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Fudges: Postum
Postum Penuche 2 cups sugar 1 tablespoon butter 1 cup cream 2 tablespoons Instant Postum 1 cup chopped walnut meats Put sugar, cream, butter, and Instant Postum into a saucepan, stir until dissolved, bring to boiling point, and boil to 238 degrees F., or until candy will form a soft ball when tried in cold water. Pour on a marble slab or large platter that has been moistened by being wiped over with a damp cloth, and let stand until cool. Work with spatula until creamy, add nuts cut in small pieces, and press candy into a buttered pan, making layer three fourths inch thick. Let stand several hours to ripen, and cut in squares. Raisin Penuche 1 cup light brown sugar 1 cup powdered sugar 3/4 cup cream 1 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 cup raisins Put brown sugar, powdered sugar, and cream in saucepan. Stir until mixed, bring to boiling point, and boil without stirring to 238 degrees F., or until candy will form a soft ball when tried in cold water. Remove from fire, leave undisturbed until cool, then beat and stir with a spoon, or work with a spatula, until candy begins to get sugary. Stir in the chopped raisins, press into a buttered pan, and mark in squares. Peanuts, English walnuts, or pecan nuts may be used instead of raisins.
Double Fudge I Make half the rule of Brown Sugar Fudge and put in buttered pan. Make half the rule of Chocolate Fudge, and when it is creamy put in the pan on top of Brown Sugar Fudge. When firm, cut in squares.
Double Fudge II Make Chocolate Fudge by any of the preceding recipes, and spread half an inch thick in a buttered pan or between bars. Make Pecan Penuche and pour on top. When firm, remove, and cut in squares. Many other combinations may be effectively used.
Divinity Fudge 2 cups sugar 2/3 cup corn syrup 1/2 cup water 2/3 cup sugar 1/3 cup water Whites 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 2/3 cup chopped nuts Put two cups sugar, two thirds cup corn syrup, and half a cup of water in saucepan. Put two thirds cup sugar and one third cup water in another saucepan. Cook contents of first saucepan to 240 degrees F., or until mixture forms a soft ball when tried in cold water. Twenty minutes after starting this mixture, begin cooking contents of second saucepan, and cook to 255 degrees F., or until mixture forms a hard ball when tried in cold water. Beat whites of eggs until stiff, add contents of first saucepan, and beat constantly until stiff. Then slowly add contents of second saucepan, continuing the beating. Add nut meats and vanilla, turn into a buttered pan, and cut when cold. Sea Foam Candy 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar 1/2 cup cold water 1 teaspoon vinegar White 1 egg 1/2 cup chopped nuts 1/2 teaspoon vanilla Put sugar, water, and vinegar in saucepan, bring to boiling point, and cook to 240 degrees F., or until candy forms a ball that will just hold its shape when tried in cold water.
Beat white of egg until stiff but not dry, and add the syrup very slowly, while beating constantly. Beat until it begins to get creamy, add nuts and vanilla, and when it will hold its shape, drop in rough lumps on waxed paper, or turn into a buttered pan, and when firm, cut in squares. If it does not readily become creamy, set dish over hot water, and stir until it begins to get sugary around the edge, then beat until nearly cold, and use as directed above.
Grapenuts Divinity Fudge 2 cups sugar 1/3 cup water Whites 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup stoned dates 1/2 cup grapenuts Put sugar and water in saucepan, stir until dissolved, bring to boiling point, and boil without stirring to 238 degrees F., or until syrup will spin a long thread. Beat whites of eggs slightly, then add syrup in a slow, fine stream, beating constantly with a large egg beater, until mixture gets stiff. Add vanilla, dates cut in small pieces, and grapenuts. Drop from the tip of a teaspoon upon waxed paper, or a buttered platter.
Cream Mints 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/4 cup water 2 tablespoons corn syrup (white) White 1 egg 4 drops oil of peppermint or wintergreen Pink or green color paste Put sugar, water, and white corn syrup into saucepan. In measuring, use all the syrup that clings to spoon. Stir ingredients until mixed, bring to boiling point and boil without stirring to 238 degrees F., or until syrup will spin a long thread. Have white of egg slightly beaten, and continue beating with egg beater while syrup is being poured in a slow, fine stream upon egg. Continue beating until mixture is stiff enough to keep its shape, using a wooden spoon when mixture becomes too difficult to handle easily with egg beater. Add flavor, color delicately with green or pink color paste, put all the mixture into a pastry bag, and force through a rose tube into separate "roses" one inch in diameter at the base and one half inch thick in the center. Candy should be soft and creamy, slightly dry, but not coarse or sugary. Cherry Puffs 2 cups sugar 1 cup corn syrup Whites 2 eggs 1/2 cup water Rose color paste 1/4 cup candied cherries 1/2 teaspoon vanilla or 1 teaspoon maraschino Put sugar, corn syrup, and water in saucepan, stir until dissolved, bring to boiling point, wipe off sugar adhering to sides of saucepan with a butter brush dipped in cold water, and cook syrup to 252 degrees F., or until it forms a hard ball in cold water. With a spoon stir candy slightly until it just begins to look cloudy; slowly, while beating constantly, pour half the syrup on the lightly beaten eggs, then immediately pour the egg mixture into the remaining syrup, and beat. Add rose color paste to make a delicate pink, then add cherries cut in small pieces, and flavoring. Continue beating until mixture is stiff enough to hold its shape. Push from spoon with a fork on wax paper in little mounds and leave until firm.
