Cook sugar, glucose and water to 280, in the same manner as other candies; then take out thermometer and put inthe molasses and butter, and a good pinch of salt, and stir constantly after adding these. Cook until it is very brittle when dropped in water or until you can distinguish it just commencing to burn. Then take off the fire and pour it over about ten quarts of popped corn, stirring it constantly as you pour the syrup over it, so that it will all be covered, and as soon as this is done, it is best to scoop it out of the pan and spread it out on your slab somewhat, so that it will not pack down any, which it would do if you allowed it to remain in the pan. Before pouring this candy on the corn, it is best to have your corn free from all the small hard grains, and put the well popped ones in some very large pan before pouring the syrup over it.
Put the sugar in a small kettle with just enough water to dissolve the sugar, stir until it boils, put in thermometer and cook to 222. Have the corn ready in a good sized kettle, and as soon as the syrup is cooked, pour over the corn in a fine stream. Have someone stir the corn while you pour the syrup in it. Continue stirring briskly, until the corn separates, and turn out on your work board or wax paper and immediately pull the grains apart. You may also add a little red or green color to the syrup before pouring it on the corn. Have the corn slightly warmed in the oven, so that the sugar syrup will grain easily.
Put the sugar, glucose and water into a kettle and stir until it commences to boil. Put in the thermometer and cook to 240. Add vanilla. Pour the syrup slowly over the corn, stirring well. Moisten the hands with cold water and take out the desired amount of corn, pressing it into a ball.
Maple sugar may be used instead of the white. For a variety, color the white syrup pink and flavor with strawberry.
Have the corn slightly warmed in the oven, so that when the batch is done cooking, you can get the corn and syrup mixed good, and the balls moulded up before it gets too cold.
Put the sugar, glucose and water in a kettle, stir until it boils, wash down the sides of the kettle with a damp cloth and cook to 240. Take out the thermometer and add the raw peanuts and stir continually, until the batch turns a yellowish color, and the peanuts pop and are roasted. Simply lift out the paddle with a few peanuts on it occasionally, is a better way to tell when the peanuts are roasted enough. Do not try to get these peanuts too brown in the kettle, as they will roast considerably after being poured on the slab, but just until they turn a yellowish color and pop in the kettle. You must stir the batch continually after you add the peanuts, and do not use too hot a fire. They are liable to scorch a little but if your fire is right and you stir them enough, they will be all right. As soon as the peanuts are roasted, remove from the fire, take out the paddle and scrape out of the kettle onto a greased slab, between the bars. Take a knife and spread it out even, so that it will fill all the corners of the square made by the bars. Take a greased rolling pin, and run over the top to smooth it down a little. When almost cool, run a knife under the batch to loosen it from the slab. Then cut or saw the batch in bars as desired, but do this while it is yet warm. Have the raw peanuts ready so that when the thermometer registers 240 you can take it out, put in the paddle and peanutsand start stirring immediately, and remember, if the fire is too hot, but not allowed to just simmer, it is liable to scorch the candy before the nuts are half roasted. It is best to wrap this candy in wax paper, or put it in air-tight cans or jars in wet weather. Do not make this candy in warm weather and expect to get good results, as it is essentially a cold weather candy.
Roast the almonds in the oven, (or peanuts if you desire) and chop fine, then set them where they will keep warm until needed. Put sugar, glucose and one-half pint of water in the kettle, set on fire, and stir until it commences to boil; then take out paddle, wash down sides of the kettle and cook to 295. Set off the fire and remove thermometer, put in the butter and essence of lemon, and stir in well. Have someone add the warm nuts slowly, while you stir them in, and when mixed good set the kettle back on the fire for a second or two, to loosen the batch in the kettle, then scrape out on a greased slab between bars, about three-quarters of an inch thick; roll it out even between the bars with a rolling pin quickly, and mark off into blocks three-eighths by one inch and cut while still warm. You will have to watch very close, so that your batch will not get too stiff before you get it cut up. You must use a sharp knife and use a sawing motion while cutting, as you cannot push the knife straight down and cut them right. If your batch should happen to get too cold before you get it cut up, hold it over the fire, turning it over to warm both sides, until it softens or bends easily, then finish cutting. This is an elegant piece, when dipped in chocolate, but they must not be coated until they are perfectly cold.
