Part 4

Use the recipe for “Opera Fudge,” adding a tablespoonful of vanilla extract when starting to cream the batch. Follow the directions for making opera fudge exactly until you have poured the batch on the slab to cool, and when it is nearly creamed, pour on some melted chocolate and continue to cream until the batch sets. When it sets in a hard ball cover it with a damp cloth and allow it to sweat for thirty or forty minutes. Knead it with the hands until it is smooth, or if the chocolate, which you added while creaming it, did not mix thoroughly, keep working it with the hands until it is all mixed, adding more melted chocolate if necessary; sufficient chocolate should be used to make it a nice brown color. Mould into balls at once, the size of a small nutmeg, and lay them on wax paper to dry a little, and then coat them in chocolate, and have someone lay a small round dragee on top of them immediately after being coated. This makes a swell topping piece for your Christmas boxes. You may also dip them all, or just about half of them, in chocolate bon-bon cream, as directed for dipping “Cocoanut Bon-bons,” only you may have to let these last centers, those to be dipped in the chocolate bon-bon cream, dry out a little longer than those to be dipped in the chocolate, for if very soft, they might break when being handled with the bon-bon fork. In making your Christmas candies it would be well for you to dip them this way and you will have a bigger assortment.

VANILLA CARAMELS.

2 pounds sugar. 1½ pounds glucose. 3 pints cream. 1 tablespoonful vanilla.

Put sugar, glucose and one pint of cream in the kettle, stir constantly before, and also after it commences boiling, until it will form in a soft ball when dropped in cold water. There is no exact degree necessary to which to cook this. Now add another pint of cream slowly, stir constantly and cook again to a soft ball, then slowly add the last pint of cream, and a piece of non-paraff about the size of a walnut, and cook again, being careful to stir all over the bottom of the kettle so that it will not stick, until it will form into a good firm ball in cold water, but not brittle, remembering that your caramels will be, when cold, the same consistency as this last ball, so you can get it just about as you wish. It is very unhandy to use a thermometer in making these, as they must be stirred continually from the time you put them on the stove until done. The non-paraff may be left out entirely if you wish, as that is simply put in to make them retain their shape after being cut up. In stirring it, do so very gently, but aim to cover the whole bottom of the kettle. If you stir it hard they might possibly sugar for you, and your only idea in stirring is to keep them from sticking. It is very essential to use glucose in order to make a good caramel. If you should overcook it and they are too brittle, or undercook it and they are too soft, the batch may be put back in the kettle with a little more milk or cream, and cooked again. If you have the iron bars we mentioned, grease your slab thoroughly and lay the bars on it so as to form a small square place. Then into your candy, just after taking it off the stove, stir in the vanilla, being careful not to stir it too much while adding this, but just enough to mix it in good, and pour on slab between the bars. Always make the square with the bars small enough as you will want your candy to fill it up level full in order to have your caramels the correct thickness, which should be about three-fourths of an inch. If you have not made the place large enough it is very easy to move one of the bars just a trifle in order to hold all your candy. But if you made the square too large, it is almost impossible to move the bars closer together after pouring your candy out. If you do not wish to use cream, you may use milk or part milk and part cream. If you use all milk add a little butter after the batch begins to boil. These caramels may also be made by simply using only two pints of cream or milk and cooking them twice, instead of three pints and cooking them three times, but are not so rich. If your batch should happen to grain and turn to sugar, put it back in the kettle with a little more glucose and another pint of cream or milk, stir over a slow fire to dissolve, then cook up as before. When these caramels are set or cold, mark them in perfect squares with a knife and one of the bars, then cut up with a large knife, in a sawing motion. If the milk curdles, do not stop stirring and set the batch off, but simply cook according to directions, and the curd will not show. These caramels should be wrapped in wax paper to prevent sticking together. The kettle may be scraped lightly, when pouring these caramels out.

CHOCOLATE CARAMELS.

Use the recipe for vanilla caramels and, just after you add the last pint of cream, add enough grated chocolate to give it a good chocolate color, and finish the same, adding the vanilla. Have the chocolate grated before starting to cook.

