar, glucose and one pint of cream in the kettle, stir constantly before, and also after it commences boiling, until it will form in a soft ball when dropped in cold water. There is no exact degree necessary to which to cook this. Now add another pint of cream slowly, stir constantly and cook again to a soft ball, then slowly add the last pint of cream, and a piece of non-paraff about the size of a walnut, and cook again, being careful to stir all over the bottom of the kettle so that it will not stick, until it will form into a good firm ball in cold water, but not brittle, remembering that your caramels will be, when cold, the same consistency as this last ball, so you can get it just about as you wish. It is very unhandy to use a thermometer in making these, as they must be stirred continually from the time you put them on the stove until done. The non-paraff may be left out entirely if you wish, as that is simply put in to make them retain their shape after being cut up. In stirring it, do so very gently, but aim to cover the whole bottom of the kettle. If you stir it hardthey might possibly sugar for you, and your only idea in stirring is to keep them from sticking. It is very essential to use glucose in order to make a good caramel. If you should overcook it and they are too brittle, or undercook it and they are too soft, the batch may be put back in the kettle with a little more milk or cream, and cooked again. If you have the iron bars we mentioned, grease your slab thoroughly and lay the bars on it so as to form a small square place. Then into your candy, just after taking it off the stove, stir in the vanilla, being careful not to stir it too much while adding this, but just enough to mix it in good, and pour on slab between the bars. Always make the square with the bars small enough as you will want your candy to fill it up level full in order to have your caramels the correct thickness, which should be about three-fourths of an inch. If you have not made the place large enough it is very easy to move one of the bars just a trifle in order to hold all your candy. But if you made the square too large, it is almost impossible to move the bars closer together after pouring your candy out. If you do not wish to use cream, you may use milk or part milk and part cream. If you use all milk add a little butter after the batch begins to boil. These caramels may also be made by simply using only two pints of cream or milk and cooking them twice, instead of three pints and cooking them three times, but are not so rich. If your batch should happen to grain and turn to sugar, put it back in the kettle with a little more glucose and another pint of cream or milk, stir over a slow fire to dissolve, then cook up as before. When these caramels are set or cold, mark them in perfect squares with a knife and one of the bars, then cut up with a large knife, in a sawing motion. If the milk curdles, do not stop stirring and set the batch off, but simply cook according to directions, and the curd will not show. These caramels should be wrapped in wax paper to prevent sticking together. The kettle may be scraped lightly, when pouring these caramels out.
Use the recipe for vanilla caramels and, just after you add the last pint of cream, add enough grated chocolate togive it a good chocolate color, and finish the same, adding the vanilla. Have the chocolate grated before starting to cook.
These caramels are very fine, especially when coated with chocolate. Make same as the vanilla caramel, excepting, when the batch is removed from the fire, color a deep red and flavor with strawberry.
Any kind of nuts may be used. Hickory, almond, filbert, English and black walnuts, are especially good. Chop the nuts up a little with a knife, which makes them look prettier when the caramels are cut, then add to the batch just before pouring on the slab.
Follow the directions exactly as given for vanilla caramels.
A pint can of unsweetened condensed milk, will cost you about ten cents, and can be purchased of most any grocer. Condensed milk is an absolute necessity in this kind of a caramel, for two reasons, namely: to get the peculiar flavor, and to make it hold together, so that it need not be wrapped, by which it is distinguished from the ordinary caramel. Mix the sweet milk or cream and the condensed milk before starting to cook, and in referring to this, we will simply use theword milk. Put the sugar, glucose and one pint of the milk in a kettle, stir and cook until it will form a soft ball when dropped in cold water; then continue stirring and add one-half pint of the remaining milk, pouring slowly, and cook up again until it forms a soft ball, then slowly add the remainder of the milk, being careful to stir all over the bottom of the kettle so that it will not stick, and cook again until it will form into a good firm ball in cold water, but not brittle, remembering that your caramels will be, when cold, the same consistency as this last ball, so you can get it just about as you wish. Then take it off the fire, stir in the vanilla and any kind of nuts you desire, and scrape it out of the kettle on a greased slab, between bars, as directed for making vanilla caramels. When cold, they may be cut up and either wrapped, or just laid side by side on a slightly greased plate. If you make these caramels to sell, it would be well to add a piece of non-paraff about the size of an English walnut, when starting to cook. You may also make this a chocolate caramel, by adding enough grated chocolate, when you add the last half-pint of cream, to give it a good chocolate color. Do not have your fire too hot when cooking these, as they will scorch very easily, and also, stir continually from the time you start, till it is off the fire.