Nut Puffs 2 cups sugar 1 cup corn syrup Whites 2 eggs 1/3 cup water 1/4 cup pecan nut meats 1/2 teaspoon maple flavor Put sugar, corn syrup, and water in saucepan, stir until dissolved, bring to boiling point, wipe off sugar adhering to sides of saucepan with a butter brush dipped in cold water, and cook syrup to 252 degrees F., or until it forms a hard ball in cold water. With a spoon stir candy slightly until it just begins to look cloudy; slowly, while beating constantly, pour half the syrup on the lightly beaten eggs, then immediately pour the egg mixture into the remaining syrup and beat. Add maple flavor and pecan nut meats, and continue beating until mixture is stiff enough to hold its shape. Push from spoon with a fork on wax paper in little mounds, and leave until firm. Pineapple Puffs 2 cups sugar 1 cup corn syrup 1/3 cup water Whites 2 eggs 1/4 cup candied pineapple 1/2 teaspoon pineapple extract Put sugar, corn syrup, and water in saucepan, stir until dissolved, bring to boiling point, wipe off sugar adhering to sides of saucepan with a butter brush dipped in cold water, and cook syrup to 252 degrees F., or until it forms a hard ball in cold water. With a spoon stir candy slightly until it just begins to look cloudy; slowly, while beating constantly, pour half the syrup on the lightly beaten eggs, then immediately pour the egg mixture into the remaining syrup and beat. Add pineapple extract and candied pineapple, and continue beating until mixture is stiff enough to hold its shape. Push from spoon with a fork on wax paper in little mounds and leave until firm.
A page of beaten and creamed sugar candies from the era when the home candy thermometer had just become standard equipment. The temperatures given are reliable; most of what needs translating is the shopping list.
- Instant PostumA roasted wheat-and-molasses coffee substitute sold by the Postum Cereal Company. It was discontinued in 2007 and later revived in limited distribution. Any instant grain beverage, or an equal amount of instant coffee or instant chicory, gives the same faintly bitter, malty edge to the penuche.
- Grape-NutsStill sold and unchanged in character: hard baked wheat-and-barley nuggets. They go in at the very end and soften within a few hours, so the divinity is best eaten the day it is made if you want the crunch.
- "Powdered sugar"In American books of this period the term often means fine granulated sugar rather than modern confectioners' sugar. In the Raisin Penuche it is boiled to 238F alongside brown sugar, so either works chemically, but confectioners' sugar carries cornstarch that will slightly cloud the finished candy.
- Trust the thermometer, not the threadTwo recipes here say "238 degrees F., or until syrup will spin a long thread." The thread stage is conventionally 230-235F, so the two tests do not quite agree. Go by the number. Above about 2,000 feet, subtract roughly 2F per 1,000 feet of elevation from every temperature given.
- The hinge: do not disturb the penuche while it coolsBoth penuches are left completely undisturbed until cool -- the Postum one poured onto a slab or platter, the raisin one left in the pan -- before any beating begins. Stirring a hot supersaturated syrup throws large crystals and produces grainy candy. This single step separates creamy penuche from sandy penuche.
- Marble slab and the damp clothA cold marble or granite pastry slab pulls heat out fast; a large platter or a rimmed sheet pan set on a cool counter is an acceptable substitute. The wipe with a damp cloth keeps the syrup from bonding to the surface, and the film of water evaporates as the candy cools.
- The butter brush and the sugar crystalsWashing crystals off the pan sides with a wet brush prevents a single stray grain from seeding the whole batch. A silicone pastry brush does the job; a tight lid on the pan for the first two minutes of boiling achieves the same thing by steam.
- Egg whites in the divinities and puffsThe whites are cooked only by the incoming syrup. That syrup is 238-255F and does raise the mixture well above egg-safe temperature in most cases, but the result is not reliably pasteurized throughout. Pasteurized whites, sold in cartons, whip perfectly well here and remove the question.
- WeatherDivinity, sea foam and the puffs will not set on a humid day; the beaten sugar picks up moisture from the air and stays sticky indefinitely. Choose a dry day, or expect the sea foam rescue instruction (setting the bowl over hot water) to become necessary.
- Oil of peppermint and color pasteFlavoring oils are several times stronger than extracts -- four drops is the whole quantity for that batch, and it is not a misprint. Paste colors, then as now, are used on the tip of a toothpick so as not to loosen the mixture with liquid.
- Cross-referencesBoth Double Fudge recipes depend on Brown Sugar Fudge, Chocolate Fudge and Pecan Penuche printed elsewhere in the book. Any standard fudge and penuche recipes layer the same way, provided the bottom layer is set firm before the second is poured.
- YieldThe two-cup-sugar batches make roughly a pound and a quarter of candy; the puffs give three to four dozen small mounds.
Penuche is generally said to take its name from the Spanish panocha, unrefined cane sugar, and in American kitchens the word came to mean brown-sugar fudge made without chocolate. The branding gives a rough date: Instant Postum and Grape-Nuts were both products of C. W. Post's company in Battle Creek, Michigan, Postum launched in the mid-1890s as a caffeine-free coffee substitute and Grape-Nuts a couple of years later. Their appearance in a candy book is a small monument to how thoroughly packaged breakfast goods had entered general cookery by the 1910s and 1920s -- cookbook writers of the period frequently worked branded products into recipes, sometimes at a manufacturer's encouragement. The rest of the page reflects the other great change of the era: the domestic candy thermometer. Where a nineteenth-century recipe would say only "boil to the soft ball," these give 238F, 240F, 252F and 255F, with the cold-water test given alongside as an alternative for cooks who did not yet own the instrument.