BOILING SUGAR AND MAKING CANDIES

BOILING SUGAR

To boil sugar is one of the niceties of cooking, but as the uses of boiled sugar in fancy cooking are so various, it is worth some practice to acquire the requisite skill. With the ordinary ways of testing, it requires much experience to tell the exact point at which to arrest the cooking, and on this the success depends. The stages named "thread," "blow," "ball," etc., give the different degrees required for different purposes. It passes quickly from one to the other and needs careful watching and close attention. The professional cook's method of testing it by dipping in the fingers is not practicable for ordinary use. It is also difficult to judge by dropping it in water unless experienced, but with a sugar thermometer it can easily be determined with perfect exactness and much less trouble. A sugar thermometer costs $1.75 or $2.00, a syrup gauge costs fifty cents, and both should be considered as necessary cooking utensils as are molds, mortars, and other articles used in fancy cooking. For measuring syrups, the syrup gauge is used as explained below. Ice-creams and frozen fruits are much nicer when sweetened with syrup instead of sugar. Water-ices and compotes to be right must measure a certain density, and for this the syrup gauge is employed. Fondant, one of the very useful articles, candies, and spun sugar are easily made with the aid of the thermometer. Eleven stages of sugar are explained below, but it is not essential to learn exactly more than the four which are most used, namely: the "thread" for boiled icing, the "soft-ball" for fondant, the "crack" for glace fruit, and the "caramel."

1. Thermometer standing in saucepan of sugar on gas-stove. 2. Cup of water and brush for washing crystals from side of saucepan. 3. Wooden spatula for working sugar on marble slab to make fondant. 4. Wooden skewer for testing sugar when thermometer is not used. 5. Candy wire for dipping nuts or other things to be coated.]

GRANULATION

The tendency of sugar, when the water which holds it in solution is evaporated, is to resume its original form of crystals; to prevent this is the chief care: the liquid must not be jarred or stirred after the sugar is dissolved. The grains which form on the sides of the pan as the boiling proceeds must be wiped away; this is done by dipping a cloth or brush into water and passing it around the pan above the sugar. If these crystals are allowed to remain, the whole mass will become granular. Also the sugar has a great affinity for water, and care must be used to have a dry atmosphere. No steam from boiling kettles, etc., must be in the room, and it is useless to attempt confections requiring the ball or crack stages on a rainy or damp day. When the right degree is reached, place the sugar pan in one containing cold water, to prevent the cooking from proceeding any farther. The different stages follow very quickly after the thread; it is therefore well to have a moderate heat and give it undivided attention. A very little cream of tartar (a scant half saltspoonful to a pound of sugar) added at the beginning makes the sugar less liable to grain. If cream of tartar is not used, a few drops of lemon-juice should be added at the crack stage. If the sugar passes the degree desired, add a spoonful of water and continue the boiling. No sugar need ever be wasted unless it becomes burned. In working the sugar, if it begins to grain there is nothing to do but to add a little water and boil it again.

DEGREES OF BOILING SUGAR

[Sidenote: First and second degrees.]

Small Thread, 215 deg.. Large Thread, 217 deg..

Press a little of the syrup between the thumb and finger. A ring will form and a fine thread be drawn out which breaks at once and returns to the drop; for the second stage the thread draws a little farther than the first.

[Sidenote: Third and fourth.]

Little Pearl, 220 deg.. Large Pearl, 222 deg..

The sugar forms a thread between the fingers which stretches long, but breaks. For the fourth it stretches without breaking. The first four degrees are syrups.

[Sidenote: Fifth and sixth.]

The Blow, 230 deg.. } The Feather, 232 deg.. } crystallization.

Dip in a broom-straw twisted to form a small loop at the end. A film will fill the loop, which will blow into a bubble.

At the sixth stage fine threads will fly from the bubble. The candy stages follow:

[Sidenote: Seventh and eighth.]

Small Ball, 236 deg.-238 deg.. Large Ball, 246 deg.-248 deg..

Drop a little into cold water; for the 7th a soft ball can be rolled between the fingers; for the 8th a hard ball.

[Sidenote: Ninth and Tenth.]

Small Crack, 290 deg.. Crack, 310 deg..