Put the sugar, glucose, and one-half of the cream in a kettle, stir and cook till it forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water, add one-half of the remaining cream, cook up again to a soft ball, then add the remaining half-pint of cream, stir and cook till it forms a good hard ball in cold water. Set off the stove, add the center cream and the vanilla, and stir in good. Rub the batch against the sides of the kettle with the paddle, until it gets pretty thick and grains, then pour out on a greased slab between bars, and let harden. It does not hurtto scrape out the kettle in making these caramels. After these caramels are hard or set, cut up with a sharp knife, by drawing it through the batch, instead of sawing as in other caramels, and after they stand a few hours to dry, after being cut, they may be piled up on a plate, as they will not stick together.
Put all this on hot fire, stir till it commences to boil, wipe down sides of kettle with a damp cloth, cover and steam, put in thermometer and cook to 260. Then pour on greased slab, with bars around the edge to keep it from running off, and just as soon as it commences to cool or stiffen up a little, lift up the edges and fold toward center, and continue doing this until it is cool enough to handle, then pull on the hook until it is snow white. If you wish it vanilla, flavor by pouring the vanilla over it while on the hook, a little at a time, until you have it highly flavored. It is much easier to pull taffy on a hook and also improves it greatly. We have told you about the hook in the item regarding “tools.”
In pulling candy on a hook, first get it up in a ball on the slab, after it has cooled, lay it on the hook and pull it down as far as possible with both hands, then catch hold of the end with one hand, and with the other hand take hold of the batch about two thirds of the way up toward the hook, and then throw the part between your hands up over the hook with a quick motion, then pull batch down again and continue in this manner until it is very white. It is best to pour the flavoring on it when about half pulled, and it will work through the batch by the time it is finished.
Use a little corn starch on the hands quite often while pulling any kind of taffy, to keep them from sticking to the taffy.
Do not scrape out the kettle, except in making “Salt Water Taffy,” and “French Chewing Taffy,” and then, not too much as it will turn your batch to sugar.
If one of your batches should turn to sugar for you, you will know that you have either turned in the edges too soon or too often, or pulled it when too warm. It should be almost cold when you start to pull.
You may substitute corn syrup for glucose in any of these taffies, but you must use a little more than the recipe calls for. Corn syrup is about ninety per cent glucose.
Wrap these taffies in wax paper if you wish to keep them any length of time, and it will keep them from getting sticky.
If you wish to make a strawberry taffy use the recipe for plain vanilla “Taffy,” and while your batch is on the slab, add enough damask rose coloring, to give it a good pink color; but do not work the batch any more, in mixing in the color, than in making plain vanilla taffy. Add the strawberry flavor while pulling. With the exception of adding the color to this, make it exactly the same as plain “Taffy.”
Use recipe and directions for making plain taffy, and simply add grated chocolate to the batch just after you pour it on the slab, and it will easily melt and work through while folding it.
Cook sugar, glucose and water to about 245, steaming down the same as others previously mentioned, and when it is up to this degree, put in the molasses and butter,stirring constantly from this time on, and cook to 260. Pour on greased slab and pull same as others. If you wish nuts of any description in either this or any of the other taffies, they may be added bysprinkling them over the slab just before you pour the candy out to cool.