Put sugar, glucose and horehound tea, (the strength of the tea will depend upon the individual taste) into a kettle, stir until it boils, wash down the sides of the kettle with a damp cloth, put in thermometer and cook to 295 to 300; when it reaches that point, remove the thermometer and get it off the fire as quickly as possible. Then pour on a greased slab, with the bars set out far enough so that when the batch has been poured out evenly, it will be about a quarter of an inch thick. As soon as it cools a little, run a long knife underneath the batch, to loosen it from the slab; then mark it into squares any size desired, and keep going over the marks with a knife until it is cold, then break up with the hands. Pack in an air-tight jar and it will keep for a long time in a cool place. This also may be wrapped in wax paper.
Take about one pound of granulated sugar and one small tablespoonful of glucose, pour over it just enough water to dissolve it well, stir until it commences boiling, wash down sides, cover and steam, then remove cover, and cook without the thermometer until it just starts to turn straw color. Do not allow it to discolor any, but take it off the fire just at the moment it commences turning color. If you wish, you may use the thermometer in this and cook it to about 295, but you will have no trouble in doing it without the thermometer. Have your double boiler setting on the stove with boiling water underneath it, or else have a small bowl in a pan of boiling water in order that either of them will be very warm. Then stir a few drops of lemon extract into your syrup which you have just cooked, but do it very gently, then pour the syrup into the double boiler and set it on the table and commence dipping. Have handy your nuts, dates with seeds removed, figs cut in small pieces, any kind of candied fruit, especiallycandied cherries, as they are very pretty prepared in this manner, and proceed to dip them in this syrup in exactly the same manner that we directed you to dip bon-bons, only in dipping these fruits and nuts in this syrup, you must be very careful and not disturb the syrup more than is absolutely necessary. Just drop your nut in, and quickly lift it out and lay on a piece of tin if you have it, or the bottom of a tin pan will do, as they do not stick a particle to tin and will harden in a very few seconds. Malaga grapes are also very nice dipped in this manner. Marshmallows cut in two and dipped are also very fine. Candied cherries are really the prettiest fruit that you can dip in this manner, as they show up very nicely in decorating a box. As soon as you see your syrup commencing to get cloudy looking, you must stop dipping, and as quickly as possible, scrape the remaining syrup out into a kettle, and it may be used for making table syrup but must not be used for this work again. It will be necessary for you to cook more sugar in the same manner as you did before, if you are not through dipping.
Take one pound of granulated sugar with enough water to dissolve it, and cook with the thermometer, in the same manner as other candies, to about 275, then set off the stove, and pour into it as many filberts or hazelnuts as this will cover, and stir them well until they sugar, and become very white, which will be in a few moments. Have your nuts previously roasted a little and the skins rubbed off. Do this by putting them in a pan in the oven, watch them closely, and as soon as they are nearly brown enough, take them out, and as they brown considerably after taken out of the oven, you will find, when cooled, they will be about right; but if you had allowed them to get good and brown in the oven, they would be roasted too much when cold. These are very fine eating, especially for a luncheon or tea party and also look very pretty if used in decorating your boxes. If some of them should stick together when sugaring, break them apart before serving.
Cut the gelatine in pieces about one inch long, with a pair of shears, and put into a kettle, and over this pour the boiling water, then set aside. Put sugar and glucose into another kettle and remember that this is the kettle you will cook the batch in. Now take the kettle with the gelatine in, and add enough warm water to cover the gelatine, which by this time has puffed up quite a bit, and set on the fire and stir until it starts to boil. Then turn out the fire and continue stirring until it is dissolved, then strain this through a sieve or collander, into the kettle which contains the sugar and glucose. Now set the batch on the fire, stir and cook to 220. Remember to stir this from the time you set it on the fire, until it is cooked, and try to cover the whole bottom of the kettle with the paddle while stirring to prevent scorching. When the exact degree is reached, set it off the fire and let stand about ten minutes, then add one-half teaspoonful essence of lemon, and one and one-half pounds of ground figs, and stir through. Prepare the slab by dusting it well with XXXX sugar. Pour the jelly on the slab, between the bars, about three-fourths of an inch thick. This size batch will fill a place about twelve inches square. Sprinkle the top with XXXX sugar and let it stand a few hours until it sets, when it can be cut as desired. This jelly may be made any flavor or color you want and you may want to change the flavors occasionally. Here are a few: Color red when the batch is cooked and flavor with strawberry. Color green and flavor either mint or lime. Color orange and flavor the same. For lemon, use no color and flavor lemon. Roll the pieces, after being cut, in XXXX sugar and it can either be packed away or eaten as it is. If your batch gets a little softer than you like it, simply cook it two degrees higher the next time.
