The Century Cook Book Part 107

At the 9th a little, dropped into water, will break when cooled. At 300 it begins to a.s.sume a light color, and a few drops of lemon-juice should be added (four drops to a pound of sugar). At 310 it breaks off sharp and crisp, and crackles when chewed.

[Sidenote: Eleventh.]

The Caramel, 345-350

It now a.s.sumes a yellow color, and great care must be used or it will burn. The cooking must be arrested as soon as it is taken from the fire by holding the pan in cold water for a minute or so. A skewer or stick is the best thing to use for testing, as the little sugar that adheres to it will cool quickly. Dip the stick first into water, then into the sugar, and again into water.

SYRUPS

[Sidenote: Syrup kept in stock.]

To use a syrup gauge have a gla.s.s deep enough to allow the gauge to float. A small cylindrical gla.s.s like the one shown in ill.u.s.tration is best, as it requires so little syrup that removing and pouring it back does not arrest the boiling.

Syrups can be prepared and kept in air-tight preserve jars until needed for use. It is well to have in stock syrup at 34 for softening fondant when used for icing cakes, eclairs, etc.

Water-ices should register 18-20 on the gauge when ready to freeze. Fruits to be frozen are better when sweetened with syrup at 32 than when sugar is used.

[Sidenote: Making syrup without a gauge.]

To prepare syrup without a gauge the following method can be employed: Put into a saucepan three and one half cupfuls of sugar and two and one half cupfuls of water. Stir it over the fire until the sugar is dissolved. After it has boiled five minutes, counting from the time it is actually boiling, it will register 28; every five minutes' additional boiling will thicken it one degree.

At the end of 15 minutes it is 30.

At the end of 25 minutes it is 32.

At the end of 35 minutes it is 34.

FONDANT

[Sidenote: The uses of fondant.]

Fondant is the basis of all French cream candies. It can be kept any length of time in air-tight preserve jars, and used as needed for the various purposes which it serves. A great variety of bonbons can be made of it by using different flavors, colors, and nuts in various forms and combinations.

Some of these are given under "Candies," but each one's taste may suggest something different. Fondant makes the nicest icing for small cakes; strawberries with the hulls on dipped into fondant make a delicious fruit glace. It will be found easy to make fondant if the directions given below are strictly followed.

TO MAKE FONDANT

[Sidenote: Testing.]

[Sidenote: Cooling.]

[Sidenote: Working.]

Place in a copper or a graniteware saucepan two cupfuls of granulated sugar, one cupful of water, and a scant half saltspoonful of cream of tartar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, but not a minute longer. As it boils, a thin sc.u.m of crystals will form around the edge of the pan. These must be wiped away by wetting a cloth or brush in water and pa.s.sing it around the dish without touching the boiling sugar. This must be done frequently, or as often as the crystals form, or the whole ma.s.s will become granular. When large bubbles rise it must be carefully watched and tested, as from this time it quickly pa.s.ses from one stage to another. Have a cup of ice-water and a skewer or small stick; dip it into the water, then into the sugar, and again into the water. If the sugar which adheres to it can be rolled into a soft ball, it is done. This is the stage of small-ball, and the thermometer registers 236-238 (see page 512). Have ready a marble slab, very lightly but evenly rubbed over with sweet-oil. If a slab is not at hand, a large platter will serve the purpose. The moment the sugar is done, pour it over the slab and let it cool a few minutes, or until, pressing it with the finger, it leaves a dent on the surface. If stirred while too warm it will grain. If a crust forms, every particle of it must be taken off, or else the boiling must be done again, as it shows it has cooked a little too long. When it will dent, work it with a wooden spatula, keeping the ma.s.s in the center as much as possible. Continue to stir until it becomes a very smooth, fine, white, creamy paste, which is soft and not brittle and can be worked in the hands like a thick paste. If the results are not right and the ma.s.s becomes grained, the sugar need not be wasted, but can be put in the saucepan with a spoonful of water and boiled again. In stirring the fondant do not mix in the sc.r.a.pings unless the whole is still very soft. They can be worked by themselves afterward. Confectioners use one part of glucose to ten of sugar and boil to 240.

SPUN SUGAR

[Sidenote: Three requisites.]

Although spinning sugar has been called the climax of the art of sugar work, one need not be deterred from trying it; for with a dry atmosphere, the sugar boiled to the right degree, and care given to prevent graining, it can be accomplished. It is upon these three things alone that success depends. Spun sugar makes a beautiful decoration for ice-creams, glace fruits, and other cold desserts. The expense of making it is only nominal, but it commands a fancy price.

