To the art of candy-making, the use of carrots has brought a harmless new color. Formerly the peculiar yellowish orange of the carrot candy was a shade that the confectioner, amateur or otherwise, could not hope to attain without the use of artificial substances.
The statement that carrots are valuable in candy-making for their color must not be thought to mean that the confections made from them are not very good to eat. Quite the contrary; carrot candies have a very pleasing flavor.
Carrot Rings.—To make them, peel medium sized carrots and let them stand several hours in cold water. Cut cross-wise into slices about one-quarter of an inch thick and with a small round cutter or sharp knife remove the center pith. Drop the rings into boiling water and cook until tender. After they have thoroughly drained, drop them into a syrup made by boiling one part of water and three parts of sugar to two hundred and twenty degrees. Boil until the rings become translucent—probably about ten minutes. Dry on a wire rack, taking care that the rings do not touch. The next day, heat the syrup to two hundred and twenty-five degrees and again dip the rings and dry as before. If desired, when they are dry, fill the centers with bon-bon cream or marzipan. When this center has become firm, dip the candy into a syrup cooked to two hundred and twenty-eight degrees. Even if the centers are not filled, it is well to make this third dipping; the thermometer should, however, register two hundred and thirty degrees instead of merely two hundred and twenty-eight.
Crystallized Carrot.—For this confection, proceed exactly as directed in the previous chapter for crystallized parsnip, substituting, of course, the carrots for the parsnips.
Carrot Roll.—From ordinary cream fondant or from cooked potato fondant, make a thin strip about an inch wide. Place upon it small pieces of the crystallized carrot, prepared as directed above, and roll so that there is formed a long tube filled with the candied vegetable. Cut this tube into pieces as long as desired—half an inch is about right—and after drying until quite firm dip into a crystal cooked to two hundred and twenty-five degrees. If the pieces are not firm when they go into the crystal bath they are likely to soften and lose their roundness.
"Gingers."—Preserved ginger is a delightful confection, but it is expensive, and cannot be obtained in every town. There is a substitute that when properly prepared has an added charm, because it is the product of the candy-maker's own art. Note the box at the extreme right of the illustration facing page 98.
Garden "Ginger."—Take white carrots, preferably of fine texture, boil them five or ten minutes, scrape off the outside layer, cut the carrots in quarters, lengthwise, and remove the cores. Then remove the point and cut the remainder into slices about the size of the pieces of preserved ginger. Boil the pieces in fresh water until they are tender, but change the water frequently to destroy all vegetable taste and odor. Yellow carrots can be used, but in that case the resulting confection will differ from preserved ginger in color, although not in taste.
To every pound of cooked carrots add two pounds of granulated sugar, one quart of water, two ounces of green ginger root shaved fine, and the juice and grated rind of one lemon. Boil the mixture for fifteen minutes, and repeat the boiling the next day, and surely once or twice more; at any rate, until the syrup is very thick. If the boiling was continuous for five hours, the moisture would be eliminated, but the texture of the "ginger" would probably be ruined. The short cookings give the carrots the opportunity to absorb the cooling syrup slowly. If less water were used,—in order to reduce the time of cooking,—the carrot would harden too rapidly to take up enough syrup.
If the "ginger" is not wanted for immediate use, it can be stored in the syrup. The confection may be finished at once and packed dry, but the better method of preservation is in the liquid. The open season for carrots is very short and for the "ginger" is the whole year long!
To finish, heat the syrup thoroughly and then drain. After the liquid has stopped dripping, roll each piece of the "ginger" in granulated sugar, place the pieces on a wire tray, making sure that no two pieces touch, and put the tray in an oven very slightly heated. When the confection is dry it is done.
Variations.—Three variations are possible. If a sharper taste is desired, add a few grains of Cayenne pepper the last time the syrup is boiled. If a moister product is preferred, omit the lemon-juice and rind. If green ginger cannot be obtained, substitute one ounce of ground ginger. Ground ginger, however, must be boiled in a fine cloth bag; otherwise particles of it will adhere to the pieces of carrot.
XIV
Candied Green Beans.—Select well filled pods of green beans; wash, and then cook until tender in water to which a little soda has been added. Drain.
To a pound of beans so cooked, add one gill of water, one pound of sugar, and one tablespoonful of vinegar. Boil this mixture for fifteen minutes, and let it remain in the syrup over night. The next day, drain the syrup from the beans and cook it to two hundred and twenty degrees. Place the beans upon the screen of the crystal pan, pour the syrup over them, and cover with a board. Repeat the process next day.
