Read Ebook: The Republic of the Southern Cross and other stories by Bryusov Valery Yakovlevich

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Intelligent operation of the funnel makes the work more rapid and accurate, and the mass holds its heat longer, and is kept better mixed than if poured or spooned from a dish. Funnels especially made for this purpose cost from twenty-five cents to one dollar; but any tinsmith can easily make one out of an eight-inch piece of heavy tin, shaped so as to form a cornucopia, with the smaller opening not more than three-eighths of an inch in diameter, and attached to a handle at least twelve inches long.

For heating mixtures, white enamel dishes are preferable to tin or aluminum. For mixing, wooden spoons are better than metal ones, because the mass which is being stirred does not stick so readily. Wooden paddles are often better yet, for their flat surfaces do not retain masses so tenaciously.

Perhaps the most useful tool of all is a nameless instrument which does duty for both knife and spoon, and in addition has virtues all its own. It is particularly valuable for reaching the corners of pans. This tool is not on the general market, but can be made by most metal-workers--either tinsmiths or blacksmiths. A piece of spring steel, about ten inches long, rounded at the end, and curved as shown in Fig. 3, is riveted into a wooden handle. Heavy tin may be substituted for the steel, if desired.

A molasses-candy or taffy pull without a hook may be good fun, but it is hard on the candy as well as on the hands. A blacksmith can easily make the hook of round iron, about a half-inch in diameter and eighteen or twenty inches long. The rod should be bent until it forms roughly a letter J, with the tip about seven inches from the horizontal line. The top--the upper part of the horizontal line of the J--should be pounded flat, and two holes bored for screws.

Be sure to attach the hook to the wall firmly, and about level with the shoulders. Hooks may be purchased for about fifty cents apiece, but those made by the blacksmith will do as well. Even with the hook, it is well to wear canvas gloves, so that the mass can be handled hotter, and in a more hygienic fashion than with bare hands. Canvas gloves are easily laundered--something which cannot be said of the expensive buckskin gloves recommended for this purpose.

For use in "cutting in" fondant and other small masses it is well to buy a four inch wall paper knife--a tool which can be bought for from ten to twenty-five cents. Fondant should never be beaten, but instead it should be "cut in." This process is scraping up the whole mass, folding it over and cutting through with the knife. This motion is repeated, from each side of the pan, until the fondant becomes a ball which can be kneaded by the hand.

It is also convenient to have two bars six inches long. They are useful in dividing a batch when different flavors or colors are used. The partitions will be useful for dividing the filling from the outside layers when a three-storied candy is to be made.

The need for these bars comes from the fact that one should never cut candy in a pan. The attempt to do so will always result in pieces with crumbling edges, as the knife has to be dragged through the candy instead of cutting down sharply, and as the sides of the pan allow no room for the expansion which the width of the knife will cause. Moreover, there is always waste in the corners and at the sides.

To the confectioner, one of the most useful tools is a modeling stick. This small tool is of great value to the candy-maker. It can be grasped easily and its shape allows of its use at many angles that would be inconvenient or impossible for a less adaptable tool. The roundness of the blunt end serves many purposes; the straighter side is particularly useful for smoothing off work, and the inside curves lend themselves to a great number of processes.

Wire screens, often known as "wire baking forms," are very useful for drying candies that have been sugared or for draining confections that need to be exposed to the air. Those that are oblong in shape are much more convenient than the round ones. The wires forming the screens cross at distances of about one-sixteenth of an inch, making really a coarse sieve. The sides extend up about one-half inch. The screens make excellently ventilated trays, but for candies that come from an ordinary crystal the mesh is too fine to allow proper draining. Should the crystal be very thin, however, the screen can be used for draining, provided the pieces are well separated and placed only one layer deep.