STRAWBERRY CARAMELS.

These caramels are very fine, especially when coated with chocolate. Make same as the vanilla caramel, excepting, when the batch is removed from the fire, color a deep red and flavor with strawberry.

NUT CARAMELS.

Any kind of nuts may be used. Hickory, almond, filbert, English and black walnuts, are especially good. Chop the nuts up a little with a knife, which makes them look prettier when the caramels are cut, then add to the batch just before pouring on the slab.

MAPLE CARAMELS.

1 pound maple sugar. 1 pound white sugar. 1½ pounds glucose. 3 pints cream.

Follow the directions exactly as given for vanilla caramels.

FULL CREAM CARAMELS.

1 pound sugar. 1 pound glucose. 1 pint milk or cream. 1 pint condensed milk. 1 tablespoonful vanilla flavoring.

A pint can of unsweetened condensed milk, will cost you about ten cents, and can be purchased of most any grocer. Condensed milk is an absolute necessity in this kind of a caramel, for two reasons, namely: to get the peculiar flavor, and to make it hold together, so that it need not be wrapped, by which it is distinguished from the ordinary caramel. Mix the sweet milk or cream and the condensed milk before starting to cook, and in referring to this, we will simply use the word milk. Put the sugar, glucose and one pint of the milk in a kettle, stir and cook until it will form a soft ball when dropped in cold water; then continue stirring and add one-half pint of the remaining milk, pouring slowly, and cook up again until it forms a soft ball, then slowly add the remainder of the milk, being careful to stir all over the bottom of the kettle so that it will not stick, and cook again until it will form into a good firm ball in cold water, but not brittle, remembering that your caramels will be, when cold, the same consistency as this last ball, so you can get it just about as you wish. Then take it off the fire, stir in the vanilla and any kind of nuts you desire, and scrape it out of the kettle on a greased slab, between bars, as directed for making vanilla caramels. When cold, they may be cut up and either wrapped, or just laid side by side on a slightly greased plate. If you make these caramels to sell, it would be well to add a piece of non-paraff about the size of an English walnut, when starting to cook. You may also make this a chocolate caramel, by adding enough grated chocolate, when you add the last half-pint of cream, to give it a good chocolate color. Do not have your fire too hot when cooking these, as they will scorch very easily, and also, stir continually from the time you start, till it is off the fire.

MEXICAN GRAIN CARAMELS.

1 pound sugar. 1 pound glucose. 1 quart sweet milk or cream. 1 pound center cream. 1 tablespoonful vanilla extract.

Put the sugar, glucose, and one-half of the cream in a kettle, stir and cook till it forms a soft ball when dropped in cold water, add one-half of the remaining cream, cook up again to a soft ball, then add the remaining half-pint of cream, stir and cook till it forms a good hard ball in cold water. Set off the stove, add the center cream and the vanilla, and stir in good. Rub the batch against the sides of the kettle with the paddle, until it gets pretty thick and grains, then pour out on a greased slab between bars, and let harden. It does not hurt to scrape out the kettle in making these caramels. After these caramels are hard or set, cut up with a sharp knife, by drawing it through the batch, instead of sawing as in other caramels, and after they stand a few hours to dry, after being cut, they may be piled up on a plate, as they will not stick together.

TAFFY.

2 pounds sugar. 1 pound glucose. ⅔ pint water.

Put all this on hot fire, stir till it commences to boil, wipe down sides of kettle with a damp cloth, cover and steam, put in thermometer and cook to 260. Then pour on greased slab, with bars around the edge to keep it from running off, and just as soon as it commences to cool or stiffen up a little, lift up the edges and fold toward center, and continue doing this until it is cool enough to handle, then pull on the hook until it is snow white. If you wish it vanilla, flavor by pouring the vanilla over it while on the hook, a little at a time, until you have it highly flavored. It is much easier to pull taffy on a hook and also improves it greatly. We have told you about the hook in the item regarding “tools.”

HOW TO PULL TAFFY ON A HOOK.