When wanted for use, drain the syrup from the beans. Cook the syrup to two hundred and thirty degrees, return the beans to it, allowing them thoroughly to heat through. Turn them onto the screen, making sure that they are well spread. Cover with a board, and, after a few hours, spread singly.
Bean Taffy.—Bean taffy easily takes first rank among all taffies—vegetable or otherwise. The taste is good beyond words, and the consistency is pleasingly "chewy" without being tenacious to the point of teeth pulling!
Lima beans are the best to use as the basis because the skins can easily be removed, but ordinary dried beans may be substituted if care is taken. Cover the beans with cold water, let them stand over night, and the next morning boil them until soft, and force through a fine sieve to remove all the skins.
Boil together two cupsful of granulated sugar, one-half cupful of water, a tablespoonful of butter, and one-half cupful of the beans, prepared as above. After the mixture has boiled thoroughly, add one cupful of milk. Add the cupful of milk, one-third at a time. Stir the mixture and let it boil a few minutes after each addition of milk. When the thermometer registers two hundred and forty-two degrees, pour the mass onto an oiled marble between oiled candy bars so that it will set about one-quarter inch thick. As with ordinary taffy, cut into pieces of the desired size.
Nut Bean Taffy.—Cut Brazil nuts cross-wise into shavings about one-sixteenth of an inch in thickness—about the thickness of the pieces of shaved cocoanut. Spread as many of them as are desired upon oiled marble between oiled candy bars. Pour over the nuts the mass described above. Treat as before.
XV
To the candy cook, the discovery that beets make good confectionery brings a new flavor and a new color—one as desirable as the other, and that is saying a great deal! In candy made from beets there are several new shades of red which previously could not be obtained even by the use of artificial coloring matter.
In case the beet color is desired for candies made upon other bases, it can be had very easily. The beets should be boiled until the water is colored red. Then this water may be substituted for the water called for by other receipts in vegetable candy-making. The beet color will be given but the beet flavor will not be. The result is a pleasing color without the use of anything that is artificial.
Frosted Beet Slice.—Boil to two hundred and thirty-two degrees two cupsful of sugar, one tablespoonful of grated raw beet, one-third cupful of water, one teaspoonful of vinegar, and one teaspoonful of butter. Remove from the fire and stir in one-half cupful of broken walnut meats. When the mass begins to thicken, pour it between oiled candy bars on an oiled marble so that it will form a layer three-quarters of an inch thick. When cool, cover one-quarter of an inch thick with a frosting made of one cupful of sugar, one-quarter cupful of water, and one-eighth teaspoonful of cream of tartar, boiled without stirring to two hundred and thirty-four degrees and then flavored with a few drops of vanilla and lemon and beaten until creamy. When set,—a quick process—cut the mass into pieces about one-half inch wide and one and one-half inches long. If the confection is to be kept, crystallize at two hundred and twenty-five degrees. The looks are improved if the confection is then rolled in granulated sugar. Dry on a wire screen for twelve hours or so.
Note No. 10 in the frontispiece.
Beet Puffs.—Cut one medium sized beet into thin slices, cover with one-half cupful of cold water and cook in a double boiler until soft. Drain, and to the liquid thus obtained add one pound of sugar; boil two or three minutes. To this mixture, add one-half cupful of the cooked beet cut into fine pieces. Cook this mass to two hundred and forty degrees. Have ready the whites of two eggs, salted and beaten to a stiff froth. Remove from the fire and after the steam has ceased to rise, beat the mixture into the whites of the two eggs. Using a pecan meat to push with, drop this mixture from a teaspoon in small puffs on waxed paper, leaving the pecan imbedded. This mixture is very foamy and adhesive, sets very quickly and must be handled rapidly. These directions will yield about five dozen puffs.
A few drops of rose water may be added if a more delicate flavor is desired.
Beet Cubes with Variations.—Beet cubes possess remarkable color value. To make them, boil to two hundred and thirty degrees two cupsful of granulated sugar, one tablespoonful grated raw beet, one-half cupful of water, one teaspoonful of butter and one cupful of shredded cocoanut. Pour the mass between oiled candy bars upon greased marble so that it will form half an inch deep.