Put sugar, glucose and water into a kettle, set on the fire, stir until it commences boiling. Then take out the paddle and wash down the sides of the kettle with a damp cloth, and cook to 252. Beat the egg whites while this is cooking, or better still, have someone beat them for you, and as soon as the thermometer registers 252, take the kettle off the fire. Put the well beaten egg whites into a pan and have them ready, then take your paddle or spoon and rub the candy against the sides of the pan, until the batch looks a little cloudy or shows white streaks, being careful not to work it too long, then put the paddle into the kettle with the eggs, and pour slowly about one-half of the batch into the eggs, and have someone stir the eggs continually while pouring. Then immediately put the paddle back into the other kettle, and pour the eggs into the kettle with the plain syrup, stirring the syrup continually. The kettle which held the eggs may be scraped out clean, but you must remember to do this double mixing as quickly as possible or the syrup is liable to sugar and harden for you before you get it mixed. Continue beating, and when it begins to stiffen a little, add one-half teaspoonful of essence of pineapple, and about a handful of candied pineapple, cut fine. When stiff enough to handle, drop out on wax paper or buttered plates in the following manner: With a large spoon, take a spoonful from around the edge, where it stiffens first and with a fork push off small portions of it onto the wax paper or plates. It should harden in a short time after being dropped. If it is slow in stiffening in the kettle, let it stand a few minutes. It should be stiff enough to stand and not flatten, when dropped on the paper. Do not allow the syrup to cool before starting to grain the batch in the kettle, but start rubbing it against the sides of the pan as soon as you take it off the fire. If the puffs are too hard, cook them two degrees lower, the next time.
Use the recipe for Pineapple Puffs, and simply add the nuts in place of the pineapple, and vanilla flavor instead of the essence of pineapple. Hickory nuts or pecans are considered the best.
Make the same as pineapple puffs, using candied cherries and vanilla flavor in place of the pineapple fruit and flavor. This may also be colored a delicate pink and are fine when dipped in chocolate.
Put the sugar, glucose and cream into a kettle, stir until it boils, then put in thermometer, keep stirring and cook to 234. Set off the fire and add the bon-bon cream and beat until the bon-bon cream is all melted, and the batch stiffens a little. Chop the nuts a little and work them in the batch. Beat slowly until the candy is stiff enough to stand and not flatten out when dropped on wax paper or buttered plates, then spoon out as directed in dropping pineapple puffs. English walnuts are the standard nuts to use for penoche, but pecans or hickory nuts are excellent. If you do not use fresh milk or cream, your batch is very liable to curdle. If you keep stirring it continually and do not let it stand, you may even prevent it from curdling at all. But if it should, you will know that the milk or cream was not fresh. If it curdles, cook it up just the same, and while not being as smooth, will taste all right.
Melt some fondant in a double boiler and flavor it with vanilla. Choose perfect halves of shell bark nut meats. Dip each nut meat in the cream, giving it a thin coat. Drop them on wax paper. After they are all dipped in this manner, put some fresh fondant in the double boiler and heat the cream just enough so that you can use it for dipping. Flavor with vanilla. Dip them a second time and drop them on wax paper.
Melt some fondant in a double boiler. Color a light yellow and flavor with grated rind of lemon. Choose perfect halves of white English walnuts. Dip them into the fondant and drop them on wax paper. If they are not coated sufficiently thick, dip them a second time. One dipping is usually sufficient.