First break the egg into the pint of cream and beat it thoroughly, and in no case must the egg be put into the candy except in this manner. Gelatine generally comes in one ounce boxes, so you must use just the half of one of these. Put it in a small dish or pan, and pour just enough warm water over it to dissolve it; then set it on the stove where it will not cook, but keep warm until needed. Now put sugar, glucose, cream with egg beaten in it, butter, and piece of paraffine wax about the size of a small walnut, into the kettle, set on fire and stir constantly until it is done. When it commences boiling, put in the thermometer and cook to 254, then take out thermometer, and pour in gradually the dissolved gelatine, and continue stirring until it boils up well again. It must be cooked for about three or four minutes after it boils up with the gelatine in it, then pour on well greased slab, which has previously been sprinkled over thoroughly with black walnuts, or you may use any other nuts you have, or in fact no nuts at all, if you prefer, but you will find the black walnuts greatly improve the flavor of the candy.
As soon as cool enough, fold in toward the center same as other taffies, and when you can handle it nicely, put on the hook and pull until you can pull it no more. It will be quite dark in color while on the slab, but will pull to a nice, creamy white color. This taffy will require considerably more vanilla than other taffies; so flavor it very highly, by pouring the vanilla over it while pulling. You will probably find this candy sticky at times and if the batch is so, and should stick to your hands while pulling it, loosen them with a quick jerk, and you will find the candy will easily pull off, whereas if youshould attempt to loosen your hands slowly, you would not have much success. If the batch should stick somewhat to the slab, take your scraper and pry it up by hitting it very quickly. In other words, simply scoop it up with the scraper, but instead of pushing the scraper underneath it slowly, jab it under very rapidly, and you will find you can readily get the candy up in a ball. You will find this candy very hard to pull if you do not use a hook. As soon as pulled sufficiently, take off the hook by cutting it off close to the hook with a pair of shears, then you may either lay it on a platter, put it in a crock previously lined with wax paper, or lay it on your kneading board and pull it out, a little at a time, into a strip about one inch wide, then cut the strip crosswise into small kisses about the size of your thumb, and when it is all cut up in this manner, wrap each piece in tissue paper. The paper will not stick to it in the least.
This candy is by far the finest taffy made, if you follow these directions carefully, as it never gets very hard, and you will be able to chew it a long time. Cutting it up into kisses, while it may be a little more trouble, is by far the nicest way to fix it.
Put sugar, glucose and water in kettle, stir until it boils, wash down sides of the kettle with a damp cloth, put in thermometer and cook to 260. Set off stove, add butter, glycerine and salt and stir in, then pour on a greased slab between bars. Let cool, then pull on hook as directed for other taffies, and flavor with vanilla while pulling. Be careful not to scrape out the kettle too much in pouring it on the slab, as it is liable to grain it.
Put sugar, glucose and one pint water on fire and cook to 260, then add the cream and cook up again to about 270. Stir gently after adding the cream until done. Pour on greased slab, and when cool enough, pull well on hook, and flavor and color to suit while pulling. Cut up in kisses or small strips. It will be nice and dry and mealy (inside) after standing a few hours. It is not chewy like other taffy, and it is a fine hot weather candy.
Put the sugar, water and cream of tartar into a kettle and cook to 275. Pour it on a greased slab and when cool enough pull it over the hook. Handle the batch as little as possible while cooling, and cool quickly so as to prevent it from turning to sugar as there is no glucose in the taffy. Flavor to taste. Pull out and cut in pieces. Wrap in wax paper. After standing a few hours it will become very creamy, retaining its shape, and not get sticky.
This is a summer taffy.
Cook all this at once, stirring constantly but verygentlyfrom the time you put it on the stove until it is done. When it commences boiling, put in thermometer and cook to about 256 or 258. Be careful to stir underneath thermometer toprevent its sticking. When done, pour on slab, and when cool, pull same as others and flavor with vanilla.