Four things may be done with this mass. It may be cut into cubes. If wanted for future use it may be dipped into a crystal syrup to hold the moisture. Children will like it poured into oiled cup-cake tins or any other mold. If molded, care should be taken that the finished confection is not more than half an inch thick. If the cubes are dipped into bon-bon cream they will be of unusual beauty because of the pink showing through the fondant casing.
Crystallized Beets.—Crystallized beets are fully as pretty as candied rose leaves. They are particularly valuable in trimming boxes of candy—especially "all vegetable" boxes.
To crystallize beets, use the process described for parsnips in Chapter XII. After the last crystallization, however, the pieces should be separated, dusted with granulated sugar, and dried on a wire screen, instead of being left on the rack.
If it is desired to increase the illusion, add rose water to the syrup.
Spiced Beets.—Boil beets and cut them into cubes of about one inch. Mix one cupful of sugar and one-third cupful of vinegar. Spice highly. Cinnamon, cloves and allspice should be used, and whatever else the fancy of the candy-maker dictates. Boil the mixture until it syrups, add the beets and cook ten minutes. Remove the mass from the fire, cover and set away for two days. Drain the syrup from the beets, boil the syrup to two hundred and twenty degrees and pour it boiling over the beets. Cover the mass and set it aside. Repeat this process on several successive days.
Spiced Beet Bon-bons.—Take spiced beets and drain off the syrup. Cook the syrup to two hundred and thirty degrees. With a wooden paddle beat it at one side of the saucepan until it begins to look creamy. Thereupon, add the beets, stir the whole mass briskly and turn it onto a sieve. Dry the cubes on a rack, roll each in fondant, dry for two hours and dip in bon-bon cream.
XVI
Tomato Marshmallow.—Very often marshmallows—even the sort sold in candy stores of the better class—contain gums and glucose which the amateur would find difficult to handle even if she felt no scruple in their use. Tomato marshmallows, however, are pleasing in consistency and more attractive in flavor than the old-fashioned kind. Moreover, they are easy to make, although it is necessary to give more detailed directions than would be required in the description of the process with which the home candy-maker is more familiar.
Dissolve three tablespoonsful of granulated gelatine in one cupful of hot water. Cook and strain ripe tomatoes; to one-half cupful of the strained tomato add one cupful of sugar and cook the mixture to two hundred and thirty degrees. Have ready in a deep saucepan, three cupsful of sugar, moistened with one-quarter of a cupful of water. Upon it strain the tomato syrup, stir well, thin with a cupful of water, and cook to two hundred and forty degrees. Set the mass off the fire, add the gelatine water previously prepared, mix thoroughly and strain into a fresh bowl. Have ready the whites of two eggs beaten to a stiff froth. With a French egg whip or a common wooden paddle, beat the cooked mass hard until it is white and does not separate. When it becomes foamy and spongy, gradually add the beaten egg whites and keep beating until the whole mass is very stringy and will almost set on the paddle. Sift upon the mass one tablespoonful of corn starch; stir well. Pour the candy between candy bars on a marble well dusted with XXXX sugar. Leave ten or twelve hours, cut into squares, roll well in XXXX sugar, spread the other side up and dry off. Instead of pouring the marshmallows between candy bars, they may be molded in corn starch. Store in a tight box.
The receipt sounds more laborious than is the process. The repeated boilings are necessary to perfect the product. The acid of the tomato destroys the granularity of the sugar. Straining the mixture eliminates the particles of tomato which, not having blended thoroughly into the syrup, would cause trouble by sticking to the bottom of the saucepan in the later higher cooking.
Chocolate Marshmallow.—Marshmallows, made as directed above, are the basis for them. Dip them in coating chocolate; the method of treatment is the same as with ordinary chocolate marshmallows.
Vegetable Nougatine.—Mix two cupsful of sugar, one-third of a cupful of corn syrup, one-third of a cupful of strained honey, and one-third of a cupful of strained cooked tomato; boil the mixture to two hundred and sixty degrees. Beat three egg whites very stiff, and remove the mixture from the fire. Until about one-half of a cupful has been so used, dip a spoonful at a time on the eggs, beating the mass continuously. From this point on, use an asbestos mat under the pan. Return the remainder to the stove. This time cook the mass to two hundred and ninety degrees. Pour it over the eggs, again beating continuously. Thereupon, set the mixture on the stove once more. The mass should cook slowly until, when tried in water, a sample of it has the consistency that is desired in the finished candy. Some people like the vegetable nougatine soft, others like it "chewy," and still others want it to be hard. Stir in one-half of a cupful of almonds, blanched and cut into small pieces, and one-half of a cupful of garden "ginger" also cut into small pieces.