At the 9th a little, dropped into water, will break when cooled. At 300 deg. it begins to assume a light color, and a few drops of lemon-juice should be added (four drops to a pound of sugar). At 310 deg. it breaks off sharp and crisp, and crackles when chewed.

[Sidenote: Eleventh.]

The Caramel, 345 deg.-350 deg.

It now assumes a yellow color, and great care must be used or it will burn. The cooking must be arrested as soon as it is taken from the fire by holding the pan in cold water for a minute or so. A skewer or stick is the best thing to use for testing, as the little sugar that adheres to it will cool quickly. Dip the stick first into water, then into the sugar, and again into water.

[Sidenote: Syrup kept in stock.]

To use a syrup gauge have a glass deep enough to allow the gauge to float. A small cylindrical glass like the one shown in illustration is best, as it requires so little syrup that removing and pouring it back does not arrest the boiling. Syrups can be prepared and kept in air-tight preserve jars until needed for use. It is well to have in stock syrup at 34 deg. for softening fondant when used for icing cakes, eclairs, etc. Water-ices should register 18 deg.-20 deg. on the gauge when ready to freeze. Fruits to be frozen are better when sweetened with syrup at 32 deg. than when sugar is used.

[Sidenote: Making syrup without a gauge.]

To prepare syrup without a gauge the following method can be employed: Put into a saucepan three and one half cupfuls of sugar and two and one half cupfuls of water. Stir it over the fire until the sugar is dissolved. After it has boiled five minutes, counting from the time it is actually boiling, it will register 28 deg.; every five minutes' additional boiling will thicken it one degree.

At the end of 15 minutes it is 30 deg..

At the end of 25 minutes it is 32 deg..

At the end of 35 minutes it is 34 deg..

[Sidenote: The uses of fondant.]

Fondant is the basis of all French cream candies. It can be kept any length of time in air-tight preserve jars, and used as needed for the various purposes which it serves. A great variety of bonbons can be made of it by using different flavors, colors, and nuts in various forms and combinations. Some of these are given under "Candies," but each one's taste may suggest something different. Fondant makes the nicest icing for small cakes; strawberries with the hulls on dipped into fondant make a delicious fruit glace. It will be found easy to make fondant if the directions given below are strictly followed.

TO MAKE FONDANT

[Sidenote: Testing.]

[Sidenote: Cooling.]

[Sidenote: Working.]

Place in a copper or a graniteware saucepan two cupfuls of granulated sugar, one cupful of water, and a scant half saltspoonful of cream of tartar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved, but not a minute longer. As it boils, a thin scum of crystals will form around the edge of the pan. These must be wiped away by wetting a cloth or brush in water and passing it around the dish without touching the boiling sugar. This must be done frequently, or as often as the crystals form, or the whole mass will become granular. When large bubbles rise it must be carefully watched and tested, as from this time it quickly passes from one stage to another. Have a cup of ice-water and a skewer or small stick; dip it into the water, then into the sugar, and again into the water. If the sugar which adheres to it can be rolled into a soft ball, it is done. This is the stage of small-ball, and the thermometer registers 236 deg.-238 deg. (see page 512). Have ready a marble slab, very lightly but evenly rubbed over with sweet-oil. If a slab is not at hand, a large platter will serve the purpose. The moment the sugar is done, pour it over the slab and let it cool a few minutes, or until, pressing it with the finger, it leaves a dent on the surface. If stirred while too warm it will grain. If a crust forms, every particle of it must be taken off, or else the boiling must be done again, as it shows it has cooked a little too long. When it will dent, work it with a wooden spatula, keeping the mass in the center as much as possible. Continue to stir until it becomes a very smooth, fine, white, creamy paste, which is soft and not brittle and can be worked in the hands like a thick paste. If the results are not right and the mass becomes grained, the sugar need not be wasted, but can be put in the saucepan with a spoonful of water and boiled again. In stirring the fondant do not mix in the scrapings unless the whole is still very soft. They can be worked by themselves afterward. Confectioners use one

SPUN SUGAR

[Sidenote: Three requisites.]

Although spinning sugar has been called the climax of the art of sugar work, one need not be deterred from trying it; for with a dry atmosphere, the sugar boiled to the right degree, and care given to prevent graining, it can be accomplished. It is upon these three things alone that success depends. Spun sugar makes a beautiful decoration for ice-creams, glace fruits, and other cold desserts. The expense of making it is only nominal, but it commands a fancy price.

