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White Fondant
2 1/2 lbs. sugar 1 1/2 cups hot water 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar Put ingredients into a smooth granite stewpan. Stir until dissolved and heat gradually to boiling point. Boil without stirring at a temperature of 238 degrees F. or when tried in cold water, a soft ball is formed that will keep its shape. If sugar adheres to sides of kettle, it should be washed off with the hand or a brush, first dipped in cold water. Pour slowly on a slightly oiled marble slab or platter. Do not scrape pan. Let stand for a few minutes to cool or until pressing it with the finger it leaves a dent on the surface and yet has formed no crust. If stirred while too warm, it will grain. If by chance 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, use a paddle or scraper to cream mixture. The paddle or scraper is a broad flexible steel blade with a wooden handle. Gather the candy up around the edges of the platter and turn it into the center, with a forward motion of the paddle, gather up as much as possible of the candy, then turn the paddle over and press the mass against the platter with a returning backward motion. As mass thickens, it will become easier to handle.
As soon as the candy becomes firm and creamy, gather it together on the platter and stop working. The candy will be hard now and is called fondant. If needed immediately, it can be softened by kneading with the hands. If not needed immediately, place in a crock and cover tightly or with a moistened cloth. If stored properly it will keep for weeks.
A textbook fondant: sugar syrup boiled to soft-ball, cooled undisturbed, then worked until it turns opaque and creamy. Everything depends on temperature and on not touching the syrup between the boil and the cooling.
- The hinge: do not stir, do not scrapeOnce boiling starts, any agitation or any stray crystal seeds the whole batch into a grainy mass. Pouring slowly and leaving the last of the syrup in the pan is not fussiness -- the film clinging to the pan is the most crystallised part.
- 238F preciselyUse a digital thermometer clipped to the side, bulb submerged but off the bottom. A few degrees over and the fondant sets too hard to cream; a few under and it stays soupy. The cold-water soft-ball test is a good cross-check but no substitute.
- Granite stewpanThis means graniteware -- enamel over steel. Any heavy nonreactive pan works. Choose one with straight sides and a capacity of at least 3 quarts, as the syrup climbs.
- Washing down the sidesA pastry brush dipped in cold water is the modern tool. A tight-fitting lid for the first two minutes of boiling does the same job with steam and is easier.
- The slabA marble pastry slab or the back of a large rimmed sheet pan, very lightly oiled with a neutral oil. Chill the slab first if your kitchen is warm; the cooling stage wants to reach about 110F.
- Cooling timeLikely longer than the "few minutes" the recipe suggests, and highly dependent on the slab, the room and the depth of the pour. Judge it by feel rather than the clock: the surface should dent under a finger with no skin over it.
- Creaming by hand or machineA large offset icing spatula or a plastic bench scraper replaces the steel paddle. A stand mixer with the paddle attachment will also do it, though the syrup must still be cooled on a slab first.
- Ripening and storageAn airtight container in the refrigerator rather than a covered crock; a day or two of rest makes the fondant noticeably smoother to work. This quantity yields roughly 3 pounds, enough for a large batch of dipped centres or several dozen filled candies.