In pulling candy on a hook, first get it up in a ball on the slab, after it has cooled, lay it on the hook and pull it down as far as possible with both hands, then catch hold of the end with one hand, and with the other hand take hold of the batch about two thirds of the way up toward the hook, and then throw the part between your hands up over the hook with a quick motion, then pull batch down again and continue in this manner until it is very white. It is best to pour the flavoring on it when about half pulled, and it will work through the batch by the time it is finished.

Use a little corn starch on the hands quite often while pulling any kind of taffy, to keep them from sticking to the taffy.

Do not scrape out the kettle, except in making “Salt Water Taffy,” and “French Chewing Taffy,” and then, not too much as it will turn your batch to sugar.

If one of your batches should turn to sugar for you, you will know that you have either turned in the edges too soon or too often, or pulled it when too warm. It should be almost cold when you start to pull.

You may substitute corn syrup for glucose in any of these taffies, but you must use a little more than the recipe calls for. Corn syrup is about ninety per cent glucose.

Wrap these taffies in wax paper if you wish to keep them any length of time, and it will keep them from getting sticky.

STRAWBERRY TAFFY.

If you wish to make a strawberry taffy use the recipe for plain vanilla “Taffy,” and while your batch is on the slab, add enough damask rose coloring, to give it a good pink color; but do not work the batch any more, in mixing in the color, than in making plain vanilla taffy. Add the strawberry flavor while pulling. With the exception of adding the color to this, make it exactly the same as plain “Taffy.”

CHOCOLATE TAFFY.

Use recipe and directions for making plain taffy, and simply add grated chocolate to the batch just after you pour it on the slab, and it will easily melt and work through while folding it.

MOLASSES TAFFY.

2 pounds sugar. ½ pound glucose. 1 pint dark molasses. 1 tablespoonful butter. ⅔ pint water.

Cook sugar, glucose and water to about 245, steaming down the same as others previously mentioned, and when it is up to this degree, put in the molasses and butter, =stirring constantly from this time on, and cook to 260=. Pour on greased slab and pull same as others. If you wish nuts of any description in either this or any of the other taffies, they may be added by sprinkling them over the slab just before you pour the candy out to cool.

FRENCH CHEWING TAFFY

2 pounds sugar. 1½ pounds glucose. 1 pint cream or milk. 1 tablespoonful butter. 1 egg. ½ ounce gelatine. Small piece paraffine wax. Vanilla.

First break the egg into the pint of cream and beat it thoroughly, and in no case must the egg be put into the candy except in this manner. Gelatine generally comes in one ounce boxes, so you must use just the half of one of these. Put it in a small dish or pan, and pour just enough warm water over it to dissolve it; then set it on the stove where it will not cook, but keep warm until needed. Now put sugar, glucose, cream with egg beaten in it, butter, and piece of paraffine wax about the size of a small walnut, into the kettle, set on fire and stir constantly until it is done. When it commences boiling, put in the thermometer and cook to 254, then take out thermometer, and pour in gradually the dissolved gelatine, and continue stirring until it boils up well again. It must be cooked for about three or four minutes after it boils up with the gelatine in it, then pour on well greased slab, which has previously been sprinkled over thoroughly with black walnuts, or you may use any other nuts you have, or in fact no nuts at all, if you prefer, but you will find the black walnuts greatly improve the flavor of the candy.

As soon as cool enough, fold in toward the center same as other taffies, and when you can handle it nicely, put on the hook and pull until you can pull it no more. It will be quite dark in color while on the slab, but will pull to a nice, creamy white color. This taffy will require considerably more vanilla than other taffies; so flavor it very highly, by pouring the vanilla over it while pulling. You will probably find this candy sticky at times and if the batch is so, and should stick to your hands while pulling it, loosen them with a quick jerk, and you will find the candy will easily pull off, whereas if you should attempt to loosen your hands slowly, you would not have much success. If the batch should stick somewhat to the slab, take your scraper and pry it up by hitting it very quickly. In other words, simply scoop it up with the scraper, but instead of pushing the scraper underneath it slowly, jab it under very rapidly, and you will find you can readily get the candy up in a ball. You will find this candy very hard to pull if you do not use a hook. As soon as pulled sufficiently, take off the hook by cutting it off close to the hook with a pair of shears, then you may either lay it on a platter, put it in a crock previously lined with wax paper, or lay it on your kneading board and pull it out, a little at a time, into a strip about one inch wide, then cut the strip crosswise into small kisses about the size of your thumb, and when it is all cut up in this manner, wrap each piece in tissue paper. The paper will not stick to it in the least.