Put the sugar, water and cream of tartar into a kettle, set on the fire, and stir until it commences to boil, then take out the paddle and wash down the sides of the kettle with a damp cloth, put in the thermometer and cook to 248. Have someone beat the egg whites stiff, so that they will be ready when this batch is done cooking. Put the egg whites in a kettle large enough to hold the eggs and both of these batches, and allow room for beating. Have the eggs in the kettle ready, and as soon as the batch reaches 248, remove the thermometer and get the batch off the fire as quickly as possible, so that the batch does not cook up one or two degrees while you are doing this, as that is sufficient to spoil the whole thing. As soon as the batch is cooked and off the fire, pour at once very slowly, into the beaten egg whites, and havesomeone stir the egg whites while you are pouring, in order to mix the batch with the eggs thoroughly, but do not let the syrup drip out, and under no circumstances scrape out the kettle after it is all poured out and will not run out easily or in a fine stream. Continue stirring the eggs for a minute, then stop stirring, and let it stand undisturbed until you pour in the second batch. Do not wash out the kettle after the first batch is done, but set it on the scales the way it is, then weigh up the second batch and cook at once.
Set on the fire, stir until it boils, wash down sides of the kettle, put in the thermometer and cook to 258. Take out the thermometer quickly and get off the fire, as directed in the first batch, and immediately pour slowly into the first batch with the eggs, stirring the egg batch continually, and it does not hurt to scrape out the kettle a little in this last batch. Now beat the batch until it begins to get a little stiff, then add a good tablespoon of vanilla flavor; keep beating until it gets pretty thick and then add about one and one-half pounds of English walnuts, candied cherries and pineapple cut fine, or just walnuts alone. Mix through well and scrape out of the kettle into a small bucket or a deep bread pan, which has been previously lined with rice paper. This paper need not be taken off but can be eaten right with the candy. After it has stood for a few hours it may be cut up as desired. If your batch is a little too dry, but not too hard, add a trifle more glucose than the recipe calls for, the next time. Keep this in a crock, with a damp cloth on top of the crock, and it will stay fresh a long time. This is an elegant piece, when coated in chocolate.
Put the sugar, glucose and water into a kettle and set on the fire. Stir until it begins to boil, wash down the sides of the kettle with a damp cloth, put in the thermometer and cook to 254. Have someone beat the egg whites stiff and put them into another kettle and have them ready. As soon as the thermometer registers 254, take off the fire quickly and begin at once to rub the syrup against the sides of the kettle, to grain it a little, occasionally splashing the batch up against the sides to wash down that which is creaming. When the batch begins to look cloudy and shows white streaks, stop graining, put the paddle into the pan with the eggs, and commence pouring slowly about one-half of the syrup into the eggs, stirring the eggs while pouring, then immediately pour the eggs back into the syrup, stirring the syrup very fast. Scrape out all the eggs and syrup that sticks to the pan that originally held the eggs, and keep beating the batch. Scrape down the syrup that splashes on the sides of the kettle occasionally, and beat until it begins to stiffen a little, then add a teaspoonful of vanilla and a teaspoonful of orange flower water. Beat through well, then add about a pound and a half of almonds, walnuts, candied cherries and pineapple, cut fine. Mix in well and scrape out of kettle into a pan which has been previously dusted with XXXX sugar and let set a few hours. When set or hard cut up in pieces weighing about thirteen ounces, shape round and long with flat ends about two inches thick, dusting with XXXX sugar. Then dip in milk chocolate and when the chocolate hardens, cut up as desired. Do not grain the batch too much before pouring into the eggs or it will harden before you can get it mixed. You can also use your own judgment about the kind of nuts or fruit you like, but we simply tell you to use candied fruit and nuts together as that seems to be the most popular.
Remove the seeds from the dates. Color and flavor some fondant. Form it by rolling it in small pieces and lay it in the date; press it together firmly. Dust with XXXX sugar. Pistachio flavor with a delicate color of green is especially nice.
Remove the seeds from the dates and fill them with nuts; press together firmly and roll in granulated sugar.