Line a shallow straight-sided pan with wafer paper. Pour in the candy, and press a sheet of wafer paper onto the top. Let the mixture stand over night. The next morning remove the candy, paper and all, from the pan and place it on a marble slab, slightly oiled. With a long, thin knife, cut it into strips one and one-half inches long, and three-eighths of an inch thick and deep. Do not attempt to cut directly through the candy, but use a sawing motion. Immediately wrap the pieces in parchment paper.
Wafer paper, be it noted, is made from rice. It is easily soluble in water and may be eaten with impunity.
Chocolate Nougatines.—If the nougatines are desired for chocolate coating, the process is very simple. Instead of pouring the mass into the pan, lined with wafer paper, it should be poured onto a greased marble, between greased candy bars, so placed that the mixture will completely fill the rectangle formed by the bars. As before, cover with wafer paper. Over the paper place a board, kept in place with a heavy weight, in order to make the mixture more solid. As before, cut into small pieces. The process of coating is the ordinary one.
Nut Burs.—Cook one-half of a cupful of strained tomato and one cupful of granulated sugar to two hundred and thirty degrees; add two cupsful of sugar, one-half of a cupful of water, and two teaspoonsful of butter. Let this mixture boil up once only; then strain. Place it in a three quart saucepan, return it to the fire, and cook to two hundred and forty-two degrees.
Take one-quarter of a cupful each of preserved garden "ginger" and spiced beet, drain the syrup off and cut very fine; spread upon a wet marble.
Over beet and "ginger" pour the cooked mixture, and "cut in." Form the mass into balls, flatten them slightly, roll in confectioner's sugar, and let dry.
With a sharp knife, cut on a board blanched almonds, pecan, and pistachio nut meats into small, pointed pieces.
This is the method of using the nuts: Have the nuts spread thinly upon a plate. Melt coating chocolate, and let it stand until cool. The principles laid down in Chapter VI, "Chocolate Coating," should be followed. Into the chocolate dip the dried balls and roll them over the nuts. Make sure that the nuts adhere to all parts. Dry upon racks.
The brown, green and cream of the almonds, pecans and pistachios against the dark chocolate background make a very attractive color scheme. The nuts may be used alone, however, or different combinations may be substituted. Other nuts may be drafted into effective service. If peanuts are used, be it noted, they must not be combined with any other nuts; the peanut flavor is overwhelming.
See the dish at the right of the illustration facing page 118, and No. 21 of the frontispiece.
XVII
Green corn has great possibilities for the maker of vegetable candy. If fresh corn can be obtained, boil the ears in salted water until the kernels are tender. While they are still hot, with a thin, sharp knife cut down the center of each row. Press with the back of the knife down the cob thus freeing the pulp but leaving the skin upon the cob. To make certain that the pulp is free from skins, and of a uniform consistency, force it through a coarse sieve. Note that the corn is not to be made into a paste as was the potato. If canned corn is used, force it through a sieve.
Boil together, until the mixture is very thick, one-half cupful of corn, so prepared, one-half cupful of granulated sugar and one-half cupful of coffee A sugar. The thermometer reading will be about two hundred and thirty degrees. Add one-half cupful of bon-bon cream. Pour the mixture into a rubber mold, or, if preferred, drop like cream wafers upon waxed paper. If the mass is too thick to pour easily, add a few drops of hot water. The quantities here given will fill a mold of four-dozen size—the sort illustrated on page 10. After the drops have dried for five or six hours, dip them singly into a syrup cooked to two hundred and twenty-five degrees. On the next day they will be ready for packing.
Nut Cornlettes.—Cornlettes are a little richer both in consistency and in flavor than the many creams to which candy eaters are accustomed. By the addition of a nut to each piece, however, cornlettes may be made still richer and still more distinctive candy.
There are three methods of adding nuts. The first method is to push the nut into each piece soon after it has been poured into the mold. The great advantage of this method is its ease and quickness. The confection is ready for the serving dish as soon as it is cool enough to leave the mold. A clearer and better finished appearance may be obtained by the use of the second method. By it, the cornlette, when molded, is dipped into a crystal syrup. A drop of the hot crystal is placed upon the back of the nut meat to serve as glue, and corn and nut are pressed together. When cool, the whole is dipped into the crystal. The third process is a compromise. The drop may be dipped into the crystal as soon as it comes from the mold, and the nut, either plain or dipped, may then be placed upon it. When the crystal sets, the union will be firm.