Wire racks for the drying of candy are among the necessary equipment of the candy-maker. These may be had in varying degrees of fineness, the wires forming squares of from three-eighths to three-quarters of an inch. Squares of one-half inch and under give the best support for confections, however, and allow ample room for draining. If the candies are small or soft the large squares give insufficient support. The racks are without sides, the edges being formed either by a heavy wire or a metal binding. The supports are made by wires bent down at the ends and at the center. These racks are the same as the "cake coolers" of ordinary cookery.

Another method of drying particularly useful for models and cream centers is a bed of corn starch. Do not use this plan with any confection the surface of which is wet from the application of pastes.

As the basis for this process buy two or three packages of a cheap grade of corn starch. The corn starch can be kept ready for use by occasionally drying it out and sifting it.

Spread the corn starch in a large shallow pan or tray thick enough to hold the weight of your candy. This gives a non-resisting surface which keeps the models in form and when dry the corn starch will easily brush off.

THE CANDY THERMOMETER

For real success in candy-making, the home confectioner needs a candy thermometer. As is emphasized throughout the volume, accuracy is of the greatest importance in candy-making. Cooking must stop at just the right moment, or the candy is either harmed or actually spoiled. Until the last few years, for the amateur, the only tests to determine the completion of cooking have been known as "thread," "soft ball," "hard ball," "crack" and "hard crack." While the candy-maker has been struggling with these unsatisfactory tests, the candy has kept on cooking, perhaps until it has reached the next stage of temperature, changed texture, and so become unfit for the use for which it was intended.

The professional confectioner has long been able, by the use of a thermometer, to determine just how hot his candy was and to remove it from the heat at exactly the right moment. His thermometer, however, was not only too expensive for the amateur, but also too long to be used except in a large vat. There are now on the market, however, thermometers that the amateur confectioner or small manufacturer can use to advantage. Even when hardware dealers do not keep the thermometers in stock, they can--and will--order them from their jobbers. The instruments, of which there are several makes, are about nine inches long, and sell for from one dollar to two dollars and fifty cents. Most of these instruments register from about eighty degrees to three hundred and eighty degrees Fahrenheit, although the range which interests candy-makers most is only from two hundred degrees to three hundred and twenty degrees. There are a few facts which the girl confectioner who uses a thermometer should keep in mind.

Buy a thermometer which is guaranteed by its maker. See that the markings are so well defined that they can be read easily. Before use, the thermometer must be regulated to conform to the local altitude. Place the thermometer in a kettle of water, heat, and let it boil for ten minutes. If the mercury marks two hundred and twelve degrees, the thermometer is correct as it is, but if there is a variation of two degrees or more, allowance must be made. If water boils at two hundred and ten degrees, two degrees must be subtracted every time the thermometer is read. Then "soft ball" means two hundred and thirty-six degrees, not two hundred and thirty-eight degrees, as it would had the water boiled at the normal two hundred and twelve degrees, or two hundred and forty degrees, as it would had the water boiled at two hundred and fourteen degrees. Do not think that a variation of even two degrees is too slight to count; absolute accuracy is essential.

For safety in transit, manufacturers often pinch together the case of the instrument so that the scale-piece can not work loose and become broken. A very little tinkering with the copper jacket, however, will be sufficient to free the scale-piece. This must be done, not only so that the thermometer can be cleaned readily, but so that, when the mixture to be tested is shallow, the dial can be pushed out in order that the bulb can be covered by the hot mass. Unless the bulb is covered, the thermometer will not register correctly.

Allow the thermometer to become hot gradually; do not thrust a cold instrument into boiling water. Do not remove the thermometer to read it, as it quickly changes. Read it with the eye on the level. Remember that mixtures which require stirring must be stirred below the thermometer as well as elsewhere. Be sure that the thermometer is clean. Each time after it has been used push the dial out of the copper case and wash both thoroughly. Do not neglect the back of the piece of metal to which the tube is attached. Be particularly careful after mixtures which contain milk or cream. This removable scale is a great convenience.

