Maple Fondant

A plain sugar fondant with half its sweetening from maple, meant to be kneaded smooth and used as a candy centre or a cake covering. The recipe leans entirely on the White Fondant method printed elsewhere in the chapter, so the working details are worth spelling out.

• The hinge: temperature, then patienceBoil the syrup to the soft-ball stage, 238F on a candy thermometer, then pour it out and leave it alone until it cools to about 110F before you begin working it. Stirring a hot syrup produces coarse, gritty crystals; the whole point of fondant is a crystal too small for the tongue to detect.
• Maple sugar then and nowMaple sugar of this period came as hard poured cakes, which is why the recipe says to break it in pieces. Granulated maple sugar sold today dissolves straight in and needs no breaking; avoid maple-flavoured sugar blends, which may contain little or no real maple and will not behave the same way.
• ScaleTwo and a half pounds of sugar in total is a confectioner's batch, yielding a little under 2 1/2 lb of fondant. Halving it is entirely practical for a household, and the cream of tartar scales down to 1/8 teaspoon.
• What the cream of tartar doesIt inverts a little of the sucrose during boiling, which keeps the finished fondant soft and pliable rather than short and crumbly. Do not increase it, or the batch may refuse to set up at all.
• Keep the sides cleanOnce the syrup boils, wash any crystals from the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush and cover the pan for the first few minutes so the steam does the work. A single stray crystal dropping back in will seed the whole batch.
• Working surfaceA marble slab is ideal because it draws heat off evenly; a large sheet pan set on a cool counter will serve. Work the cooled mass with a stiff scraper or a wooden paddle, folding it in from the edges until it turns opaque and stiff, then knead it by hand until smooth.
• Let it ripenFondant is noticeably better after resting. Wrap it closely in plastic or press it into a tub with a damp cloth over the surface and leave it overnight; it softens and becomes easier to spread or mould.
• Using it as a frostingTo spread it on a cake, warm a portion over hot water, not direct heat, until it just flows, and thin with a spoonful of hot water if needed. Overheated fondant loses its gloss and dries chalky.