XVIII
By supplying a more wholesome sort of confectionery, vegetable candy—at least in the eyes of its friends!—has decreased the need of household remedies for indigestion and similar ailments. On the other hand, the newly discovered candy-making brings a definite contribution to the family medicine chest. From onion can be made tablets that have the virtues assigned to our foremothers' cough syrups and even are good to eat, according to those who like the flavor of the onion.
Onion cold tablets, then, are offered both as confectionery and as a household remedy. It should be borne in mind, however, that no household remedy, however good, or tried, takes the place of the physician. The family health is too precious a commodity to be entrusted to unprofessional hands.
To make the tablets, cut into thin slices two ounces of raw onion—about half of a good sized onion,—work the onion into two cupsful of sugar and let the mixture stand for two hours. Add two-thirds of a cupful of cold water, place the mass on the fire, and let it come just to a boil. Strain the syrup so made into a granite saucepan, and add one teaspoonful of vinegar and the amount of red pepper that the point of a knife will hold. Place the mixture on the fire, and when the mass begins to boil, put a wooden cover over the pan. Continue the boiling for several minutes; thoroughly "steam down" the side of the pan. By "steaming down" the side of the pan is meant confining the steam which rises from cooking so that it will free the sides of the pan from the accumulation of the mass that is cooking.
Remove the cover, insert a thermometer, and cook the mass to three hundred and thirty-five degrees. Thereupon stir in one tablespoonful of butter, remove the mass from the fire, add one teaspoonful of salt, and baking soda the size of a large pea. Thoroughly mix the mass, and pour it between candy-bars on a well oiled marble slab. As the confection sets, mark it off in squares, and be sure to run the knife under the whole sheet to free it from the marble. Unless the sheet is so freed from the marble it will be sure to stick so that it can be handled only with difficulty. When the mass is cooled, it will easily break into the squares into which it has been marked. For preserving, pack the tablets in tin boxes.
For those who do not like so much red pepper, the quantity may be regulated to suit. The amount of onion used may also be increased or diminished as the taste of the candy-maker dictates.
XIX
This confection is easily made from purely vegetable ingredients, and has the pleasing consistency and flavor of the Turkish pastes. The gelatine that is used comes from an aquatic plant—instead of from the usual source. It can now be obtained in specialty stores and in some of the grocery stores of the larger cities.
Cut one-half of an ounce of Japanese gelatine into fine pieces, and pour over it two cupsful of warm water. Ordinary gelatine can not be substituted. Let it stand for at least two hours. The results will be much better if the soaking is allowed to take a whole night. Set this gelatine water on the fire and stir it until it comes to a boil and the gelatine is wholly dissolved.
Mix one pound of sugar and one-half of a pound of glucose; into them strain the gelatine. Set the resulting mixture on the fire and cook it until it is very stringy as it drops from the paddle. When stirring, scrape the bottom of the kettle well as the mixture sticks very easily.
Run a half pound of figs through a grinder. When the gelatine mass is cooked, as above, remove it from the fire, add a few drops of oil of lemon or a teaspoonful of lemon extract, and thoroughly mix in the figs. Dust a marble slab with confectioner's sugar, place candy bars in position, and pour the mass between them so as to form about one-half inch thick. If the candy is allowed to cool a little before it is poured out, and is carefully stirred, the figs will not separate and come to the top. Dust the top with the sugar and let it remain over night.
To finish the confection, cut it into squares by simply pressing the knife down through it. Roll the pieces in confectioner's sugar, and pack them in an air-tight box.
Seaweed.—This gelatine called for by this receipt is also known as Japanese isinglass, agar-agar, and kanten. It is peculiar to Japan. It is made from seaweed, the great unused resource of the western world. The Orient alone to any extent uses seaweed as a food, and, of the Orient, only Japan shows appreciation of its agricultural and commercial value. Kanten is the product of five hundred manufacturing plants in Japan, with an annual output of over three million pounds. The usual commercial gelatine is made from animal tissues—skin, ligaments, tendons, or the matrix of bones, particularly of horns and hoofs. Seaweed as a source for gelatine appeals somewhat more to the imagination!