DIRECTIONS FOR SPINNING SUGAR

[Sidenote: Keeping.]

Put in a copper or a graniteware saucepan two cupfuls (one pound) of sugar; one half cupful of water, and one half saltspoonful of cream of tartar. Boil the sugar as directed for fondant above, letting it attain the degree of crack, or 310. This is the degree just before caramel, and care must be used. When it has reached the crack, place the sugar pan in cold water a moment to arrest the cooking, for the heat of the pan and sugar may advance it one degree. For spinning, two forks may be used, but a few wires drawn through a cork are better, as they give more points. Have also two iron bars or rods of any kind (pieces of broom handle will do), placed on a table or over chairs so the ends project a little way; spread some papers on the floor under them. Take the pan of sugar in the left hand, the forks or wires in the right; dip them into the sugar and shake them quickly back and forth over the rods; fine threads of sugar will fly off the points and drop on the rods. If the sugar gets too cold it can be heated again. Take the spun sugar carefully off the rods from time to time and fold it around molds, or roll it into nests or other forms desired. Place the spun sugar under a gla.s.s globe as soon as made. Under an air-tight globe with a small piece of lime it may keep crisp for a day or two, but it readily gathers moisture, and it is safer to make it the day it is to be used.

Do not attempt to make it on a damp or rainy day, and have no boiling kettles in the room (see general directions for boiling sugar, page 513).

GLACe ORANGES AND GRAPES

[Sidenote: Causes of failure.]

Divide an orange into sections; do not break the inside skin, for if the juice escapes in ever so small a quant.i.ty the section must be discarded. Let them stand several hours until the surface has become very dry. Remove grapes from the bunch, leaving a short stem attached to each one. Boil some sugar to 340, or the point just before the caramel stage (see directions for boiling sugar, page 512). Remove the pan from the fire and place it for a moment in water to arrest the cooking. Drop the orange sections into the sugar, one at a time, and remove them with a candy wire or with two forks, and place them on an oiled slab to dry. With a pair of pincers take each grape by the small stem and dip it into the sugar, and be sure it is entirely coated. Place each separately on the slab to dry. If the day is damp, the sugar not sufficiently boiled, or the fruit at all moist, the sugar will all drain off; therefore the work must be done only under the right conditions. Candied cherries may be treated in this way: first wash them to remove the sugar; let them dry, then pierce them with an artificial stem and dip them carefully so as not to deface the stem.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GLACe ORANGES AND GRAPES IN PAPER BOXES.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GLACe GRAPES AND ORANGES COVERED WITH SPUN SUGAR.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GLACe GRAPES IN NEST OF SPUN SUGAR.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: GLACe GRAPES COVERED WITH SPUN SUGAR.]

CANDIES

[Sidenote: To prevent granulation.]

[Sidenote: Greasing.]

When making candies observe carefully the rules for boiling sugar. When sugar reaches the candy stage, the water has evaporated, and the tendency is to return to the original state of crystals. If it is jarred, or is stirred, or if the thin line of crystals formed around the pan by the sugar rising while boiling is allowed to remain, the whole ma.s.s will granulate, hence, for success, it is necessary to avoid these things. To keep the sides of the pan washed free of crystals dip a brush in water and pa.s.s it around the pan close to the edge of the sugar as often as is necessary; a sponge or a small piece of cloth may be used, but with these there is danger of burning the fingers. A very little acid added at the crack stage also prevents graining; this is termed "Greasing." If too much acid is used it prevents the sugar advancing to the caramel stage, and also may cause granulation. A few drops, only, of lemon-juice, of vinegar, or a little cream of tartar are the acids used.

[Sidenote: Making candies.]

The success of candy-making depends entirely upon boiling sugar to just the right degree. The candy will not harden if boiled too little. Another stage, where it hardens but sticks to the teeth, means the boiling was arrested at the hard-ball instead of the crack stage. Unless a thermometer is used, a little practice seems necessary before one recognizes the small differences upon which success depends; but the experience once gained, it is easy to make a pound or more of candy at slight expense. In the country, where it is often impossible to get fresh candies, it is desirable to be able to make them. Where fondant is already prepared and kept in preserve jars, the cream bonbons can be quickly made.

Carameled nuts are perhaps the least trouble to make of any candies.

[Sidenote: Marble slab and iron bars.]

A marble slab is almost requisite in making candy, though greased papers and tins can be used. Candy poured upon a slab cools quickly, has an even surface, and can be easily removed.

Four square iron bars are useful to confine the sugar. These can be placed so as to form bays of the size suitable to the amount of sugar used and the thickness required.

=NOUGAT No. 1 (For Bonbons)=