Part 7

Drain the liquor from red or white Maraschino cherries. Melt some fondant, and dip each cherry in the melted fondant. It is well to add a little of the liquor to the fondant while melting, as this has a tendency to make the fondant watery in about a day. As soon as you have dipped all the cherries, and the fondant on them has cooled, commence at once to coat with chocolate. If after you have finished coating, and you find little drops of syrup standing out on the chocolate coated cherries, simply cover these holes with a little cooled chocolate and it will stop at once; for if allowed to drop out, the cherries would be dry in a few days. These are best wrapped in wax paper.

HOW TO COAT CHOCOLATES

For coating chocolates, confectioners use what is called “Sweet Coating Chocolate,” which is prepared expressly for this purpose, and you will be able to purchase it of any confectioner who makes his own candy, or any candy supply house, if you live convenient to one, and also in some of the large grocery stores.

There are a great many different grades of coating chocolate, and we strongly encourage using a good chocolate, as the better grades give the best results; because there is less sugar in it, and it lends itself more readily to the manipulations, gives a more glossy finish, and has a much richer taste than the cheaper chocolates, which are adulterated. Chocolate which sells for about forty cents a pound is a good quality. You may, if you are unable to procure this coating, use the ordinary cooking chocolate, which you will find in all grocery stores. This is not so nice or satisfactory to use as the other coating, and if you use it, we would advise you to add enough XXXX sugar, after it is melted, to sweeten somewhat, and also to thicken it which improves it. In writing these directions, we take it for granted you will use the sweet coating, and will write them accordingly; but if you should use the cooking chocolate, handle it in the same manner.

A FEW PRELIMINARY INSTRUCTIONS.

The condition of the weather plays an important part in candy making, especially in the chocolate coating. Never attempt to coat on a rainy day, as the moisture in the air, prevents the chocolate from setting quickly, and the chocolates become grey. Dry weather is by far the most satisfactory, as the chocolate is easier to handle, works better, and coats with more luster.

As no doubt you will do the most of your chocolate work in the winter time, you must pay strict attention to the conditions under which you work. To begin with, the temperature of the room in which you work, must be about 75. Do not attempt to coat in a room that is cold, for your chocolate will harden on your hands and on the slab, before you can get it worked enough. The room should at least, be comfortable enough to sit in. Let us caution you right here, not to have your slab, nor the centers to be dipped, too cold. Warm the slab a little, before you pour the chocolate on it, but be careful not to get it hot, just warm enough to take the chill off. The centers, or whatever you are going to coat, should not be heated, but by merely leaving them set in the same room for awhile, they will be about right. Remember, it is just as bad to dip freshly run centers, or anything that has just been made, while they are still warm, as it is to dip the cold ones; the heat must have left them entirely before you coat them, or they will be grey and streaked. If you dip in warm weather, you will have to cool the chocolates in a refrigerator for about five or ten minutes. That is, when you have dipped about a dozen pieces of candy, you must set them in the refrigerator, so that the chocolate on them will harden quickly. In cold weather you will not have to use a refrigerator, but you must set the chocolates in a cool place as soon as you have about a dozen pieces coated. In real cold weather they may harden very quickly after being placed on the tray. Remember, you must have them cool quickly after being coated, for if they do not, it is liable to make them grey or streaked, and this is as important as working the chocolate.

It is best to lay these chocolates in boxes, with wax paper between the layers, and keep them in a cool place. If you lay them in the boxes carefully, they will not get scratched, and will keep fresh for several weeks if kept in a cool place.

The slab you use for making the other candies cannot be used for chocolate coating, because the chocolate will absorb the butter which has been used to grease the slab, and it will cause the chocolate to become rancid, if the bon-bon is kept for a length of time. If you have a piece of marble about twelve inches square, use that. If you have a large, heavy platter, it will do just as well as a slab.

If you wish to make the chocolate bon-bons for your own use, you can either use heavy wax paper to lay the coated chocolates on, or buy enough white table oilcloth, to cover the under side of about six trays. Flat kettle lids, cake and pie pans may be utilized for this purpose. Pieces of heavy tin, cut to fit the shelves of your refrigerator, is about the best. If you wish to make the chocolate bon-bons for profit, we would advise you to equip yourself with conveniences for the work.

PREPARING THE CHOCOLATE.