Keep the peel of the fruit as you use it, in a weak brine until enough has collected to preserve. Wash it thoroughly in several waters. Let it boil in plenty of water until tender, changing the water several times. If the peels are fresh, they need be boiled in one water only. When they can be pierced with a straw, drain off the hot water. Let them cool and scrape out the white pulp with a spoon. Make enough syrup to cover the yellow peels, using the proportion of a pound of sugar to a pint of water. When the syrup is boiling, drop in the peels and let them cook slowly until they are clear. Then boil rapidly until the syrup is reduced to dryness, using care that it does not burn. Spread the peels on a flat dish and place them in a warm place to dry for 12 hours or more. When perfectly dry pack them into preserve jars. They are cut into shreds and used in cakes, puddings, and wherever raisins and citron are used. The boiled peel may be cut into shreds before being cooked in the syrup.
Although spinning sugar has been called the climax of the art of sugar work, you need not be deterred from trying it. It cannot be made on a damp day or in a moist atmosphere.
Spun sugar makes a beautiful decoration for ice creams, glace fruits and other cold desserts.
Put the sugar, water and cream of tartar into a kettle and stir until it commences to boil. Wipe down the sides of the kettle and steam. Put in the thermometer and cook to 310. Care must be used so that it does not burn. Remove it from the fire. Place the pan in a pan of cold water to stop the boiling, because the heat of the pan and sugar might cause it to boil higher.
Place two of the steel bars (which you use for the slab) on a table so that the ends project a little way; spread some papers on the floor under them. For spinning, two forks may be used, but some wires drawn through a cork are better because they give more points. After the syrup has cooled a little; take the pan in the left hand, the wire or forks in the right; dip them into the syrup and spin it over the rods, and on the return motion, under the rods; fine threads of sugar will fly off the points and remain on the rods. If the syrup gets too cold, it may be reheated. Take the spun sugar carefully off the rods from time to time and fold it around a pan turned over, or roll it into nests or any form desired. Place the spun sugar under a glass globe as soon as made. Under an air tight globe with a piece of lime, it may be kept crisp for a day or two, but it readily gathers moisture, and it is better to make it the day it is to be used. Do not attempt to make it on a damp or rainy day, and do not have a boiling kettle in the room.
Put one tablespoonful butter in your kettle, for each pint of nuts you have, and set the kettle on the stove until the butter melts and is very hot, then put the nuts in the kettle with the butter, and stir constantly until nearly done, or brown enough, as they cook somewhat after taking off the stove, then sprinkle well with salt, and pour them out in a sieve which has been set over a pan, so as to allow any remaining butter to run off. If you wish, you may first blanch your almonds by pouring boiling water over them, and then rubbing off the skins, as you all know how.
You will find these nuts far nicer, when roasted and salted in this manner, than by doing it in the oven, as they are more brittle and nicer in every way.
Use the raw Spanish peanuts, without blanching them, and roast and salt in the same manner as directed for almonds.
crawing of what looks like pastry scraperBon-Bon Divider
Bon-Bon Divider
Dainty looking candy may be spoiled in packing, and what would be a nice appearing box of candy loses its charm because it is not packed with care and taste.
Candy boxes may be bought in almost every town, but if you have saved some that you have received, these may be used as well. Paste an appropriate postal card over the name of the firm on the lid.
Line the box with wax paper and cut it so that it will be large enough to fold over the top of the full box of candy.
Put chocolates, fudge and creams in the bottom of the box. If you have made some of the brittles, you will find them very convenient to fill in hollows so that the bottom is level.
beautiful box of chocolates: The Home Candy Makers
Illustration on previous page will give you a good idea how to arrange the candy in diagonal rows. Be very careful not to put rows of candy near each other which do not harmonize. Fill in the corners of the box with coated nuts, grilled nuts and candied cherries so that it looks well filled.
Ornament the top of the box with crystalized mint and rose leaves, crystalized violets, large silvered dragees and chocolate coated nuts wrapped in tin foil; two or three is sufficient for one box.
Fold over the wax paper, and cover the box with a candy box lace. Tie a piece of embroidery floss, white, around the box and put on the lid.
Cut white paper the correct size of your box, making it long enough so that when the ends are folded up they will just come to the top of the box. Tie the box with gilt cord.
Sometimes bon-bons with a soft center are put in bon-bon cases, which adds to the appearance of the box.