Use the above recipe for “Cream Taffy.” Flavor strong with peppermint while on the slab. After the taffy has been pulled, place it on a table or slab dusted with XXXX sugar. Shape the batch round; pull it out in a long strip, cut into small pieces as you pull it out, and roll them in XXXX sugar. Leave the pieces spread out for a few hours. Place them in an air tight jar where they will turn mealy.
Put sugar, glucose and water in kettle on hot fire, stir until it boils, wash down sides of kettle, then put cover on until it steams well, remove cover and put thermometer in and cook to about 300, then set kettle off the fire and put in the butter, stirring it through the batch thoroughly, then put the kettle back on the fire, and you must now stir it constantly; but before you put the butter in it should not be stirred. Just before you put in the butter, take out the thermometer, as it is less trouble to stir the candy with the thermometer out, and it does not need to be cooked to any exact degree. In putting in the butter, you reduce the temperature of the batch about fifteen degrees, and it is necessary to cook it, after the butter is put in, up to about the point it was before; but you will have no trouble with this, and as soon as it boils up good and hard and commences to turn color a little, drop some off the spoon very quickly in cold water, and if it forms a mass of threads in the water it is done. Be very sure to stir this well after the butter is in it or it will stick. When done, set off the fire and add a good teaspoonful of lemon extract, stir it in well and if you have a funnel, pour itin the funnel, and drop on greased slab in wafers, which is the nicest way to make this butterscotch; or you may pour the whole batch, if you wish, on the greased slab, putting your bars on edge of slab to keep it from running off, and let it run over as large a surface as possible, as the thinner it is, the nicer it will be. Mark it in squares, but do so very quickly, as it does not take it long to harden; and always remember this: that you must take your spatula or a long butcher knife, and loosen the whole batch thoroughly from the slab before it gets perfectly cold, as then it will not stick when cold and also loosen the wafers. Your slab must be well greased before pouring this on, but no matter how well you grease it, if you allow the candy to get perfectly cold before loosening it, you will find it will stick somewhat. In loosening this candy before it gets cold, we do not mean to take it off the slab, but just to simply run something under and loosen it, letting it remain on the slab afterward, and you will find that it does not stick.
Put sugar, glucose and water on the fire, stir until it boils, wipe down sides of the kettle, cover and steam same as other recipe, remove cover, put in thermometer and cook to about 245. You notice, probably, we say “about” in giving degrees in some recipes, which means that if they are one or two degrees either way, it does not hurt them. When the batch is up to 245, put in the molasses, butter, and ginger, and leave the thermometer in it and stir constantly, but not too hard, and cook to about 260, then remove the thermometer, and pour on greased slab and mark and cut up to suit. This candy does not get brittle like the other, but is nice and chewy; and if you put it in boxes, it must be wrapped in wax paper, or the pieces will stick together. We may as well mentionthe fact here, that in most of these candies, you will find that in hot weather, or rather on warm days, it is necessary to cook them several degrees higher than it is on a very cool day. This only applies to candies of this nature, which are called hard boiled candies. In candies which are creamed up, such as fondant, you do not make this distinction, as those must always be cooked the same.
Put sugar, glucose and water on hot fire and stir until it commences boiling, wash down sides of kettle, cover until it steams well, remove cover, and put in thermometer and cook to 275, then take out the thermometer and put in the peanuts and butter, and stir constantly after you put the peanuts in. This of course will reduce the temperature of the batch, but it will soon boil up, and must be cooked until the peanuts are roasted, and the candy becomes a golden brown color, which it does about the time the peanuts are roasted sufficiently. Sometimes the peanuts will commence to pop, which indicates that they are roasted about enough, but if they do not pop, you can very easily tell when they are roasted sufficiently, as a great many of them break open, and by lifting the paddle occasionally with some of the peanuts on it, you can tell by their looks if they are roasted or not. There is no exact degree to which this second cooking must be done, but be careful and do not let your batch get too brown. After making one or two batches you will have no trouble in cooking it correctly. The proper peanuts to use in this candy are the small unroasted Spanish peanuts that we mentioned before. Do not attempt to put roasted peanuts in this candy in this manner but if you should use the roasted ones, they must be stirred in after the candy is cooked, as they would burn black if you put them in as we directed you in using the raw ones.
