Mary Elizabeth Hall

“ 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 hardships 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! ”

“ 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. ”

“ Of cookery, candy-making is a branch which is entitled 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 quantity of impure confectionery, his digestion will be ruined for life ”

“ Children do not require a variety of flavors to stimulate the appetite, but the taste is easily perverted and the backward step is difficult to take. Those who have studied the food habits of children seem to agree that sugar should from the very first be withheld from the dish that forms the staple food of the child—that is, the mush or porridge of oatmeal or some preparation of wheat or corn. This article of diet, eaten only with milk or cream, falls into the same class as bread and milk, and forms the simple, wholesome basis of a meal. ”

“ Because the finished product is good to eat as well as to look upon, potato fondant as a modeling medium adds to the teacher's resources another incentive for the child. In work with defective children, it has been found, again and again, that the more senses to which appeal can be made, the better. Do not the same principles apply to the normal child, although with somewhat lessened force? In art work with vegetable candy, sight and touch are not the only senses in operation; taste and smell are in full play. ”

“ 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 [5] heating lard will leave a taint which will spoil the delicacy of flavor of candy made in the same dish. ”

“ With the exercise of a little care on the part of the teacher, their making can be as simple and educationally valuable as the traditional first lesson in peppermint drops. In the fashioning of these new candies, however, there is more incentive to the child than there was in the cooking of the old-fashioned confection, no matter how delectable [144] it might be. But the pedagogic value of vegetable candy does not fall wholly within the field of household arts. As has been explained in the chapter concerning decorative candy, potato fondant and paste are the basis of very attractive objects. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Notwithstanding its advantages, vegetable [iii] 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. ”

“ The methods of refining sugar have been so perfected within the last few years that it is safe to say that few food substances in commercial use are so near to being chemically pure as granulated sugars of good grade. No less an authority than Blythe says, "Loaf sugar is, as a rule, chemically pure. It is probably, indeed, the purest of all substances in commerce, and a large quantity may be burnt up without obtaining a trace of nitrogen and without leaving any residue. The only sugar that may be impure are the raw sugars." ”

“ Crystallization enables the candy-cook to put ordinary cream and sugar mixtures into good society dress and make them a pleasure [28] 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. ”

“ No candy-maker should scorn to make herself master of the intricacies of chocolate coating. [34]
The best instructor in chocolate coating is a few pounds of chocolate, firm, well-shaped centers, an allowance of time and interest, plenty of good common sense and inclination to profit by the hints given below. With the knowledge that will be accumulated after a few trials, the candy-maker will soon be able to give to her candy the niceties of the professional product. The confectioner can well begin with nuts, or some other hard centers, for they are comparatively easy to handle. ”

“ 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 mass will do no harm, but care [7] 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. ”

“ 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 [v] 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. ”

“ As a result, the girl or woman with a skill that is great, but a bank account that is small, may find vegetable candy the road to a profitable catering trade. If in a small town, she can—if she is sufficiently skillful—fashion decorations for food that will rival the products of the art of the city caterer. ”

“ The discovery of vegetable candy has been of great pedagogic value. Teachers of household arts and all art are beginning to find that the new bases are of great service to them in their class work. Before this discovery, there was no medium which was of use for both cooking and the modeling classes. Now cooking classes and modeling classes can be correlated in such a way that much is promised both.
The processes in the making of potato fondant and potato paste illustrate fundamental principles in domestic science. ”

“ Often, teachers of both art and household arts are perplexed when it comes time for the annual school exhibition. "What can we do," they ask, "that will be properly illustrative of our work and, at the same time, of appeal to the popular imagination?" It is hoped that vegetable candy offers an answer to this question. ”

“ The possibilities of using potato fondant as the base for fancy cups to hold ice creams and ices are unlimited. For instance, the fondant can be molded into cups of conventionalized flower designs. The caterer should remember that these cups [138] should be dipped one or more times in a crystal syrup. This will not only make them resemble somewhat the ever popular spun sugar, but will tend to make them impervious to the melting ices or creams. As a result, the fondant itself will retain its crispness. A similar use is for novel containers for salted almonds and nut meats. ”

“ 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. ”

“ By following the directions carefully very little practice in the modeling will give her a facility that removes her from the class of unskilled modelers. If she prefers to use almond paste, the home candy-maker may do her practicing with potato fondant. Moreover, many young women have studied clay modeling and to them the modeling of candy is indeed simple. While the modeled candy that is sold in candy stores often—though not always—contains harmful substances, potato fondant is absolutely wholesome. ”

“ More and more cooks are working by rule and not by intuition; [4] 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 ”

“ It is commonly known that sugar may come from any one of numberless sources. Sugar of milk is the first sugar with which [44] members of the human race become acquainted, but one which, of course, is of little account in candy-making. The sugar of fruits is in an easily accessible form and one which is of particular value when combined with cane sugar. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Experimentation long ago showed that sugar is the quickest source of energy in the whole list of available foods. No other food approximates sugar in the ease in which it can be formed into actual body energy. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ If the figs are dry, steam them thoroughly. Make a slit in the side, fill with the chosen mixture, and pinch together the edges of the opening.
As the covering for the figs, uncooked fondant must be used. Cinnamon is a popular flavoring. Color it with red paste. At this stage in the process it should not be made the shade desired for the finished product, but there should be enough of the red to overcome the dead white of the fondant. In other words, make the first coating much lighter than it otherwise would be. Into the uncooked fondant, sugar must be worked until modeling is easy. ”

“ 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 nourishing and harmless vegetables fashion sweets that are just as beguiling to childish eyes. ”

“ The sugar given the child is better furnished in the occasional simple pudding, in the lump of sugar, or home-made candy, not that its food value is better utilized, but the whole food of the child is thus more wholesome. ”

“ 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! ”

“ If the "ginger" is not wanted for immediate use, it can be stored in the syrup. The confection may be finished at once and packed dry, but the better method of preservation is in the liquid. The open season for carrots is very short and for the "ginger" is the whole year long! [101]
To finish, heat the syrup thoroughly and then drain. After the liquid has stopped dripping, roll each piece of the "ginger" in granulated sugar, place the pieces on a wire tray, making sure that no two pieces touch, and put the tray in an oven very slightly heated. When the confection is dry it is done. ”

“ Angelique is native to many temperate parts of Europe and America. It grows on river banks and in other damp places. It is easily cultivated and often grows to the height of six feet. Its seeds may be sown in the autumn as soon as they are ripe, or they may be planted in the spring. Angelique develops a plant much like celery. It is blanched and eaten the same way. The stalk is used commercially when crystallized or candied. It is green in color and pleasingly pungent in flavor, and lends itself in many ways to the use of the candy-maker. ”