There are several methods of testing sugar while cooking. All skilled
sugar boilers advise the use of a thermometer graduated from fifty degrees
Fahrenheit to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. They claim that while the sugar
is undergoing the process of boiling it is very nearly impossible for a
learner to determine the exact degree which the sugar has attained with-
out the aid of the thermometer. However, only a few skilled boilers use
CONFECTIONERY. 329
them. The common method is to drop a drop of the syrup into cold water.
The sugar must be boiled according to the kind of candy to be made, and
there are several degrees, known as "smooth," "thread," "ball," and
"crack." All these stages of the syrup must be learned by experi-
menting, and the ingenuity of the candy-maker brought into use. The
"crack" degree (300 degrees or over) is used for most candies. It is a
good plan to butter the dish in which sugar or molasses is to be cooked
within a couple of inches of the top. This prevents the sugar rising any
any higher and running over.
Do not put candy in a refrigerator to cool, but in a cold, dry place.
E. J. C.
NUT CANDY.
In one gill of cold water dissolve one pound of sugar and one-half
salt-spoonful of cream of tartar. Place over the fire and cook till brittle,
stirring in one-quarter of an ounce of butter. Shell some peanuts or any
other nuts desired. Rub off the inner skin, put a layer two deep on the
bottom of well-buttered tins and when the candy is hot pour it over the
nuts and leave till cold. Break it into pieces of convenient size.
Dorothy Buchanan.
iVlACAROONS OF NUTS.
Pound the meats of hickory nuts and add nutmeg and allspice. Make
a frosting as if for a cake, stirring in the nuts and spices. Butter the
hands and work into little balls the size of hickory nuts; place them on
buttered tins and bake in a hot oven. They will spread a little on the
tins. Pearl Butler.
LEHON DROPS.
Dissolve a coffee-cupful of powdered sugar with lemon juice. Boil
till it is brittle when a little is plunged into cold water. Butter plates and
let the candy fall on them in drops. Set away to get hard,
Jean Lamont.
COCOANUT DROPS.
Grate a cocoanut, add one-half of its weight of sugar and the white of
an egg beaten to a stiff froth. Mix thoroughly and drop on buttered
white paper or tin plates. Bake fifteen minutes. John Fuller.
PEPPERMINT DROPS.
Take one cupful of sugar✪ Peppermint Drops and let it come to a boil with one-half cup-
ful of water. Take it from the fire as soon as it comes to this degree of
330 CONFECTIONERY,
heat. Stir all the time and add one-half teaspoonful of essence of pep-
permint and drop the candy on an oiled slab. Pour it from the spout of
the pan else the liquid will grain before the drops are molded.
Jannet Bluer.
COUGH DROPS.
Prepare the following: Two ounces of dried hoarhound, one ounce of
dried camomile, one ounce of boneset, and two ounces of mullein-flowers;
place them all in a saucepan, cover them with water and boil for ten
minutes. Turn out into an earthenware dish and cover tightly and let
stand until cold. Strain and pass the liquor through a hair-sieve. Meas-
ure the liquor and to each pint allow two pounds of loaf sugar. Put the
sugar and liquor into a saucepan, boil to the crack degree, let it cool, pour
it into a buttered pan and cut it into squares. Dr. Smith.
PEANUT BRITTLE. ✪ Peanut Brittle
Page 234 · 8 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1917. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
There are several methods of testing sugar while cooking. All skilled sugar boilers advise the use of a thermometer graduated from fifty degrees Fahrenheit to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. They claim that while the sugar is undergoing the process of boiling it is very nearly impossible for a learner to determine the exact degree which the sugar has attained without the aid of the thermometer. However, only a few skilled boilers use
them. The common method is to drop a drop of the syrup into cold water. The sugar must be boiled according to the kind of candy to be made, and there are several degrees, known as "smooth," "thread," "ball," and "crack." All these stages of the syrup must be learned by experimenting, and the ingenuity of the candy-maker brought into use. The "crack" degree (300 degrees or over) is used for most candies. It is a good plan to butter the dish in which sugar or molasses is to be cooked within a couple of inches of the top. This prevents the sugar rising any higher and running over.
Do not put candy in a refrigerator to cool, but in a cold, dry place.
E. J. C. NUT CANDY.
In one gill of cold water dissolve one pound of sugar and one-half salt-spoonful of cream of tartar. Place over the fire and cook till brittle, stirring in one-quarter of an ounce of butter. Shell some peanuts or any other nuts desired. Rub off the inner skin, put a layer two deep on the bottom of well-buttered tins and when the candy is hot pour it over the nuts and leave till cold. Break it into pieces of convenient size.
Dorothy Buchanan.
iVlACAROONS OF NUTS.
Pound the meats of hickory nuts and add nutmeg and allspice. Make a frosting as if for a cake, stirring in the nuts and spices. Butter the hands and work into little balls the size of hickory nuts; place them on buttered tins and bake in a hot oven. They will spread a little on the tins. Pearl Butler.
LEMON DROPS.
Dissolve a coffee-cupful of powdered sugar with lemon juice. Boil till it is brittle when a little is plunged into cold water. Butter plates and let the candy fall on them in drops. Set away to get hard,
Jean Lamont. COCOANUT DROPS.
Grate a cocoanut, add one-half of its weight of sugar and the white of an egg beaten to a stiff froth. Mix thoroughly and drop on buttered white paper or tin plates. Bake fifteen minutes. John Fuller.
PEPPERMINT DROPS.
Take one cupful of sugar and let it come to a boil with one-half cupful of water. Take it from the fire as soon as it comes to this degree of
heat. Stir all the time and add one-half teaspoonful of essence of peppermint and drop the candy on an oiled slab. Pour it from the spout of the pan else the liquid will grain before the drops are molded.
Jannet Bluer. COUGH DROPS.
Prepare the following: Two ounces of dried hoarhound, one ounce of dried camomile, one ounce of boneset, and two ounces of mullein-flowers; place them all in a saucepan, cover them with water and boil for ten minutes. Turn out into an earthenware dish and cover tightly and let stand until cold. Strain and pass the liquor through a hair-sieve. Measure the liquor and to each pint allow two pounds of loaf sugar. Put the sugar and liquor into a saucepan, boil to the crack degree, let it cool, pour it into a buttered pan and cut it into squares. Dr. Smith.
PEANUT BRITTLE.
Records on this page
Peppermint DropsNut CandyMacaroons of NutsLemon DropsCocoanut DropsCocoanut DropsPeppermint DropsPeanut Brittle