This candy is intended only to be made with the unroasted peanuts as directed, and if properly done, it is the finest peanut brittle made.
When the peanuts are roasted, set off the fire and stir the vanilla in well. Have your soda dissolved in just a very little water, using only enough to cover it. Immediately after stirring in the vanilla, pour in the dissolved soda and stir through the batch thoroughly, which will cause it to foam up considerably and get lighter in color. As soon as you have it stirred enough so that the batch is thoroughly mixed and foamy, pour on greased slab, and it will be necessary toscrapethe kettle out in making this candy.
Always have your slab warm before pouring this candy on it, as it is cooked very high and will harden very quickly if your slab is cold, which you do not want it to do. If you stand your slab by the stove for a while, previous to making the candy, it will warm it enough. After being on the slab a very few moments, take hold of it all the way around the edge, lift it so as to free it from the slab, then catch hold of one side with both hands, one hand at each end of the batch, and quickly flop the whole batch right over, just the same as you would turn a pancake. Now commence around the edge and stretch it, by pulling it out as thin as possible, and you will find that the candy will stretch out very easily and leave all the peanuts completely covered with the candy.
Always work very rapidly in doing this, and also work around the edges first, as that hardens more quickly than the center of the batch. If your slab is not large enough to hold this candy after it is stretched out, as soon as you stretch part of it, cut that off with a knife and lay it on some smooth surface, so that the candy will be perfectly flat when cool, as it looks better. By cutting it off as you stretch it, in this manner, you will find that after you have worked around the edges, your slab will probably be large enough to hold the remainder of the batch after being stretched out. The thinner you stretch this the nicer it will be, so try and do not leave any thick places in it, and you will find you have the finest peanut candy you ever tasted, being as brittle as glass, and it may be eaten as easily as a soda cracker.
In making this candy, you must have a kettle large enough to allow for the foaming up, and a kettle holding two and one half gallons will easily hold a batch just twice the size of this. You will find it is very easy to flop the batch over, if you loosen it first as we directed you. This is essentially a cold weather candy, as it keeps brittle then, and is much better.
Cook sugar, glucose and water same as in peanut brittle, and when up to 275, remove the thermometer and stir in the butter only, and not the walnuts. Continue stirring after the butter is in until the candy is a golden brown color; then take off the stove and stir in the broken walnut meats, as many as you wish, but the more you put in the better it will taste. Stir them in thoroughly, and also the vanilla; then stir in the soda, the same as in peanut brittle, and pour out on greased slab. Do not flop this batch over and stretch it, as it is not necessary. As soon as batch is partly cool, mark in small oblong pieces and when cold, it will break very easily. This is very fine candy on account of the flavor the black walnuts give it. It is also very fine coated with chocolate.
Cook sugar, glucose and water on hot fire to 275 or 280. Then pour it on well greased slab or platter, which has previously been covered with figs cut up, or dates with seeds removed,putting in just as many as you wish. You may also, if you wish, use nuts of any description in place of the fruit, or part of each. Just before pouring the syrup over them, stir into it a good teaspoonful of vanilla, but do not stir it much or it may sugar for you. When cold break up in small pieces.
Heat the nuts in an oven. Put the sugar, glucose and water into a kettle, stir until it begins to boil, and wash down the sides of the kettle with a damp cloth; put in thermometer and cook to 295. Turn out the fire and remove thermometer, add the butter, salt and essence of lemon, and stir in well, then stir in the warm nuts and scrape out on a greased slab. After it has been on the slab about thirty seconds, turn the batch upside down and commence pulling it out thin, as directed in making peanut brittle. You may use any kind of nuts in this, as they are all good in this kind of candy: English walnuts, black walnuts, roasted peanuts, almonds, filberts, pecans, or hickory nuts. This candy must be kept in air-tight cans or jars in wet weather or it will become sticky.