Put the sugar, glucose and water in the kettle and set on hot fire. Stir this and wipe down sides of kettle same as bon-bon cream, and when it starts to boil, cover until it steams well, remove cover, put in thermometer, and cook to 238, then remove from the fire and pour on slab which has previously been moistened a little. You will see that so far, you handle this the same as bon-bon cream, but it is not necessary to use quite so much care with it, as the glucose in it has a tendency to keep it from sugaring any, but do not get careless with it simply because we tell you this. This fondant must not stand until perfectly cold, but commence creaming it when about half cold, and cream it in the same way that you do bon-bon cream. It is better to scoop this fondant off into your crock just before it sets firmly. When you see it is up to that point, quickly scoop it into the crock, for if you allow it to remain on the slab until it sets perfectly hard, and sweat it same as bon-bon cream, it is very sticky to handle. If youshould happen to scoop it into the crock a few seconds too soon, it does not matter, as it will come out just the same in the end. It will take longer to cream this fondant than it does bon-bon cream. When you put it in the crock, cover with a damp cloth the same as the other. This is a snow white, very soft, smooth, and sticky fondant, and is used for the centers of chocolate creams, as it makes a much softer center for them than bon-bon cream does. We will tell you farther on how to handle it, but always remember, we will speak of this ascenter creamand the other, bon-bon cream.
Make exactly same as above, only instead of white sugar, use two-third maple and one-third white. If you use maple syrup instead of maple sugar, allow two pounds of syrup for every pound of sugar desired. You will find this cream very sticky, and it takes longer to cream it up than the other, but it makes a delicious chocolate cream. Do not get discouraged and think it is not going to cream for you, for if you cooked it to the right degree, it will never fail to cream.
As you use the center cream for the inside of chocolate creams, you must have some method of moulding them on account of that cream being so soft and sticky. This is done in cornstarch, the same kind as you use for cooking purposes, as that does not stick to the candy in the least. Get the cheapest grade possible, as that answers the purpose. It should cost you from five to eight cents a box, and we would advise you to get four or five boxes at once, as it never spoils and may be used indefinitely, over and over again. When you are through with it, scoop it out into a large jar until you need it again.
Take a square, shallow pan, from one-half to one inch deep, or a pie pan will answer the purpose as well, andsiftstarch into it until you have enough in to fill it. Then with a smooth stick that extends over each side of the pan, smooth it off very even. By having the stick extend over edges of the pan, you will not pack the starch down, which is very necessaryto avoid, as you cannot make your impressions perfect if your starch is packed in the least, and consequently this starch must besiftedinto the pan and not scooped in. In smoothing it off, place your stick on the pan at one end and push it across, and in that manner you will not pack the starch in the least. Now take your stick with the style of moulds glued on you intend using, take hold of each end of it, and press the moulds down into the starch until the stick strikes the sides of the pan; carefully raise the stick and you will then find your impressions in the starch ready to be filled. Continue in this manner until you have the pan full of impressions, always remembering that every time you make a new row of impressions, you must, when pressing the moulds down in the starch, press away from the ones you just made, the least trifle, so you will not spoil them, as this cornstarch is very treacherous, and if you should happen to press the moulds the least bit toward the impressions previously made, you would cause them to cave in. By having the ends of your stick protrude over the edges of the pan as directed, you will thus get all the impressions the exact depth. You must bevery carefuland do not jar the table a particle or attempt to move the pan before filling the impressions with center cream, for if you do, you are liable to spoil them.