The amateur candy-maker will be glad to know that sugar and water will not burn until all the moisture is evaporated, and that does not happen until three hundred and fifty degrees is reached. If, however, she is making an unusually small quantity, and the thermometer begins to climb above three hundred degrees--beware! The large quantity, however, will take care of itself because of the moisture it contains.

Below is a table which will enable one to interpret the old stages in terms of degrees. Fortunately most candy thermometers have this information stamped upon their dials.

In the following pages it is assumed that the cook has a thermometer. If she has not, the degrees given may be translated into the old stages and the old tests used. Thus, if the directions read "cook to two hundred and thirty-eight degrees," the confectioner who has no thermometer will stop the cooking when a portion of the mass will "form a 'soft ball' in cold water." If the directions read two hundred and thirty-six degrees, the "soft ball" must be softer; if two hundred and forty degrees, the "soft ball" not so soft. Thus, without the thermometer, the thermometer readings form a scale which makes easier the application of the old tests. Be it noted that the thermometer is no more necessary in vegetable candy-making than in the traditional sort.

THE USE OF STEAM IN CANDY-MAKING.

Steam may be used so that it will be of much help to amateur candy-makers, few of whom realize its possibilities. These possibilities, which range from actual cooking to the maintenance of the minimum of heat, may all be grouped under four processes.

First, to steam: Steaming is cooking by moist heat but not immersing the material in the water as in the boiling process. It should be followed to soften dried fruits or other ingredients, as often required by candy receipts. The best way is to place the materials upon a rack supported a couple of inches above the water in the cooking vessel, covering it tightly and placing it on the fire. The confined vapor will soon soften whatever is within the vessel.

Second, the double boiler: The double boiler is of particular value when protective cooking is desired. This method will hold all juices present but neither adds moisture nor dries out existing moisture as happens when the mixture is over a direct blaze. In this way, the materials can be heated without burning. It is of particular value with materials that need heat but need no further moisture--simply the development of that moisture which they already have.

Third, a modification of the use of the double boiler by leaving off the cover: Thus the temperature is lowered and the actual cooking operation lengthened. Vapors that may arise from the cooking mass are allowed to escape instead of being absorbed.

Fourth, the steam bath: The steam bath is obtained by placing the receptacle containing the mass over a smaller vessel containing boiling water. In this way, the steam is applied only to the bottom of the receptacle and its intensity may be varied. The lowest possible heat may be applied; temperatures far below the boiling point, or even the cooking point, are made possible. The temperature of the upper dish is regulated by the distance from the direct heat of vessel containing the water. Always start with boiling water so that the material treated will be affected only by the heat of the steam and not the direct heat which is bringing the water to the boiling point. This method is particularly valuable for keeping fondant and other masses moderately hot for dipping, or for melting chocolate or bon-bon creams, which should be melted at less than one hundred degrees.

CRYSTALLIZATION

One often wonders why the candy-eating public has the chocolate habit. The answer is simple. The manufacturer generally offers the public chocolates. To one not conversant with candy-making, it is not so easy, however, to explain why the candy-maker offers the chocolates largely to the exclusion of other confections. To the initiated, however, the matter is simple indeed. Chocolate makes an air-tight covering that protects all sides alike. It makes it possible to keep candy not intended for immediate consumption and to ship it from one place to another without injury. Without it, the manufacturer would be in a bad way indeed. The confectioner, then, has fostered the chocolate habit because it is useful to him.

