Candy-Making Revolutionized Part 1

Candy-Making Revolutionized.

by Mary Elizabeth Hall.

INTRODUCTION

When Mary Elizabeth Hall first brought her discovery to my attention, I thought that it was indeed one that would revolutionize candy-making, both that of the amateur at home and of the manufacturer. And, in the months that have followed, to this belief has been added the conviction that this revolution is one very much worth while. Why so simple and obvious a discovery was not made long ago is a mystery to me; perhaps its very simplicity and obviousness is proof of its importance.

Of cookery, candy-making is a branch which is ent.i.tled to more dignity than it ordinarily receives. Negatively and positively, the importance of sweets to the child can hardly be over-estimated. If he consumes a quant.i.ty of impure confectionery, his digestion will be ruined for life; how much of the confectionery bought is rankly impure it is well for the mother's peace of mind that she does not know! On the other hand, if the child is not given sweets, he is deprived of a food element of the greatest value to his development. And for the adult, the value of pure candy is too obvious to warrant comment.

Vegetable candy, to my mind, is ideal confectionery. Of its purity, there can be no doubt. Moreover, it furnishes the valuable element of sugar so combined with nutritious vegetable bases that, because of the bulk, there is no temptation to overeat. This quality of the new confection would seem insurance against the evil effects of gluttony!

Before an undue amount of sugar is consumed, the very ma.s.s of the vegetable base has satisfied the appet.i.te.

Many sorts of vegetable candy have unusual keeping qualities; indeed, some kinds will retain their flavor and moisture for as long as a year.

It is significant to note that almost all non-vegetable confections that can be successfully stored for any length of time contain artificial preservatives; vegetable candy, however, keeps, not because of the addition of alcohol or even benzoate of soda, but because of the excellence of the processes themselves.

Notwithstanding its advantages, vegetable candy is no harder to make than is any other good candy. For success in any sort of cookery, much hard work is necessary; slipshod methods and intuition can not produce food that is up to standard. Of even greater force is this rule when applied to the most delicate brand of cookery--the making of confectionery. Miss Hall has supplemented her major discovery by several other valuable discoveries--or "adaptations," as she modestly styles them. Her use of crystallization, for instance, enables the amateur confectioner to secure results which were previously out of her reach.

Aside from its virtues from the hygienic, dietetic and practical points of view, the new confectionery has much to commend it. By utilizing the common and cheap vegetables of the home garden, it gives to the girls and women on the farm and in the village an opportunity that previously was not theirs. This discovery means that they can now make the finer sorts of candy, the fas.h.i.+oning of which was formerly out of the question to women who did not have at their command the resources of the specialty stores of the large city--and plenty of money to spend in them. This enlargement of the culinary horizon of these countless women is not without broad significance; the removal of their limitations--petty and otherwise, if you will--is necessary before we shall cease to tremble because they who belong on the farm and in the village refuse to stay there. Once banish the discontent of the farm woman, and there is no rural problem of consequence. And vegetable candy-making is not without sociological importance because it is a step--though, perhaps, a very short one, comparatively!--in that direction.

More definite, however, is another field for speculation in connection with vegetable candy. It offers to the housewife, house-daughter, and to the teacher a new modeling medium. That from a cheap and easily made base attractive objects may be made--and then eaten--surely is a recommendation of no slight moment. Miss Hall's discovery has placed within easy reach of persons of moderate means and skill a medium through which really beautiful objects can be made in candy. For the first time, the amateur candy-maker can prove for herself that candy-making is not only an art, but that it is one of the fine arts.

WARREN DUNHAM FOSTER.

PREFACE

The years of work in candy-making that have made possible this book, I now look back upon with a certain feeling of satisfaction. The satisfaction comes from the knowledge that because of the discovery that is here recorded, the candy of the future will be purer, more wholesome, more nouris.h.i.+ng than that of the past has been. Even if the processes that are here set forth fail of the widest adoption, I have still the satisfaction of knowing that just so far as they are adopted will there be greater healthfulness of confectionery.

Another reason for the satisfaction that I feel is my knowledge that my discovery has opened to the home candy-maker a whole new world.

Previously many of the better sorts of confectionery--particularly of the decorative kinds--were out of her range, either because of the cost of the necessary ingredients or the difficulty of their purchase or handling; particularly under a heavy disadvantage has been the village or country cook who has not had the service rendered by the specialty stores of the great cities. Now, however, with the ever present potato subst.i.tuted for marzipan--hard to obtain at more a pound than potatoes cost a peck!--it is the girl or woman with her own garden who has the advantage. Moreover, decorative candies that formerly required more skill than most amateur confectioners possess can now be made by anyone who can model clay or use a cooky cutter. Mothers who formerly were all too often required to gratify their children's longing for candies that told a story--candies modeled or otherwise decorative--by giving them boughten confectionery that contained plaster of Paris, aniline dyes and other ingredients equally harmful, can now in their own kitchen from nouris.h.i.+ng and harmless vegetables fas.h.i.+on sweets that are just as beguiling to childish eyes.

Nor is this all. Children invariably have a craving for sweets that if allowed to run its course is almost sure to lead to indigestion and worse. On the other hand, if this craving is not satisfied, the children will be deprived of a food of the utmost value--a food element, indeed, that it is indispensable. Vegetable candy offers an ideal solution of this difficulty. Sugar it of course contains, but the vegetable base supplies no small part of the bulk; consequently children may eat their fill of it and satisfy their natural longing for candy without having gorged themselves with sugar. Moreover, the vegetable base has virtues that are positive as well as negative; it itself supplies valuable food elements and equally valuable vegetable salts.