Kanten is made from the gelidium family of seaweed which grows in deep water upon the rocks. Coolies dive for the seaweed. They wash and dry it by the seaside, and sell it at seven or eight cents a pound to the factories for gelatine manufacture. The perfect purity of kanten is proved by its use as a culture medium in bacteriological work.
Gelidium grows on both coasts of America from Canada to the Gulf. This is true, also, of red laver which is largely used as a food in Japan and unknown here. In Japan it is baked or toasted until crisp and used in sauces and soups. It is palatable, and nutritious, being rich in proteids. Red laver is not abundant in Japan and is being cultivated. Sea farming is becoming an important industry under the supervision of the government. The red laver beds are now rented out by the season to the sea farmers with average crop returns of one hundred and fifty dollars per acre.
Kelp, also, is utilized in Japan, not alone for glue, sizing and iodine, but as a food—kombu. In this country, it is sometimes used to fertilize the low-lying, barren lands near the shore.
In the marketing of the vegetable sea food known as Irish moss, New England comes to the fore. This is a delicious food product used much as corn starch for blancmange, jellies, custards, and puddings.
In a book relating to candy-making, why this information concerning the unappreciated food value of seaweed? Because the discovery of the possibilities that cheap and common vegetables can well serve as the basis for the best candy may well be supplemented by the utilization of seaweeds, valuable as a food, but now wasted. In the midst of her work, the candy-cook may well stop to think that it is by putting cheap and common things to new uses that the race will make material progress.
XX
Dates for Candy.—For the basis of dates as candies, Fard dates are perhaps the best because they are generally whole with unbroken skins. If Persian dates are to be used instead, they should be of the sort that come packed in single layers or in small boxes. The skins of Persian dates are tender and when taken from boxes holding fifteen or twenty pounds are torn by the sharp pick used to handle them. When cream fillings are used, however, softer dates can be substituted if they are carefully handled.
Sparkling Dates.—Wash, steam, pit, and dry. Fill them with rhubarb marmalade, and close them very tightly. Brush the whole outside surface with the unbeaten white of an egg, and roll the dates so coated in coarse granulated sugar. If Fard dates cannot be obtained, select as perfect Persian dates as possible. Fill them with rhubarb marmalade as for the Fard dates, but do not use the egg coating. Simply roll in the sugar.
Chocolate Covered Dates.—Proceed as above up to the point at which the dates are rolled in sugar. To make the chocolate confection, roll the dates in confectioner's sugar, instead of in the coarse granulated. After they have dried, coat them as usual with chocolate.
Date Brilliants.—Wash, steam, and pit dates; fill them with either vegetable cream or cream fondant. Dip them singly in a crystal syrup, cooked to two hundred and twenty-five degrees. Dry them on a rack. For fillings, a great variety is possible. Add finely chopped nuts or granulated cocoanut to the vegetable cream, or use rhubarb marmalade, tart jam, or orange marmalade.
Rhubarb Marmalade.—The fillings suggested for date brilliants are all within the knowledge of the candy-cook, except, perhaps, rhubarb marmalade. As the basis for it, wipe clean with a damp cloth stalks of rhubarb. They must not be put into water. Peel them and cut them into very thin slices. Cover each pound of rhubarb with one and one-quarter pounds of granulated sugar. Let the mixture stand over night. In the morning, boil it for ten minutes, or a little longer if the rhubarb is not soft. Grind one-third of a pound of dried figs; remove the rhubarb and sugar from the fire; to them add the figs and stir until they are thoroughly mixed. Boil ten minutes more. The marmalade should be put into glasses while hot, and sealed at once.
Sugared Dates.—Prepare dates and fill as for date brilliants; dip them in syrup, and, while still damp, dust with granulated sugar.
Stuffed Dates.—Fill with any cream or marmalade and roll in granulated sugar, dates washed, strained, steamed and pitted.
Stuffed Prunes.—The sort of prunes that come in boxes are better to use than the ordinary ones because they are of a better quality, and are separated in the curing. Barely cover the prunes with cold water, and allow them to stand over night. One method is to pour the water off the next morning, pit the prunes, and use them as they are. If the prunes are moist and firm to begin with, the soaking is probably all that is necessary. Otherwise the second method is the one to be followed. If so, after the prunes have been soaked, place them over the fire and allow them to come to a boil quickly. This application of heat is sure to plump out prunes that have become dry, or have been over-cured. The difficulty, however, is that there is danger that the juice will be started, and much of it lost, and that the skins may be broken. The second method will destroy the raw taste to which some persons object.