Crystallization enables the candy-cook to put ordinary cream and sugar mixtures into good society dress and make them a pleasure to the people who are not devoted to chocolate. Although the crystal coated confection may not stand some of the harder tests that the chocolate coated candy will withstand, it will be found sufficiently reliable to mark a very great advance in candy-making, particularly in home candy-making. And after all, the basic mixtures in home-made candy are not so very different from those in the candy of the professional manufacturer. The home candy-cook, the small maker and the professional manufacturer, who is, of course, far better equipped for crystallizing than either of the others, can, after a careful study of the different degrees of sugar crystallizing, make almost any candy as satisfactory in texture and appearance, and as easy to handle, as are the chocolate confections. A sufficient number of dippings in the crystal accomplishes the result. "One part water and three parts sugar," is the slogan of the crystallizer. This is the composition of any crystal syrup. Although crystal syrups differ only in the temperature to which they are raised, their foundation is invariable. As long as the proportions are kept the same, the quantities do not matter much--theoretically. Practically, however, one cupful of sugar and one-third of a cupful of water is about as much as can be handled effectively at one time. The success of the process lies in repeated dippings. With each immersion, the confection takes to itself a little more syrup; it thus acquires a heavier coating of the protective covering. The actual process is very simple. Each piece is separately dropped into the syrup and, after thorough immersion, is lifted out with a wire dipper, the surplus syrup allowed to run off, and placed for drying upon a wire screen.

In the pages that follow, frequent use is made of crystallization. In each case, the degree to which the syrup is to be heated is given.

It must be understood, be it noted, that this simple crystal dipping does not make the candy; it merely adds a protective and beautifying covering. The candy, already complete in a way, is dipped into the mixture of sugar and water. In the process that follows, however, the crystallization is of a different and more fundamental sort. In this second case, the crystallization is the method of making the candy completely.

For small candies, a novel modification of French hand crystallization is useful because the process can be put to good use in the many sorts of candy-making. The candy-cook can well afford to make herself master of it. She should know, however, that the process is not so difficult as the description of it would indicate. Although the labor must be done on six successive days, the work requires but a very few moments except upon the first day.

The result desired is a slow crystallization which thoroughly cooks the base so treated and preserves it perfectly. In addition, the process ensures an appearance attractive to the eye and a flavor equally attractive to the palate.

A drying rack and a pan are the only utensils that are necessary. They should be of a size so that the rack will drop about one-half way into the pan and be upheld by the sloping sides. Note that the pan must be reserved for crystallization. If it is used for other purposes, it is likely to absorb flavors that will work havoc with the delicate confectionery that is placed within it.

Make a syrup by boiling one part of water and three parts of granulated sugar for ten minutes. Thereupon place in it the base to be treated by this process. That all the pieces may be very thoroughly separated, stir the mass carefully with a wooden paddle; it is absolutely necessary that all the surfaces of all of the mass come into direct contact with the hot syrup. All that is necessary, however, is that each piece be thoroughly immersed in the hot syrup; in a surprisingly short space of time, the little pieces of confectionery will be heated through.

Have the rack in position in the pan; over it, pour the hot mass--syrup and all. See that the candy is evenly distributed over the rack. Immediately place a board over the pan; a molding board will do very well indeed. If a tin cover were used in place of the wooden, the steam would condense and drop back on to the candy instead of being absorbed. After the pan has been left undisturbed for a full day, lift the rack out and pour the syrup into a suitable receptacle, cook to two hundred and twenty degrees and place in it again the candy. Take the crystal from the fire. Stir carefully, making sure that each piece is thoroughly immersed. Place the rack in the pan as directed above, and again pour over it the syrup with the candy in it. Note, however, that it is necessary that the wire netting be free from hardened particles of the syrup. Cleanliness, almost to the point of chemical purity, is necessary. This process must be repeated four times more, but each time the mass should be cooked two degrees higher--in each case, twenty-four hours must elapse between each treatment. After the last operation, the candy should be allowed to dry on the racks. The result will be found well worth the time expended.