This candy is by far the finest taffy made, if you follow these directions carefully, as it never gets very hard, and you will be able to chew it a long time. Cutting it up into kisses, while it may be a little more trouble, is by far the nicest way to fix it.

SALT WATER TAFFY

1¼ pounds sugar. 1¼ pounds glucose. 2 teaspoonfuls salt. ½ ounce glycerine. Butter size of a walnut. 1 pint water.

Put sugar, glucose and water in kettle, stir until it boils, wash down sides of the kettle with a damp cloth, put in thermometer and cook to 260. Set off stove, add butter, glycerine and salt and stir in, then pour on a greased slab between bars. Let cool, then pull on hook as directed for other taffies, and flavor with vanilla while pulling. Be careful not to scrape out the kettle too much in pouring it on the slab, as it is liable to grain it.

BABY CREAM

2½ pounds sugar. ¼ pound glucose. ½ pint cream.

Put sugar, glucose and one pint water on fire and cook to 260, then add the cream and cook up again to about 270. Stir gently after adding the cream until done. Pour on greased slab, and when cool enough, pull well on hook, and flavor and color to suit while pulling. Cut up in kisses or small strips. It will be nice and dry and mealy (inside) after standing a few hours. It is not chewy like other taffy, and it is a fine hot weather candy.

CREAM TAFFY.

3 pounds sugar. ½ teaspoonful cream of tartar. 1 pint water.

Put the sugar, water and cream of tartar into a kettle and cook to 275. Pour it on a greased slab and when cool enough pull it over the hook. Handle the batch as little as possible while cooling, and cool quickly so as to prevent it from turning to sugar as there is no glucose in the taffy. Flavor to taste. Pull out and cut in pieces. Wrap in wax paper. After standing a few hours it will become very creamy, retaining its shape, and not get sticky.

This is a summer taffy.

ICE CREAM TAFFY.

2 pounds sugar. 1 pound glucose. 1 pint milk or cream. Paraffine wax, size of walnut. 1 tablespoonful butter.

Cook all this at once, stirring constantly but very =gently= from the time you put it on the stove until it is done. When it commences boiling, put in thermometer and cook to about 256 or 258. Be careful to stir underneath thermometer to prevent its sticking. When done, pour on slab, and when cool, pull same as others and flavor with vanilla.

PEPPERMINT RECEPTION MINTS.

Use the above recipe for “Cream Taffy.” Flavor strong with peppermint while on the slab. After the taffy has been pulled, place it on a table or slab dusted with XXXX sugar. Shape the batch round; pull it out in a long strip, cut into small pieces as you pull it out, and roll them in XXXX sugar. Leave the pieces spread out for a few hours. Place them in an air tight jar where they will turn mealy.

BUTTERSCOTCH (BRITTLE).

2 pounds sugar. ½ pound glucose. ⅜ pound butter. ¾ pint water.