No matter which method has been followed, fill each prune with tart jam, orange marmalade, rhubarb marmalade, or with potato fondant, cooked or uncooked, with or without the addition of nuts. To finish, coat each prune with the unbeaten white of an egg, and roll in granulated sugar. If it is desired, they can be rolled in confectioner's sugar, dried and coated with chocolate.
XXI
Rings.—Angelique is a vegetable that is of the greatest use as an accessory in the making of many sorts of vegetable candy. That fact, however, should not obscure the equally important fact that its flavor is excellent and that it may well be used as a base. Rings made from it are very good if filled with any one of the four mixtures described below. And, as the reader will see by looking at No. 15 of the frontispiece, they are good to look upon.
As a beginning, no matter what filling is to be chosen, cut crystallized angelique cross-wise into sections a quarter of an inch wide. If these sections are flattened by packing or cutting, separate the sides so that they form circles, the more nearly perfect the better.
The fillings may be either potato fondant, plain or colored, and flavored to taste; potato fondant with chopped nuts worked into it; equal parts of potato fondant and almond paste; or rhubarb marmalade, with confectioner's sugar worked into it if it appears too moist.
When the fillings are in place, each ring should be dipped separately into a crystal, cooked to two hundred and twenty degrees, and then should be allowed to drain on a wire rack. The next day the process should be repeated. When the rings have become thoroughly dry, they will be found very useful for almost any sort of serving or packing. The outside is firm, and the centers soft.
Orange Rings.—Rings made from candied orange peel may be treated similarly. Cut the peel into rings by using one-half and one quarter inch cutters. Thereafter both process and fillings are the same. An interesting combination can be made by arranging three small orange rings in a cluster, and holding them in position by the syrup. In addition to the filling, a pignolia nut may be placed in each ring.
See No. 19 of the frontispiece.
Angelique as a Plant.—Angelique or angelica is so called because in early centuries it was thought to be a specific for poison and pestilence. It is an aromatic garden herb, of an order of plants of the cohort umbelliferae, known popularly as the parsley family. The order is one of strongly marked properties. Some of its members contain an aromatic oil and furnish condiments—as anise, dill, caraway, and coriander. From another group these qualities are nearly absent and the stem and leaf are edible—as in celery, angelique and parsley; or the root—as in carrot and parsnip.
Angelique is native to many temperate parts of Europe and America. It grows on river banks and in other damp places. It is easily cultivated and often grows to the height of six feet. Its seeds may be sown in the autumn as soon as they are ripe, or they may be planted in the spring. Angelique develops a plant much like celery. It is blanched and eaten the same way. The stalk is used commercially when crystallized or candied. It is green in color and pleasingly pungent in flavor, and lends itself in many ways to the use of the candy-maker. It comes generally in strips six or seven inches long and is cut according to the special directions for the different candies.
Angelique is so easy to raise and is of such value that two methods of handling it when home grown are given below. Why so many candy-makers with gardens continue to buy it when it can be cultivated so easily is a mystery.
Preserved Green Angelique.—Select angelique that is fresh, young, crisp, and as tender as possible. Cut the stalks into six inch lengths; wash them thoroughly. Boil them in water for ten minutes, and drain them. Thereupon, boil them in a syrup for half an hour. Let them cool in the syrup. Store in wide-mouthed bottles or jars.
Dried Angelique.—Prepare the angelique as before. Cut the stalks into strips, lozenges, or large and small rings. Boil them in the syrup three or four times—as was directed before. After draining, roll each piece in powdered sugar. Dry them thoroughly on a screen, and store carefully.
XXII
Vegetable candy opens up a new field for the caterer. It furnishes him material that is not only cheaper but better than that with which he has been accustomed to work. Not only are the results better, but they are achieved by the expenditure of much less effort. Potato fondant can be made to assume clear outlines without the hour after hour beating required by the traditional French methods. Moreover, the caterer's customers can have the satisfaction of knowing that the pretty things that they are buying are not made with the help of plaster of Paris or other ingredients of which the less there is said the better!
The caterer should take particular note of the illustration facing page 138. It will suggest many of the uses to which the new mediums can be put. The caterer, also, should read with particular care the chapter relating to decorative candy. Chapter and illustration together will furnish him with ideas as to how he can make use of this discovery in his own profession. Of course, for success, absolute familiarity with the processes of vegetable candy-making is essential.
