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Third Day: Candy
Grate a cocoanut, take half its weight in sugar, beat the white of one egg to a stiff froth, and stir with it enough of the cocoanut and sugar, well mixed together, to make into small cakes, which should be baked on buttered paper, in a very moderate oven. If any cocoanut is left over, beat another egg and stir in the rest. No. 18-CREAM CANDY.
One pound granulated sugar; one-half teaspoonful cream tartar, one wine-glass vinegar; water enough to wet the sugar; flavor to taste with lemon or vanilla. Boil until it will harden in cold water, but not become brittle; it must be tried frequently; then pour into plates, and when nearly cold, pull until it becomes white. If you do not wish to take this trouble, a very good candy can be made by pouring it into a pan and leaving it to harden.
No. 19-CHOCOLATE AND CREAM CANDY.
One pound sugar, water enough to moisten it; boil until it becomes sugary when stirred in a saucer without water; then take it off the stove and stir until nearly hard. To half the quantity add one ounce grated chocolate, which you must stir in a separate dish; when nearly cold spread the chocolate candy smoothly out in a deep, square pan, well buttered, and the white over it, when cold they will adhere to each other.
No. 20-SOFT CANDY.
One pound brown sugar, three tablespoonfuls water; while boiling add a quarter of a pound butter; when thick and ropy, take it from the fire and stir till it grains; then pour into buttered plates. For nut candy make the above recipe, stirring in nuts while it is still over the fire. No. 21-MORRISVILLE CANDY.
One pound coffee sugar, one-half pint New Orleans molasses, one-half pint water, two teaspoonfuls butter, one of soda; stir all together and boil till it thickens; when sufficiently boiled it will be waxy.
No. 22-EVERTON TAFFY.
One and a half pounds brown sugar, three ounces butter, one and a half teacups cold water. Boil all together with the grated rind of one lemon, and when cold add the juice.
No. 23-MAPLE CHOCOLATE BALLS.
Crack half a pound maple sugar into small bits, and melt it with a wine-glassful of cold water; when perfectly dissolved let it boil hard for five minutes; while the sugar is boiling, crack the chocolate and put it in a bowl over a boiling tea-kettle; when the sugar is boiled, take it from the fire, put it in a cool place, and beat so stiff that it may be made into balls; flour the hands slightly, and roll into balls of the size of a marble, placing each one, as done, on a buttered plate; when hard, drop them one at a time in the chocolate; turn them carefully with a fork until covered with the chocolate, then place them on buttered paper to cool and harden.
No. 24-MOLASSES CANDY.
One cup molasses, one cup sugar, two tablespoons melted butter, one do. vinegar; boil without stirring until it hardens in cold water, then stir in a teaspoonful soda and pour on buttered tins; when cool, pull and cut into sticks. Never stir molasses candy while it is boiling. No. 25-BUTTER-SCOTCH.
One-half cup butter, one of molasses, one of sugar, a pinch of soda; boil awhile, then try by dropping a little into water; if crisp, it is done. "We made some last winter by a receipt almost exactly like that," said Rose, "and it was perfectly awful. It never got hard at all." "What kind of molasses did you use?" asked her aunt. "I don't know; whatever we happened to have." "You must always take Porto Rico molasses for candy. We'll try some with that this afternoon, and I think you won't complain of it. Now here is one that I think is the best of all."
No. 26-CHOCOLATE CREAMS.
Take one pound cut loat sugar, water to moisten it well, one even teaspoonful cream tartar. Boil without stirring until it threads. (I try it by dipping a spoon into the boiling syrup and then into cold water, then, taking the cooled sugar between my finger and thumb, see if it makes a string.) Then take from the fire and let it stand for ten minutes. Now add one teaspoonful vanilla, and with a silver tablespoon beat the syrup one way till it becomes opaque. When cool enough to handle, roll into small-sized marbles, and place on a buttered plate. If the sugar crumbles before all are made, add a few drops of warm water, or stand it over steam.
While the cream is cooking, take one-fourth pound sweet chocolate and place in a tin plate over steam. Do not stir it. If not flavored, add one teaspoonful vanilla after it is melted. Leaving this in a warm place, take each ball of the cream, and with a silver spoon roll it in the melted chocolate; then lay on a buttered plate and set in a cool place.
Another way : Melt the chocolate half at a time, cover the bottom of a plate with it, and while it is cooling make the cream; spread this over the chocolate and then cover with another coat of the latter. Cut into small squares when cool. The only trouble in making the cream is to cook it just enough. If the sugar grains it is cooked too much; if it cannot be handled it is not cooked enough. If spoiled it cannot be boiled over again, but is nice mixed among English walnuts. "How delicious it looks," exclaimed Edith, gazing into the sauce-pan where the cream candy, which they decided on trying first, was slowly boiling. "I think it will be good," said Aunt Jane. "But I must warn you not to be disappointed if you don't succeed well the first time you try it, nor the second. It is so entirely a matter of judgment to know just how long to boil it, just when it has reached the exact point of 'sugariness' that it really needs long practice before you can do it without a mistake." "It seems to me you do nothing but try it," said Grace, as she saw her aunt for the dozenth time drop a little of the boiled sugar into a saucer, and, after stirring it awhile, pour it back again. "I shouldn't have the patience to do that so many times." "Then you will never be a successful candy-maker," said her aunt very decidedly.
By this time the acetic acid had arrived, and the muchdesired chocolate creams were begun. "Be sure," said Aunt Jane, while the chocolate was melting, "to stir it only by constantly rubbing it one way, against the side of the pan. Don't stir it round and round. The main body of it should be disturbed just as little as possible." "Why wouldn't it do to use vanilla chocolate," said Rose, “and not put the vanilla in separately?" "Because, in the first place, it would be very expensive, and then you don't want sweetened chocolate to make candy of. Melting the sugar in it while it is cooking, is an important part of the process. Now, I think it will be firm enough. Suppose we try a ball, and if it is not, we can boil it a little more."
But it was, and as it was necessary to keep it liquid, the pan was set over hot water at the back of the stove, the result being a most inviting-looking dishful of brown figures of various sorts; for the girls, in defiance of the recipe, had exercised their taste in making cones, lozenges, pipe-stems and various fancy shapes, the rich liquid giving an impartial coating to all. "There's only one fault to be found with these things," said one of the boys, as he devoured the share which had been assigned to him, "there are not enough of them."