This chocolate coating is very easily and quickly done, and is exactly the same as all fine hand-made chocolates are coated, and it is practically all done by girls; so you will have no trouble in soon mastering it. Do not think it too difficult, for it is so simple that a child can coat after these directions.

The methods for working the chocolate as illustrated, are those used by a professional chocolate coater. Notice how the chocolate is kept in the palm of the hand. These pictures were taken after she had completed her work of preparing the chocolate, and at the end of the day her hand is just as free from chocolate as in the pictures.

Take the desired amount of chocolate; break it into pieces, put them in a double boiler, and place it over the fire. The heat of the water in the lower part of the boiler melts the chocolate. Do not put on a lid or add water because moisture or water that gets into the chocolate ruins it for chocolate coating, but it may be used for cocoa or baking. In most cases where the chocolate becomes too thick to coat with, you can save it by adding cocoa butter, of which we will tell you later on. Stir the chocolate occasionally while melting, to help break up the lumps. As soon as the water in the lower part of the boiler comes to a boil, turn the fire down very low, so that the water does not boil and cause steam to fly over the top of the chocolate, as that is sufficient to thicken the chocolate. When it is about half melted, draw it to the back part of the stove, and stir it until all the lumps are dissolved. If you wish, you may test the chocolate with the thermometer. Put the thermometer in the chocolate as soon as you set the double boiler off the fire. The required degree is 125. If the chocolate is cooler than this, heat it until it registers 125. If it happens to get a little too hot, lift the upper part of the boiler out of the water for a few minutes, but do not leave it out long. After you have a little experience, it will not be necessary to test with the thermometer, as you can tell with the hand when it is about the required degree.

If you wish to coat a large amount of candy, it is best to melt all the chocolate at the same time. It can be kept the correct temperature by allowing it to stand on the back part of the stove, or if you use gas for cooking, keep a simmering flame under the double boiler. It is always necessary to melt more chocolate than you expect to use, because you must allow for that which cools around the edges, forms the base on the slab, and clings to the sides of the kettle.

Orientals are the favorite chocolate candy and that is why we use it in illustration. Three-fourths of a pound of chocolate is the actual amount of chocolate needed to coat a batch, but as you will put it on thicker, and use more when you are a beginner, melt 1½ pounds.

You will learn from experience only, about how long it is necessary to work and knead the coating before using it. This is done for two purposes: One is, to break up the small globules of oil in the chocolate to prevent them from being spotted when coated, and the other is, to get your chocolate thick enough, so it will not run off the cream after you lay it on the oilcloth or wax paper. As you all know, if you dip chocolate creams in thin chocolate, it runs off and forms a base on the bottom of them.

If you should use a bowl and a pan of water instead of double boiler, be very careful and do not get any water in it, and also in pouring the chocolate out in order to work it, do not pour it on a cold slab or platter, as that chills it too quickly, but have it lukewarm.

DIRECTIONS.

Pour on the slab 1½ pounds of the melted chocolate. Assume the position of the hand as shown in figure 1; draw the fingers through the chocolate with a “pawing” motion as shown in figure 2. Each time that the fingers touched the chocolate on the downward motion, close the hand, and lightly squeeze the chocolate that is held between the fingers and the palm. The chocolate flows through the fingers and from the sides of the closed hand. Repeat this motion until the chocolate is spread out over the slab, (it will only be a few times), then encircle the outer edge, drawing the chocolate toward the center, as shown in figures 3 and 4. The thin layer of chocolate which remains is the foundation for the base which keeps the chocolate within bounds. Never draw into the center any of the chocolate that has become hard or that which is getting stiff. It will spoil the entire lot. Continue the “pawing” process, following it with the operations as shown in figures 3 and 4. Occasionally take up a handful and squeeze it as shown in figure 5. The chocolate in these illustrations was allowed to become cold, so as to give you a better idea how it should be done.

When the chocolate is warm it is thin, but by the time it has cooled enough it will be thick enough not to run off the center. You must continue working the mass of chocolate until the heat has all left it. There are several ways of telling when it is cooled enough.