Many colors and flavors are made available by this discovery. The use of beets, for instance, has added to the candy-maker's palette a very attractive new shade. Each vegetable contributes at least one new flavor. Novel as are candies made from vegetables, they must not be thought faddish. Caramels, marshmallows and bon-bons and all the rest are here; tastes that have already won favor are here, and many new ones as well.

In places, perhaps, the directions that follow may seem over detailed.

Invariably, however, I have tried to give information about all the points that would come to the mind of the amateur confectioner. I have tried to tell the _why_ as well as the _what_. Moreover, the processes at times may seem, perhaps, a bit over long. It should be noted, however, that vegetable candy-making is no more complicated, if as much so, as is the making of any other confectionery. Good candy invariably means effort, and intelligent painstaking effort at that.

It has been with the home candy-maker in mind that I have written this book. Undoubtedly, however, the discovery will appeal to the professional. I am glad, for the more vegetable candy is made, the less unhealthful confectionery there will be consumed. For the same reason, I hope, too, that women and girls seeking to make profitable their idle hours at home, may embark in a small way in the manufacture and sale of vegetable candy.

My thanks are due to _The Youth's Companion_ for its kind permission to reprint material that first appeared on its Girls' Page--a department that, together with Family Page and Boys' Page, has done much for better living throughout the nation.

No doubt I have been garrulous concerning my own discovery, but I trust that the privilege of garrulity will be granted to the woman who has been a pioneer and who, after suffering the hards.h.i.+ps that are always the lot of the pioneer, has, as she believes, opened up a whole new world in candy-making and a very good world at that!

M. E. H.

BOSTON, Ma.s.s., June 12, 1912.

CANDY MAKING REVOLUTIONIZED

SECTION ONE

I

HELP FOR THE NOVICE

Almost all of the difficulties of the novice in the art of candy-making come from lack of practice. Although it is a difficult branch of cookery, experience in its intricacies will overcome many of the handicaps under which the beginner struggles. It should be carefully noted that these handicaps apply fully as much to the old-fas.h.i.+oned sort of candy-making as to the new. The fundamental processes are often the same. If the beginner in candy-making knows and will follow a few simple rules, the measure of success that greets her efforts will be largely increased.

Be accurate. If the rule calls for one-quarter teaspoonful of a flavoring extract, measure that amount by a measuring-spoon; do not take up any spoon that happens to be convenient, and pour in what seems to be about the right quant.i.ty. More and more cooks are working by rule and not by intuition; but in candy-making the caution against inaccuracy is especially necessary, for the processes are delicate, and subtleties of flavor and of texture are more evident than in more substantial food.

The weather is of more moment in candy-making than in plain cooking. Do not try to make candy on a muggy day; the results probably will be unsatisfactory. But if forced to disregard this warning, attempt but little, act quickly, and remember that damp weather is the only excuse for the subst.i.tution of intuition for rule. Just why humidity and low barometric pressure play havoc with the work of the confectioner need not be discussed here.

In making confectionery, cleanliness to the point of chemical purity is highly desirable. Many successful cooks believe that candy should be made in a pan that has never been used for anything else. That belief, perhaps, may be extreme, but the fact remains that one cannot be too careful in regard to the cleanliness of her utensils. And this necessity for cleanliness holds for any receptacle in which any ingredient is placed. Note particularly that heating lard will leave a taint which will spoil the delicacy of flavor of candy made in the same dish.

Very often it is desirable that liquids remain hot after the actual cooking has been done. The ordinary stove gives too much heat for the purpose, and the confectioner's "working slab"--a device moderately heated by steam--is expensive. A cheap and effective subst.i.tute, however, is a humble soapstone. Use marbled cloth instead of waxed paper to dry candy upon. Then there will be no danger that little particles of the paper adhere to the candy. Candied fruit and similar confections, however, should be drained on nickeled wire netting as explained in another chapter. Place the netting over a dish, and pour upon it the whole ma.s.s of fruit and syrup. By pouring all of it at once, the coating of syrup will be uniform: It will dry evenly, as the air will reach all sides alike. After most of the moisture has evaporated, the fruit will be ready to be rolled in sugar.

Sprinkle a shallow dish with coa.r.s.e sugar. Roll each piece of fruit in a separate place in the dish, taking care that the sugar is absolutely dry when the fruit is placed in it. If the sugar is damp, it will mat so that the confection is "mussy" to the eye and unpleasant to the palate.

Moreover, the scales of damp sugar will jar off, leaving a break in the complete covering which is necessary for the preservation of the fruit.

One rotting piece will contaminate another, until the whole boxful is unfit for use. If the sugar is properly applied, candied fruit, well packed, will keep for several weeks without injury.

Pack soft candies in layers separated by waxed papers backed by cardboard. Remember that the best-made confections will be unappetizing when presented or served unattractively.

In pulling taffies or other candies, corn starch may be put to good use.

No definite rules can be given, because the temperature and the humidity of each pair of hands--to put the case euphemistically--are different.

Each time the material is pulled, the candy-maker should dust her hands as lightly as possible with the corn starch. A moderate amount of it worked into the ma.s.s will do no harm, but care must be taken not to use so much that the candy becomes starchy. Moreover, a heavy coating of the starch does not protect the hands any more than does a light dusting.

While the candy is being pulled, it should be handled as little as possible. Let the candy's own weight over the hook do the real work. To avoid "bunchiness," the confectioner must keep the ma.s.s moving in uniform thickness--a difficult task, success in which comes only from practice.

II

FOR THE CANDY-MAKER'S TABLE

For real success in candy-making the amateur needs a few small utensils similar to those that have long been used by confectioners. The advice which follows can be as well applied to old-fas.h.i.+oned candy making as to the new sort.