Take as much center cream as you wish, and put it into the double boiler with hot water underneath it, set on the fire and stir until it melts, and do not allow any water to get in with the cream. As soon as it is thin, color and flavor any way you wish, and let it remain on the stove until it gets good and hot. It must be hot or it will not harden in the starch, but remember the hotter you get it, the harder it will be after it is cool, and as you do not wish them to be too hard, be careful and not allow it to get too hot. The best way to test this, is to take some out upon your spoon and touch your tongue to it and if it is very warm it is ready to use. Now set off the stove, but do not take the inside boiler with the cream in it out of the water, as it must be kept warm. Dip a little out in a spoon and pour it into the impression. In doing this you will soon get an idea about how much to dip out each time in the spoon in order to fill the impression. If you havedipped out too much to fill it, as soon as it is full, quickly turn the spoon up, as you only want the impression level full. Continue in this manner until you fill them all. You must work rapidly, and will soon be able to drop the cream in the impressions without striking the edges and breaking them down. If you use a funnel to drop these centers, you must warm it a little over a fire, but do not get it hot, just warm; then take the handle of the funnel in your left hand, and with your right hand push the stick down into the end of the funnel, and have someone else pour the heated center cream into the funnel. Hold the end of the funnel over one of the impressions in the starch, and lift the stick with your right hand, allowing enough cream to run into the mould to fill it. Continue in this manner till all have been filled. If the cream becomes too thick to run out of the spoon, or funnel, readily, set it back on the stove a few moments, until the water under it boils again, then it will be thin enough to run out as before. If you made this cream correctly in the first place, it will never be necessary to add any water to it in order to have it run out of the spoon; but in case you misread your thermometer and cooked it a little too much, it may be so thick that it will require a few drops of water, but add very little. In from ten to twenty minutes, the centers will be hard enough to pick out of the starch and blow off. Very little of the starch will stick to them as you lift them out, but what does will blow off easily. You may do this with your mouth, or better still, if you have any kind of a small bellows in the house, put the centers in a pan as you take them from the starch, and when they are all taken out, squeeze the bellows on them several times, and they are perfectly clean. In blowing this starch off, we would advise you to take them outdoors and do it, as the starch makes quite a dust in the kitchen. They are now ready to coat with chocolate, and do this as directed in article on Chocolate Coating.
All chocolate creams are moulded in this manner, excepting Orientals. You may make these any shape or size centers that you have moulds for. These centers should be coated within several hours after being moulded.
If you wish chopped nuts of any kind in the centers, stir them in well, just before you commence dropping them in the starch, or you may if you wish, drop a large piece or a whole half of a nut in each impression, then pour the cream on top of it.
If you use a funnel, and wish to use nuts in the centers, do not add the nuts to the cream before being run in the starch, but simply drop them in the empty mould before hand, and run the cream on top, till it fills the mould.
If they do not harden in the starch, it is because of the water you added or else because you did not get the cream hot enough, and they may be picked out, blown off, and re-melted again without hurting the cream in the least. These centers will mellow up a great deal after being coated with chocolate, and are better after they stand a few days.
If you should have more cream melted up than you have impressions made for, you may flavor it highly with wintergreen or peppermint, and with a spoon, drop it out in wafers.
While it really does not come under this heading, we will say here that centers moulded in this manner and coated with bon-bon cream make a very nice cheap bon-bon, but are not to be compared with the ones made after the style we direct you to, in article on Bon-Bon Making. A great many confectioners never make bon-bons in any other manner than this, but you will see the others are much finer.
It is a failing of many persons to heat the center too hot so that it will run through the funnel more readily, but the result is a hard center that will never get soft, and nothing can be done to soften it after it is once hard. A chocolate center becomes soft within three or four days.
You may make them any flavor or color you desire. You may, if you wish, roll bon-bon cream up into balls and coat them with chocolate, but this does not make a nice chocolate cream, and the proper way is to mould the centers in cornstarch as directed, using the center cream for this purpose. Either rose, wintergreen, peppermint, strawberry, vanilla, or lemon make a fine chocolate cream. It is best to make eachflavor a different shape. Color the rose, strawberry, and wintergreen a delicate pink and the lemon a deep yellow. The vanilla should be left uncolored, and you may put chopped nuts in any of these in the manner we directed, in article on Cornstarch Work.
When moulded, blow off the starch, and coat with chocolate as directed in article on Chocolate Coating. If you desire a nut on the top of any of your chocolates make a flat shaped center, and put the nut on before the chocolate sets, and press down very gently, so as not to make a base on them. Maple chocolates, made from maple center cream in this manner, are very fine. English walnuts, pecans, or almonds, blanched and split in two, are the prettiest nuts for this purpose; however, we do not advise putting nuts on chocolate creams, except on rare occasions, as you will notice the finest grades of chocolate creams do not have nuts on them.
If you are able to purchase any silver dragees, which are kept only in large candy stores, they are very pretty on the tops of chocolate creams. As you see by this, there is no limit to the many different styles of chocolate creams possible to make, by adopting any ideas you have of your own and following this recipe.