Put sugar, glucose and water in kettle on hot fire, stir until it boils, wash down sides of kettle, then put cover on until it steams well, remove cover and put thermometer in and cook to about 300, then set kettle off the fire and put in the butter, stirring it through the batch thoroughly, then put the kettle back on the fire, and you must now stir it constantly; but before you put the butter in it should not be stirred. Just before you put in the butter, take out the thermometer, as it is less trouble to stir the candy with the thermometer out, and it does not need to be cooked to any exact degree. In putting in the butter, you reduce the temperature of the batch about fifteen degrees, and it is necessary to cook it, after the butter is put in, up to about the point it was before; but you will have no trouble with this, and as soon as it boils up good and hard and commences to turn color a little, drop some off the spoon very quickly in cold water, and if it forms a mass of threads in the water it is done. Be very sure to stir this well after the butter is in it or it will stick. When done, set off the fire and add a good teaspoonful of lemon extract, stir it in well and if you have a funnel, pour it in the funnel, and drop on greased slab in wafers, which is the nicest way to make this butterscotch; or you may pour the whole batch, if you wish, on the greased slab, putting your bars on edge of slab to keep it from running off, and let it run over as large a surface as possible, as the thinner it is, the nicer it will be. Mark it in squares, but do so very quickly, as it does not take it long to harden; and always remember this: that you must take your spatula or a long butcher knife, and loosen the whole batch thoroughly from the slab before it gets perfectly cold, as then it will not stick when cold and also loosen the wafers. Your slab must be well greased before pouring this on, but no matter how well you grease it, if you allow the candy to get perfectly cold before loosening it, you will find it will stick somewhat. In loosening this candy before it gets cold, we do not mean to take it off the slab, but just to simply run something under and loosen it, letting it remain on the slab afterward, and you will find that it does not stick.

SOFT BUTTERSCOTCH

2 pounds sugar. 1 pound glucose. ⅜ pound butter. ½ pint dark molasses. ¼ teaspoonful ground ginger. ⅔ pint water.

Put sugar, glucose and water on the fire, stir until it boils, wipe down sides of the kettle, cover and steam same as other recipe, remove cover, put in thermometer and cook to about 245. You notice, probably, we say “about” in giving degrees in some recipes, which means that if they are one or two degrees either way, it does not hurt them. When the batch is up to 245, put in the molasses, butter, and ginger, and leave the thermometer in it and stir constantly, but not too hard, and cook to about 260, then remove the thermometer, and pour on greased slab and mark and cut up to suit. This candy does not get brittle like the other, but is nice and chewy; and if you put it in boxes, it must be wrapped in wax paper, or the pieces will stick together. We may as well mention the fact here, that in most of these candies, you will find that in hot weather, or rather on warm days, it is necessary to cook them several degrees higher than it is on a very cool day. This only applies to candies of this nature, which are called hard boiled candies. In candies which are creamed up, such as fondant, you do not make this distinction, as those must always be cooked the same.

PEANUT BRITTLE

1½ pounds sugar. ¾ pound glucose. 2 ounces butter. ½ tablespoonful vanilla. ¾ pound peanuts. (Raw.) 1 heaping teaspoonful soda. ⅔ pint water.

Put sugar, glucose and water on hot fire and stir until it commences boiling, wash down sides of kettle, cover until it steams well, remove cover, and put in thermometer and cook to 275, then take out the thermometer and put in the peanuts and butter, and stir constantly after you put the peanuts in. This of course will reduce the temperature of the batch, but it will soon boil up, and must be cooked until the peanuts are roasted, and the candy becomes a golden brown color, which it does about the time the peanuts are roasted sufficiently. Sometimes the peanuts will commence to pop, which indicates that they are roasted about enough, but if they do not pop, you can very easily tell when they are roasted sufficiently, as a great many of them break open, and by lifting the paddle occasionally with some of the peanuts on it, you can tell by their looks if they are roasted or not. There is no exact degree to which this second cooking must be done, but be careful and do not let your batch get too brown. After making one or two batches you will have no trouble in cooking it correctly. The proper peanuts to use in this candy are the small unroasted Spanish peanuts that we mentioned before. Do not attempt to put roasted peanuts in this candy in this manner but if you should use the roasted ones, they must be stirred in after the candy is cooked, as they would burn black if you put them in as we directed you in using the raw ones.

This candy is intended only to be made with the unroasted peanuts as directed, and if properly done, it is the finest peanut brittle made.

When the peanuts are roasted, set off the fire and stir the vanilla in well. Have your soda dissolved in just a very little water, using only enough to cover it. Immediately after stirring in the vanilla, pour in the dissolved soda and stir through the batch thoroughly, which will cause it to foam up considerably and get lighter in color. As soon as you have it stirred enough so that the batch is thoroughly mixed and foamy, pour on greased slab, and it will be necessary to =scrape= the kettle out in making this candy.