There are a few definite points which should be borne in mind, however, by the person who wishes to use vegetable candy in catering. Flowers can be wired and used as bouquets. As will be seen from the illustration facing the next page, to hold candles for use on birthday cakes there is no need to use the objectionable wire cups. Smaller flower cups made from potato fondant can be substituted. An excellent method is to use them in the border. There, they are not only useful but highly decorative. Nor need there be used cups made from starch, plaster of Paris, or other inedible mixtures.
The possibilities of using potato fondant as the base for fancy cups to hold ice creams and ices are unlimited. For instance, the fondant can be molded into cups of conventionalized flower designs. The caterer should remember that these cups should be dipped one or more times in a crystal syrup. This will not only make them resemble somewhat the ever popular spun sugar, but will tend to make them impervious to the melting ices or creams. As a result, the fondant itself will retain its crispness. A similar use is for novel containers for salted almonds and nut meats.
One great advantage of the use of objects made from vegetable candy is that they may very easily be made to follow the color schemes used at luncheons or dinners. The color may be very easily applied to the exterior or may be worked into the mass itself before it is molded. Just how these operations should be followed will readily be seen by re-reading Chapter VIII, division III,
For instance, if pink is the color for the luncheon, wild roses easily suggest themselves as promising decorations. The form of the wild rose lends itself readily to cups,—the larger ones for ices and the smaller for nuts. If the function is a birthday, wild roses may well be used for candle cups on cakes. If not a birthday, and decorative icing is desired for large or small cakes, nothing could be prettier than the roses. They can be used either as a border of conventional regularity around a large cake or in the center of small, round cakes covered with white icing. As a flower decoration, candy wild roses can be placed in a vase in the middle of the table. To carry the place cards, there may be a butterfly alighting upon each rose cup holding nuts. These butterflies can be made of vegetable candy, water color paper, or bolting cloth; whatever their material, they must be wired, or glued, with a few drops of crystal syrup, to the edge of the rose.
If, however, the luncheon is to be violet, other decorations can be used. The center piece may be a large bunch of pop-corn violets. At each plate there may be French baskets, made from potato fondant colored pale violet, filled with cocoanut violets. To give the idea that the baskets have just come from the florist's, to each there may well be tied a card bearing the name of the guest. In this instance, it would be well for the ice to be served in a fondant basket and capped with a few violets.
The caterer will readily see that vegetable candy offers itself in countless ways in connection with place cards. The new candy can not only be used as the holder for daintily designed cards, but the design itself may be painted directly upon the object modeled from potato fondant or potato paste. The first method is likely to be rather more easy in its process and attractive in its results, on the whole, but the second has the distinction of novelty. It surely is an interesting thing for the guests to be able to eat their place cards, decoration, design, and all!
For Easter, yellow is a particularly good color. For ices, cups and cases can be made of white and yellow fondant modeled in the form of jonquils or daffodils. Carrot rings, served with the salad course, would add a touch of variety. As is suggested in the chapter concerning decorative candies, potato fondant can be made to serve the table decorator especially well for special times and functions. Insignia can easily be formed of fondant, either as separate forms to be wired and used as place cards or as place cards attached to the little cases—paper or fondant. A Masonic dinner, for instance, would use the square and compass in different ways, and one for the Odd Fellows would make use of their three links. For college banquets, the appropriate Greek letter insignia could be used. In this case, however, the caterer must make sure that he is not violating any of the rules of the societies to which his guests belong.
For any decoration that is flat instead of modeled, the potato paste can be substituted for the potato fondant. Thus, in the case last cited above, many of the insignia can be cut from paste more easily than they can be modeled from fondant. A tinsmith can easily make a cutter that will save time if a number of the same design are desired.
The paste can be used with the fondant, either in the same object or separately for the same occasion.
Vegetable candy can be made by the skillful amateur as readily as by the manufacturer. No large plant or complicated machinery is required. As a result, the girl or woman with a skill that is great, but a bank account that is small, may find vegetable candy the road to a profitable catering trade. If in a small town, she can—if she is sufficiently skillful—fashion decorations for food that will rival the products of the art of the city caterer. Moreover, inasmuch as she is put to comparatively little expense, and is using comparatively cheap ingredients, she can undersell her urban competitor. And her fellow townswomen who buy her wares will have the distinct satisfaction of knowing that her product is free from harmful ingredients.