Put one or two tablespoonfuls of fondant into a cup. Place the cup in a basin of hot water and stir constantly until the fondant becomes soft like cream or mola.s.ses. If it is not stirred it will go back to clear syrup; flavor and color the liquid fondant as desired. Drop the nuts in one at a time, turn them until well covered with fondant, lift them out with a candy-spoon, and place them on an oiled paper, or on an oiled slab. English walnuts, cherries, strawberries, and grapes are very good creamed in this way. The hulls are left on strawberries, the stems on cherries and grapes. Brandied cherries may also be creamed in the same way. If the fondant becomes too stiff, melt it again. After it has been melted twice it no longer works well. A few drops of syrup at 34 can then be added. It is well to have some syrup prepared to keep in stock for this purpose. A drop or two of liquid is sufficient to soften fondant, and unless care is used it will be diluted too much, in which case confectioner"s sugar can be mixed in; but this gives a raw taste to the fondant, and should be avoided if possible.
=COCOANUT CREAMS=
Grate some cocoanut fine. Mix it with as much liquid fondant as will bind it well, and flavor with a little vanilla. Spread it in a layer one inch thick and cut into one inch squares, or roll it into b.a.l.l.s, and dip the b.a.l.l.s into melted chocolate, the same as directed for chocolate creams, or into liquid fondant, flavored and colored as desired.
=COCOANUT CAKES=
Moisten a cupful of sugar with the milk of a cocoanut; boil it to the soft-ball; then stir in as much grated cocoanut as the boiled sugar will moisten; stir it only enough to mix and not granulate. Drop a spoonful at a time on an oiled slab, making flat round cakes about two inches in diameter. If the sugar granulates before the cakes are all spread, add a little water and cook it again to the soft-ball.
=PEPPERMINT CREAMS=
Melt fondant as directed for creamed nuts; flavor it with essence of peppermint. With a spoon drop the liquid fondant in even amounts upon an oiled slab, making lozenges; or, better, turn it into starch molds (see starch molds, below).
=CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINTS=
Dip the peppermint lozenges into liquid chocolate, as directed for chocolate creams.
=TO MAKE STARCH MOLDS AND CAST CANDIES=
Fill a box-cover with corn-starch, having it very light and dry; shake it down even. Press into it a die of any shape desired, making the indentations carefully. Plaster casts are made for this purpose, but b.u.t.tons make very good dies. A smooth flat b.u.t.ton one half inch in diameter makes a good shape for peppermints. Molds are used for cream drops, chocolates, or any of the flavored clear candies.
The liquid candy is dropped carefully into the molds and removed when cold and the starch dusted off. The starch can then be stirred light and again pressed into molds.
CANDIES MADE FROM SUGAR BOILED TO THE CRACK OR THE CARAMEL
=PEPPERMINT DROPS=
Boil a cupful of sugar to the hard-ball. Remove it from the fire; add a half teaspoonful of essence of peppermint and stir it just enough to mix in the flavoring and cloud the sugar. Drop it into starch molds or upon an oiled slab, letting four drops of the candy fall in exactly the same spot; it will then spread round and even.
These drops should be translucent or a little white. Unless care is used the candy will grain before the drops are molded; therefore it is better to pour it from the spout of the pan than to dip it out with a spoon.
=CARAMELED NUTS=
Boil a cupful of sugar to the crack or to the caramel, as preferred; add a few drops of lemon-juice. Blanch a few almonds and dry without coloring them. Drop one at a time into the sugar; turn it until well covered without stirring the sugar; lift it out with the candy-spoon, and place it on an oiled slab. Do not drain the nuts when lifting them out, and enough sugar will remain to form a clear ring of candy around each one. English walnuts, filberts, or any other nuts may be used in the same way. They should be warmed so as not to chill the candy. The work should be done quickly. If the sugar becomes hard before the nuts are all done, return it to the fire to heat. Add a teaspoonful of water if necessary, and boil it to the right degree again. If the sugar is boiled to the crack, the candy will be without color; if boiled to the caramel, it will be yellow.
=ALMOND HARDBAKE=
Blanch some almonds and split them in two. Dry them in a moderate heat without coloring them. Lay them with the flat side down on an oiled layer-cake tin, entirely covering it. Pour over the nuts enough sugar boiled to the crack to entirely cover them. The almonds may be laid in regular order like wreaths, or in groups like rosettes, if desired. Mark off squares or circles on the candy while it is warm, and it can then be broken in regular pieces when cold.
