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Sea Foam and Cream Candies: Creams
LEMON CREAMS Place in a saucepan one cupful of granulated sugar, one-half cupful of cream, the grated rind of one lemon. Boil to the soft ball stage; color with a few drops of yellow coloring and when slightly cool beat up until creamy. Form into bonbons and decorate with candied lemon peel.
PEPPERMINT CREAMS Place in a saucepan two cupfuls of granulated sugar, one-fourth cupful of white corn syrup, one-fourth teaspoonful of cream of tartar, and one-half cupful of cream. Boil to the soft ball stage. Let stand until nearly cool, then flavor with six drops of oil of peppermint, or one-half teaspoonful of extract, and add a few drops of red coloring to make a light shade of pink. Beat up until creamy and form into mint shape. Wintergreen creams can be made by flavoring with wintergreen.
MAPLE CREAMS Place in a saucepan two cupfuls of light maple sugar and one-half cupful of cream. Boil to the soft ball stage, then stir in one cupful of finely chopped nut meats, and one teaspoonful of vanilla. Beat until creamy, and pour into a buttered pan. Cut into small squares. These are good dipped in melted chocolate.
WALNUT CREAMS Take two cupfuls of light brown sugar, one-half cupful of golden corn syrup, and one-half cupful of cream. Boil to the soft ball stage, add a cupful of finely chopped walnut meats, and a teaspoonful of vanilla. Beat until the mixture becomes creamy, then pour into buttered pan, and when cold mark off into small squares.
COCOANUT CREAMS Take two cupfuls of granulated sugar, one-fourth cupful of white corn syrup, one-half cupful of cream, and one-fourth teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Boil to the soft ball stage, then add one teaspoonful of vanilla, and one-half cupful of shredded cocoanut. Stir until creamy, and pour into buttered pan. Can be formed in bonbon shape or poured into buttered pan. HONEY CREAMS Take two cupfuls of granulated sugar, two tablespoonfuls of strained honey, and one-half cupful of water. Boil to the hard ball stage, then remove from fire and stir in one-half teaspoonful of almond extract, and a half cupful of chopped almonds. Pour over the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Beat up until light and foamy, and drop from a spoon on greased paper. Decorate the top with almonds.
VANILLA SEA FOAM Take two cupfuls of light brown sugar, one-half cupful of water, and one-fourth teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Boil to the hard ball stage or to 250 degrees. Remove from the fire and flavor with one teaspoonful of vanilla, then pour over the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Beat up until light and foamy, and drop from a spoon on greased paper or a buttered plate. These are fine dipped in melted chocolate.
MAPLE FOAM Take two cupfuls of maple sugar, one cupful of brown sugar, one-half cupful of water, and a fourth teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Boil to the hard ball stage, then add a dozen marshmallows cut up into bits. Cover and let stand for five minutes, then pour over the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Beat up until light and it begins to harden. Drop from a spoon on greased paper, and place a half walnut meat on top of each piece of candy. CANDIED CHERRY FOAM Place in a saucepan two cupfuls of granulated sugar, one-half cupful of water and one-fourth teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Boil to the hard ball stage, and just before removing from the fire stir in a cupful of candied cherries cut into bits; then stir the mixture over the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs, add a few drops of red coloring, just enough to make a delicate pink, and beat up until light and it begins to harden. Drop from a spoon on waxed or greased paper, and garnish each drop with a candied cherry. This candy is not only pretty to the eye but delicious as well.
NUT FOAM CHOCOLATES Place in a saucepan two cupfuls of granulated sugar, one-half cupful of water and one-fourth teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Boil to the hard ball stage. Add a teaspoonful of vanilla and pour over the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs and beat until foamy. Drop from a spoon on a greased paper or buttered plates that have been spread with chopped nut meats. Press chopped nut meats over the top, then set aside to cool. When cool dip into melted chocolate or melted chocolate fondant. These will be light and foamy in the inside and delicious to the taste.
MAPLE DELIGHT Take one cupful of maple sugar, and one cupful of light brown sugar, one-fourth cupful of golden corn syrup and one-fourth teaspoonful of cream of tartar. Boil for a few minutes then add one-half cupful of chopped raisins, and one-half cupful of walnut or pecan nut meats. Boil to the hard ball stage, flavor with vanilla, and pour over the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs. Drop from spoon on waxed paper, and place a Sultana raisin on top of each drop.
Two families of candy sit side by side here: cooked fondants ("creams") beaten smooth after cooling, and divinity-style meringues ("foams") built on hot syrup and egg white. The techniques differ enough that the same thermometer reading means two different things.
- The hinge: let the creams cool before beatingFor every recipe that says "when slightly cool beat up until creamy," that means cooling the syrup undisturbed to about 110F before a spoon or beater touches it. Beating hot syrup throws large sugar crystals and the fondant turns gritty rather than satiny.
- Stage temperaturesSoft ball is 234-240F; the creams are best at 236-238F. Hard ball is 250-266F, and the book itself pins the sea foams at 250F. Use a calibrated digital thermometer and hold the tip clear of the pan bottom.
- The foams need dry weatherDivinity is hygroscopic. On a humid day it will not set and stays tacky no matter how long you beat it. Cooking the syrup a few degrees higher in damp weather is the usual remedy; the simpler course is to wait for a dry day.
- Cream in the panThe cream-based recipes scorch easily. Use a heavy saucepan, stir until the sugar dissolves, then wash the sides down with a wet brush and leave it alone. Period 'cream' was unstandardised; use whole cream rather than half-and-half.
- Raw egg whiteThe hot syrup heats the whites but does not reliably pasteurize them. Anyone cooking for the very young, the elderly, or the immune-compromised should use pasteurized whites or meringue powder.
- Oil of peppermintSix drops of essential oil and half a teaspoon of extract are not equal in strength; the oil is considerably more potent, so the two are not straight substitutes. Add either off the heat and taste before shaping.
- Maple and brown sugar'Light maple sugar' most likely means the lighter-coloured grade rather than any particular form. Grated or granulated maple sugar works; maple syrup does not substitute directly, since the recipes are already balanced for the water they contain.
- CocoanutPeriod shredded coconut was usually unsweetened and drier than the sweetened flake sold now. Unsweetened desiccated or fresh-frozen shredded coconut gives a closer texture and keeps the candy from cloying.
- Maple Delight is short on liquidIt calls for two cups of sugar and a quarter cup of corn syrup with no water, then says to boil a few minutes before adding fruit. With so little liquid the sugar is liable to scorch before it dissolves; comparable recipes in the same section use half a cup of water.
- YieldDrop the foams quickly once they begin to hold their shape, as the mixture stiffens in the bowl within a minute or two.
Sea foam and divinity are American candy-shop names for the same idea: a meringue set with hot sugar syrup, sea foam usually taking brown or maple sugar where divinity takes white. The type spread quickly in the early twentieth century, and its rise is often attributed to cheap commercial corn syrup arriving in ordinary kitchens, though the account is more surmise than documented fact, and this book itself leans on ball-stage tests rather than a thermometer, naming a temperature only once. The cream of tartar and corn syrup in nearly every recipe here are doing the same invisible job, interfering with crystal growth so the fondant beats up smooth and the foam stays tender. Books like this one are sometimes said to belong to a fashion for home candy making as parlor entertainment and as a source of respectable pin money, which would fit the attention to decoration in every entry, the candied cherry pressed on top, the half walnut, the Sultana raisin.