Buy your marshmallows, as that is cheaper and much easier than making them, and coat them with chocolate the same as chocolate creams. If they are very large, it is best to cut them in two before coating, as they will look prettier. Pistachio nuts, chopped very fine and sprinkled over them before the chocolate sets, look very nice.
Make some caramels, either vanilla or strawberry flavor, which are the best for this purpose, and coat same as directed for other chocolates.
Remove the seeds from dates, roll them up, and coat with chocolate as directed. If you stuff these dates with chopped hickory nuts after removing seeds, then press firmly together and coat with chocolate, they are very fine.
Buy some fig paste or Oriental jelly, and coat with chocolate same as others, and you will find it makes a very fine piece of candy.
Cut freshly made fudge up in squares and coat with chocolate. Chocolate fudge, coated in this manner, is probably better than the other flavors. Opera fudge, cut into squares and coated with chocolate, is much nicer than the other kind of fudge.
Drop out some wintergreen or peppermint wafers in the manner described before, only use center cream instead of bon-bon cream, then coat with chocolate. It is best to use the center cream in making these, as it mellows up more after being coated than bon-bon cream, as it is much softer.
Make a batch of walnut brittle as directed, and cut into oblong pieces about one inch long, then coat with chocolate. These are very brittle and nice eating.
Select large candied cherries, and coat with chocolate same as other centers. These are probably the finest chocolates you can make, and also the most expensive, and I would advise you to only use them in dressing off the top layer of your boxes.
Either English walnuts, pecans, or Brazil nuts are very fine when coated with chocolate. Do it in the same manner as other chocolate coating, but do not roast these nuts before coating them.
Roast the almonds in the oven, being careful about getting them too brown, and when cool, coat with chocolate.Never coat nuts of any description with anything butsweetcoating; if you should use chocolate on them that is the least particle bitter, they would not taste good at all. The best way to coat these small nuts, is to work your chocolate, then put in quite a number of the nuts, roll them around a little, then with a pair of tweezers, lift them out one at a time and lay on your oilcloth. This is much quicker than lifting them out with your hands, one at a time.
Roast the filberts in the oven, same as you do other nuts, then coat with chocolate, and in laying them on the oilcloth, lay three of them in the form of a triangle so that they will touch each other, then lay another one on top and when the chocolate is set, they will stick firmly together and look very pretty in a box. If you have a pair of tweezers, they are very convenient with which to pick the nuts out of the chocolate, and lay them so that they will touch each other. In laying the last filbert on top, if you will allow quite a little chocolate to stick to it as you lift it out, it will improve the looks of the pyramid, as it will run down over the other nuts.
Pour out a little chocolate coating, work it until nearly cold, then mix into it broken pecan meats until it is pretty thick, then with a spoon drop it in the form of patties on the oilcloth, and make them about the size of a silver dollar. Have enough nuts mixed in the chocolate so that they will be thick enough to hold their shape after being dropped out and will not spread any, and consequently they will be very rough looking, which they should be. These are about the finest candy in this line which it is possible to make, providing of course that you use the Sweet Coating for this purpose.
Make them in the same manner as pecan fritters. Always use roasted peanuts, and if you have the raw Spanish peanuts, roast them in the oven first, as they are better than the large peanuts.
Cut some candied pineapple into points and coat with chocolate.
Molasses and Moonlight Kisses are greatly improved when coated with chocolate. Cut the kisses into pieces about two inches long and coat with chocolate.
Buy a few Nabisco wafers, cut them in four pieces and dip in sweet chocolate.
Make a batch of cocoanut centers as given in this book, roll them round and dip in chocolate. This makes a nice topping piece for your boxes. You may also set a small round dragee on top of the ball, while the chocolate is still warm.
Drain the liquor from red or white Maraschino cherries. Melt some fondant, and dip each cherry in the melted fondant. It is well to add a little of the liquor to the fondant while melting, as this has a tendency to make the fondant watery in about a day. As soon as you have dipped all the cherries, and the fondant on them has cooled, commence at once to coat with chocolate. If after you have finished coating, and you find little drops of syrup standing out on the chocolate coated cherries, simply cover these holes with a little cooled chocolate and it will stop at once; for if allowed to drop out, the cherries would be dry in a few days. These are best wrapped in wax paper.