DIRECTIONS FOR SPINNING SUGAR

[Sidenote: Keeping.]

Put in a copper or a graniteware saucepan two cupfuls (one pound) of sugar; one half cupful of water, and one half saltspoonful of cream of tartar. Boil the sugar as directed for fondant above, letting it attain the degree of crack, or 310 deg.. This is the degree just before caramel, and care must be used. When it has reached the crack, place the sugar pan in cold water a moment to arrest the cooking, for the heat of the pan and sugar may advance it one degree. For spinning, two forks may be used, but a few wires drawn through a cork are better, as they give more points. Have also two iron bars or rods of any kind (pieces of broom handle will do), placed on a table or over chairs so the ends project a little way; spread some papers on the floor under them. Take the pan of sugar in the left hand, the forks or wires in the right; dip them into the sugar and shake them quickly back and forth over the rods; fine threads of sugar will fly off the points and drop on the rods. If the sugar gets too cold it can be heated again. Take the spun sugar carefully off the rods from time to time and fold it around molds, or roll it into nests or other forms desired. Place the spun sugar under a glass globe as soon as made. Under an air-tight globe with a small piece of lime it may keep crisp for a day or two, but it readily gathers moisture, and it is safer to make it the day it is to be used. Do not attempt to make it on a damp or rainy day, and have no boiling kettles in the room (see general directions for boiling sugar, page 513).

GLACE ORANGES AND GRAPES

[Sidenote: Causes of failure.]

Divide an orange into sections; do not break the inside skin, for if the juice escapes in ever so small a quantity the section must be discarded. Let them stand several hours until the surface has become very dry. Remove grapes from the bunch, leaving a short stem attached to each one. Boil some sugar to 340 deg., or the point just before the caramel stage (see directions for boiling sugar, page 512). Remove the pan from the fire and place it for a moment in water to arrest the cooking. Drop the orange sections into the sugar, one at a time, and remove them with a candy wire or with two forks, and place them on an oiled slab to dry. With a pair of pincers take each grape by the small stem and dip it into the sugar, and be sure it is entirely coated. Place each separately on the slab to dry. If the day is damp, the sugar not sufficiently boiled, or the fruit at all moist, the sugar will all drain off; therefore the work must be done only under the right conditions. Candied cherries may be treated in this way: first wash them to remove the sugar; let them dry, then pierce them with an artificial stem and dip them carefully so as not to deface the stem.

[Sidenote: To prevent granulation.]

[Sidenote: Greasing.]

When making candies observe carefully the rules for boiling sugar. When sugar reaches the candy stage, the water has evaporated, and the tendency is to return to the original state of crystals. If it is jarred, or is stirred, or if the thin line of crystals formed around the pan by the sugar rising while boiling is allowed to remain, the whole mass will granulate, hence, for success, it is necessary to avoid these things. To keep the sides of the pan washed free of crystals dip a brush in water and pass it around the pan close to the edge of the sugar as often as is necessary; a sponge or a small piece of cloth may be used, but with these there is danger of burning the fingers. A very little acid added at the crack stage also prevents graining; this is termed "Greasing." If too much acid is used it prevents the sugar advancing to the caramel stage, and also may cause granulation. A few drops, only, of lemon-juice, of vinegar, or a little cream of tartar are the acids used.

[Sidenote: Making candies.]

The success of candy-making depends entirely upon boiling sugar to just the right degree. The candy will not harden if boiled too little. Another stage, where it hardens but sticks to the teeth, means the boiling was arrested at the hard-ball instead of the crack stage. Unless a thermometer is used, a little practice seems necessary before one recognizes the small differences upon which success depends; but the experience once gained, it is easy to make a pound or more of candy at slight expense. In the country, where it is often impossible to get fresh candies, it is desirable to be able to make them. Where fondant is already prepared and kept in preserve jars, the cream bonbons can be quickly made. Carameled nuts are perhaps the least trouble to make of any candies.

[Sidenote: Marble slab and iron bars.]

A marble slab is almost requisite in making candy, though greased papers and tins can be used. Candy poured upon a slab cools quickly, has an even surface, and can be easily removed. Four square iron bars are useful to confine the sugar. These can be placed so as to form bays of the size suitable to the amount of sugar used and the thickness required.