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Candies and Candy Making: Color

It is customary with confectioners to associate certain coloring with certain flavoring. Almond or pistachio cream are usually tinted green. Orange or lemon flavoring are tinted with those colors. Rose is tinted pink. A good way to obtain suggestions for producing tasteful and artistic effects is to study the display in a good candy shop and imitate what you like best. - Care To Color Confectionery. must, of course, be taken in coloring confectionery not to use aniline dyes, mineral pigments, lakes, or any other substance of a poisonous nature.

The animal and vegetable dyestuffs are usually harmless in small quantities, but the following combinations are especially recommended:

To Color Red. -Cover 1 ounce of cochineal with pint of boiling water and boil about 5 minutes. Stir in 1 ounce of cream of tartar, ounce of powdered alum, and continue boiling about 10 minutes. Test by letting a few drops fall on a piece of clean white paper. If the color is not sufficiently clear and bright, boil a little longer. When done, stir in 2 ounces of granulated sugar and put up in a stoppered glass bottle for use.

To Color Blue. - Dissolve a little indigo stone in warm water and test with a few drops on a piece of white paper. Continue to add more indigo until the color is bright and clear.

To Color Yellow. - Dissolve a little gamboge in warm water, or the heart of a yellow lily with warm water, until the bright tint is produced. Or steep ounce of saffron in soft water for 24 hours or more until the proper tint is obtained.

Or for small quantities, a good pinch of saffron in a spoonful of water may be boiled until the water is nearly evaporated. Squeeze out the juice through cheese cloth. This color is an orange yellow, and a few drops will go a long way.

To Color Green. -Cover fresh spinach leaves with boiling water and let stand two or three minutes, or until the color is as strong as desired.

Cork tightly to exclude the air.

Or steep ounce of saffron in soft water for 24 hours and steep separately 4 ounce of indigo carmine for the same length of time. Mix the two for use. This mixture can be preserved for considerable time by adding clarified sirup and preserving in a closely stoppered glass vessel. a Or for a larger quantity, wash a peck of fresh green spinach very carefully in several waters to remove all grit, and while dripping wet pound it with a suitable mallet or any piece of hard wood, to a soft pulp. Place this pulp in several thicknesses of cheese cloth and wring out the juice, which may be done by twisting the ends of the cloth by means of short sticks or rods. Place the juice over a gentle fire until it begins to curdle or thicken. Strain off the water through a piece of cheese cloth, leaving the thick part of the spinach juice on the cloth. This is the vegetable green or spinach green for confectioners. Care must be taken in drying substances colored with this material, as if the heat is too strong it is likely to take on a yellowish cast.