For a beginner, we might advise you to use the thermometer until you have had a little experience. Slide the scale with the glass on, out of the case, so that the chocolate will cover all of the bulb, and after you have worked it for about five minutes, stand the thermometer in the center of the mass of chocolate until the mercury stops rising. If it registers about 82, it is then ready. If it is higher, continue working until it has reached the required degree. In cool weather the chocolate may be cooled sufficiently in from five to eight minutes, but in warm weather it may even take as long as twenty minutes. After you have used the thermometer a few times, you will know just how cool the chocolate should be, and then you can get along without it.

Another way to tell when the chocolate is cooled enough is, when you have worked it for five or six minutes, and it seems cold to the hand that is in it, simply dip the back of the fingers of the other hand in the chocolate, and if it is in reality cold, or you are sure the heat has all left it, then dip a piece or two, and cool them quickly, and you can soon tell. The chocolate has a high gloss, and retains the markings if it is cooled sufficiently.

COATING THE BON-BONS.

When the chocolate has been worked as directed, take a cream, (see directions “How to Mold in Cornstarch”), an Oriental center, or a nut and drop it on the mass of chocolate near the edge of the slab in front of you. Cover it thoroughly by using the thumb and first three fingers, as shown in figure 6. Pick up the cream from the mass of chocolate, wipe the side and back of your hand on the slab (or use the back of a knife) to clear it from the excess of chocolate which clings to it, otherwise this will drip over the paper when you lay down the cream. Smooth the chocolate covered cream by rolling it between your thumb and fingers until it is evenly covered with chocolate. Hold it with the tips of your fingers as shown in figure 7, and place it on the oil cloth at your right. In doing this, do not hurry or you will have strings of chocolate over the table and paper.

In laying the bon-bons on the oil cloth, LAY THEM DOWN SQUARELY. Do not allow them to slide or a base will form, which you wish to avoid. It is essential that the tray be level.

Coat the bon-bons as rapidly as possible so that it will not be necessary to reheat the chocolate before you have finished. If the chocolate is reheated, it must be worked again, as in the beginning.

ORNAMENTING THE BON-BONS.

In ornamenting bon-bons it is necessary to have some one help you. The ornament must be placed on each bon-bon =as soon as coated=, before the chocolate is set. Your helper can do this while you must continue with the work of coating.

A nut or silvered dragee, as shown in figure 8, may be put on top as an ornament. Do not press the ornament on the bon-bon, but place it lightly, otherwise it will form a base.

To acquire this skill in marking, begin by trying to mark the coated nuts. Roast some almonds in the oven with the skins on, which need not be removed when coating. English walnuts or pecans may also be used. The thread of chocolate is carried with the thumbnail across the top, as shown in figure 11. There is enough chocolate on the thumb, so that it is not necessary to touch the coated nut as you do when you mark the bon-bons.

After you have coated for some time and become an expert, you can learn to make the pretty markings seen on chocolate bon-bons, as shown in figure 9, which always distinguishes the hand-coated bon-bon. After you have placed the chocolate coated bon-bon on the paper, touch the top lightly with the chocolate covered middle finger. Carry the thread of chocolate that lifts up with your finger in a circle as shown in figure 10.

Do not be discouraged with your work, if you do not succeed the first few times. Many persons prefer the rough appearing candies, because in their opinion they look more “home-made.”

HELPFUL SUGGESTIONS.

When you coat begin by using the chocolate which is directly in front of you, and keep this cleared space to wipe the chocolate from your hand after you pick up the cream center from the mass of chocolate.

When you have used about one-third of the chocolate, sweep around the inside edge, as you did when working it, so that you may keep the entire mass the same temperature. Do this quite frequently.

Coating candies in the manner described here, your creams will have no base on them whatever, and will be very glossy, and not spotted in the least. If they are spotted after being coated, it is probably because you did not thoroughly work the chocolate, or because you worked in some of that around the edge that was too cold. Never mind how much there is around the edge of the slab, as none of it is wasted.

If they are not glossy, it is either because you commenced coating them before your chocolate was cool enough, or allowed it to get too cool, which would spoil the gloss, or did not put them in a cool place soon enough after coating them in order to set the chocolate.

When you are through coating, take your scraper and scrape all the chocolate off the slab, and also with a knife scrape it from your hand, and put it back in double boiler, and you will find that there is not enough chocolate wasted with which to coat one chocolate cream.

There is absolutely nothing necessary to put in this coating, but simply melt it and handle as described. If the chocolate is too thick to coat with, it is because you have allowed some of the steam, or a drop of water to get mixed in it, and you may then add a little melted cocoa butter to thin it a little. Do not get it too thin; remember that.