=PEANUT CANDY=
Fill a small square tin a half inch deep with sh.e.l.led peanuts, leaving the skins on. Boil some sugar to the crack or to the caramel, and pour it over the nuts, just covering them. Cut it into two-inch squares before it becomes quite cold.
=TAFFY=
Put into a saucepan two and a half cupfuls of sugar and a half cupful of water; stir until it dissolves; then wash the sides of the pan, and let it boil without touching until it reaches the soft-ball stage; add a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and a half teaspoonful of lemon-juice, and let it boil to the crack; add a teaspoonful of vanilla, and turn it onto an oiled slab or a tin to cool. Mark it off into squares before it becomes cold.
=MOLa.s.sES CANDY=
Put into a large saucepan a cupful of brown sugar, two cupfuls of New Orleans mola.s.ses, and a tablespoonful each of b.u.t.ter and vinegar. Mix them well and boil until it will harden when dropped in water. Then stir in a teaspoonful of baking-soda, which will whiten it, and turn it into a greased tin to cool. When it can be handled pull it until white and firm; draw it into sticks and cut it into inch lengths.
=CANDIED ORANGE OR LEMON PEEL=
Keep the peel of the fruit, as it is used, in a weak brine until enough has collected to preserve. Wash it thoroughly in several waters. Let it boil in plenty of water until tender, changing the water several times.
If the peels are fresh they need be boiled in one water only. When they can be pierced with a straw, drain off the hot water. Let them cool, and sc.r.a.pe out the white pulp with a spoon. Make enough syrup to cover the yellow peels, using the proportion of a pound of sugar to a pint of water. When the syrup is boiling, drop in the peels and let them cook slowly until they are clear. Then boil rapidly until the syrup is reduced almost to dryness, using care that it does not burn. Spread the peels on a flat dish and place them in a warm place to dry for twelve hours or more. When perfectly dry pack them into preserve jars. They are cut into shreds and used in cakes, puddings, and wherever raisins and citron are used. They are also used in pudding sauces. It is very little trouble to make the candied peels, and they are a delicious addition to various sweet dishes. The boiled peel can be cut into shreds before being cooked in the syrup if preferred.
CHAPTER XXIV
FRUITS
In point of general usefulness, apples hold the first place among fruits. Oranges also serve a great number of purposes, and, like apples, can be depended on nearly the whole year.
Peaches and apricots, although of short season, can be so successfully preserved that they, as well as berries, render important service in cooking. All of these fruits are excellent prepared as compotes, with pastry, with corn-starch, or with gelatine, making a variety of dishes without number. In the index will be found a list of dishes under each of these heads. In the fruit season one is sometimes at a loss to know how to utilize the abundance there may be at command.
Usually the fresh fruit is most acceptable at that time, but the little trouble and slight expense of canning should make one provident enough to secure a year"s store to supply the various purposes which cooked fruit serve.
[Sidenote: Temperature.]
[Sidenote: Arranging.]
Fresh fruits are always wholesome, beautiful, and inviting, and should always have a place on every table. The practice of leaving fruit on the sideboard in a warm room from one meal to another is a mistake, for fruit should be fresh, firm, and cold to be in its best condition. An exception to this rule may be made for fruits fresh from the garden with the heat of the sun upon them. The small fruits are much more delicious when tasting of the sunshine, but fruits obtained from markets are better for being chilled. Much taste may be shown in arranging fruits for decorating the table. They may be combined in large dishes, giving effect of abundance, or a quant.i.ty of one kind ma.s.sed together for color-effects, or a few choice specimens of a kind placed on separate compotiers. All the ways are good and, if the fruit is fresh and fair, will be most attractive. Green leaves should be combined with fruits; grape-leaves under small groups of peaches, plums, grapes, etc., are much used by the French, who excel in the beautiful arrangements of fruit.
White grapes, shading from those with pink tints to white below, give pleasing effects on white dinner-tables.
[Sidenote: Apples.]
Apples should be washed and rubbed until well polished. Fine apples so treated make an attractive centerpiece dish.
[Sidenote: Ill.u.s.trations.]
A few ways of preparing oranges are given in ill.u.s.trations.
[Ill.u.s.tration: DIFFERENT WAYS OF PREPARING ORANGES.]