CHOCOLATE COATING

The ability to handle chocolate successfully is a great assistance to the maker of vegetable candy. Although chocolate coating is no more an essential in vegetable candy-making than in the old fashioned kind, there are very many times when the ability to use it effectively will be very useful to the confectioner. In either sort of candy-making, it is but a finish--as acceptable a finish to the one as to the other. Many people like the flavor of chocolate, and it is extremely serviceable because it furnishes a uniform covering for confections. Thus, when chocolate coated candies rub against one another in the box in which they are packed, their uniformity prevents their taking to themselves strange flavors and colors. No candy-maker should scorn to make herself master of the intricacies of chocolate coating.

A thorough general knowledge of the behavior of chocolate and a clear understanding of the behavior of the stock on hand are of more value than the methods of application of the coating. Since no two lots of chocolate are exactly the same, it is well to buy a fairly large supply at one time. In this way it is possible when handling the first batch to learn the peculiarities of all the chocolate purchased and thereafter to handle the stock with assurance. For good results it is well to buy the regular "coating chocolate" which is sold by many grocery and specialty stores for just this purpose. If coating chocolate cannot be obtained, ordinary baking chocolate sweetened with confectioner's sugar can be substituted, but the substitution is to be avoided, for the finished work is sure to be inferior.

In all sorts of candy-making, climatic conditions are of the utmost importance. In no other branch of cooking is the cook so dependent upon the weather. In muggy weather it is impossible to do good work; often, indeed, it is impossible to do any work at all. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the confectioner yield respectful obedience to the humidity.

This warning is of particular weight in connection with the handling of chocolate. Even if the day is only slightly rainy, or foggy, do not try to use chocolate. Even experts do not defy this law, but since they work under commercial conditions, they are generally able absolutely to control the atmosphere.

The room in which the actual operation of coating is conducted should be warm and dry. First, break into small pieces more chocolate than you will actually use in the coating. Put these lumps in a dish set over hot water and melt them slowly at a low temperature. To do this most effectually the water should previously have been boiled and the steam allowed to subside. Of course, the water must be very hot when the dish with the chocolate is placed over it. As the first piece melts, stir slowly from time to time. When the chocolate has melted, remove the dish from the heat and work all of the oil globules from the mass. This is accomplished not by hard or rapid motion, but by perseveringly and persuasively smoothing the mass until it is sufficiently cool. These oil globules, be it noted, must be treated with the greatest respect. If they become over heated, they are likely to require much more work, even if they do not ruin the batch.

In studying this melting process, it is well to think of the action of heat upon butter. Suppose, for illustration, it is desired to cream a lump of cold butter. If much heat is applied to the butter the outside immediately becomes running grease. It is possible that the cooler inside portion of the lump may be beaten into it, but the result will not be smooth. On the other hand, if the butter is allowed to soften gradually under the influence of moderate warmth, the whole mass would melt uniformly and could be beaten into the desired smoothness.

The warning that water must not be allowed accidentally to enter the chocolate cannot be too often repeated.

Probably this is the surest test as to whether or not the chocolate is ready for the dipping: Drop a center into the mass so that it will be covered with the chocolate, remove the surplus either by pulling it over the edge of the dish, or by shaking, and let the drop fall squarely upon the sheet of special confectioner's glazed paper, or of oilcloth, or oiled paper, upon which it is to be cooled. Take care lest the piece slips when dropped. If it does slip, the base will have a thin projection that may break off and, even if it does not render the coating pervious, become unsightly. If the candy-maker is careful and the coating has been worked sufficiently and has been allowed to become sufficiently cool, the base will form squarely and evenly and the chocolate immediately will become firm. In other words, the candies should begin to set at once without forming projecting bases as soon as they are dropped upon the sheet upon which they are to dry.

Although chocolates should be covered in a warm room, they should be cooled as rapidly as possible. As soon as they are finished, they should be placed upon a small tray and removed to a cool place. The small tray is desirable since by its use the candies can be quickly transferred. In summer the tray should be placed in the refrigerator, but should not be allowed to remain for more than five minutes. If the chocolate coated confections are kept upon the ice for longer than that time, they will soon be covered by a sweat that will ruin them.

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