In using milk chocolate, you will find that it is much thicker than the sweet coating, and also, full of little lumps, which will be broken and worked through by the time it is cooled. If you wish you may add a very little melted cocoa butter to this coating, about the time you start to work it.

The bitter-sweet coating you will use in making Orientals, is thinner than most of the other coatings, and if you wish to thicken it a little, simply add a very little XXXX sugar to it, when you start to work it.

We will repeat again, that you must work the chocolate as much as you possibly can before you begin to dip; for, while it is absolutely necessary to have the chocolate cool, or until the heat has all left it, before you begin to coat. =It is essential to work the chocolate as much as possible, until it is cool=, even if it takes fifteen to twenty minutes. Otherwise your chocolates will be grey.

The secret in successful chocolate coating, is in working the chocolate properly, having it cool enough before you begin to dip, then cooling the dipped candies as soon as they have been dipped.

Never lift the dipped chocolates off the boards or trays, until they are set; you can tell this by lifting one piece off the wax paper or oilcloth, and if the bottom is glossy, then they are set.

ORIENTALS

The Finest Chocolate Cream Made.

This is acknowledged by everyone to be the finest Italian chocolate cream made, and when coated with the proper coating, it is a delicious confection, with a very brittle coating, and when broken open, the center is as smooth and soft as whipped cream.

We put this recipe last for the reason that you should learn to do the other chocolate coating before attempting this. The coating is done in exactly the same manner, except with these it is necessary to handle them very quickly, and consequently you must have a little experience in this line before attempting these, but after making them once, we do not think you will ever make the other different kinds, except for the purpose of filling your Christmas boxes, when it is very nice to have an assortment. With enough practice to enable you to coat them nicely, and if you are so disposed, you will have no trouble in selling all you can make at sixty cents per pound, to private customers only, as there are very few stores in the country where it is possible to purchase them. One reason of this is, they are too delicate to stand being boxed up and shipped around the country to the different dealers, and probably be kept for months, as some candies are, before being sold.

We tell you this to impress upon you how really fine they are, and the possibilities of profit, if you expect to make candy to sell. The formula is very simple, and known only to a very few, but you must follow directions very closely and cook it to the exact degree. The thermometer will do the cooking accurately, and the other part is not difficult in any manner. For the coating, it is best if possible, to get what is called a Bitter-Sweet Coating. This may be purchased in any large city, also of a great many candy manufacturers, or of any candy supply house or chocolate manufactory. If it is not possible to get the Bitter-Sweet Coating, you may make one which is nearly as nice as the other, by simply getting the pure unsweetened or bitter chocolate, which all confectioners handle, and sweeten it partly with XXXX sugar (never use granulated), in the proportion of one-fourth pound sugar to two and one-half pounds chocolate, by simply stirring the sugar in the chocolate after it is melted. If you should be unable to procure any other kind of chocolate, you could use the ordinary bitter baking chocolate, sweetened somewhat with XXXX sugar, but do not use it if you can possibly avoid doing so.

These creams should never be coated with a sweet coating, but always a bitter-sweet of some description, as the intensely sweet center, and the bitter coating, form a combination that makes them delicious.

They are made in the following manner, and a batch this size will use up about one pound of chocolate, but of course it will be necessary for you to have more melted up for reasons we mentioned before:

2½ pounds granulated sugar. ½ teaspoonful glycerine. Whites of 2 eggs. 6 drops acetic acid. ½ teaspoonful vanilla. Good pint of water.

Put sugar and water in kettle, set on hot fire, stir until dissolved, then put in the glycerine, continue stirring and wipe down kettle same as for fondant, and when it commences to boil add the acid, then cover the kettle until it steams well, remove the cover, put in thermometer and cook to =exactly= 236, then pour on moistened slab and allow it to remain undisturbed until all the heat has left it, the same as you do bon-bon cream. Now beat the whites of the eggs until dry, or will stand alone, then pour them on top of the batch, add the vanilla, and cream the batch in exactly the same manner as you do bon-bon cream, working the eggs right into it. If some of the syrup should be a little thick and not seem to mix with the eggs well, just take the scraper or whatever you are turning it with, and break the hard syrup a little, when it will readily mix.