Sugar bowl

“ Place a folded napkin at the left of the plate, a bread and butter plate at the tips of the forks with butter spreader laid across the plate. Near the top of each plate individual pepper and salt cellars, at the right of each plate place a glass for water, and sugar bowl and cream pitcher at each end of the table.
Food should be passed at the left and placed at the right. When coffee and tea is served, place a cup at the right of each person.
When clearing off the table, food must be first removed, then the soiled dishes, glass, silver, then crumb. ”

“ To mix it, put the sugar into a deep bowl, and pour upon it just cold water enough to soften the lumps, then beat the whites of eggs about half as much as for nice cake—not to a stiff froth; add them to the melted sugar, and set the bowl into a kettle of boiling water, and stir the mixture steadily. It will soon become thin and clear, and afterwards thicken. When it has become quite thick, take it from the fire and stir it till it is cold, and thick enough to spread with a knife. This is enough for a large loaf. ”

“ The paper being flat will give the sugar bowl a level stand, enabling it to remain erect and firm (Fig. 74) .
In old-fashioned Southern country-houses there is usually a pail of clear, cold spring water conveniently near, with a gourd dipper from which to drink in place of a common glass. The gourds are interesting, odd-looking drinking vessels, but cannot compare in quaintness with the little
Fig. ”

“ There is a great bowl a foot across, and over an inch thick made wholly of sugar candy, which has taken the shape of the basin in which it crystallised, and in the middle of which three long sticks of sugar candy stand up high above the top. Such a bowl a kind Persian friend sent to a missionary’s little boy, when he was a few days old, to provide him with “sugar-candy water,” which is considered particularly good for young babies. These are only a few of the sweets, there are too many to mention all. Some kinds are [38] only made in the fast month of Ramazān, and others only at the New Year. ”

“ Beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth. Gradually beat into this two cupfuls of confectioners' sugar. If the eggs be large, it may take a little more sugar. Flavor with half a teaspoonful of vanilla, and work well. Now roll into little balls, and drop on a slightly buttered platter. Let the balls stand for an hour or more. Shave five ounces of Walter Baker & Co.'s Premium No. 1 Chocolate and put into a small bowl, which place on the fire in a saucepan containing boiling water. ”

“ Press through a fine sieve or a fruit press, rejecting skin and seeds. Add 1 pound of sugar to the strained pulp in the stew-pan. Return to the fire and cook two or three minutes only. Long, slow cooking destroys the fine flavor of the berry, as does brown sugar. Pour into a bowl, or mold, and place on ice, or stand in a cool place to become cold before serving, as an accompaniment to roast turkey, chicken or deviled oysters. ”

“ To one quart of strong hot ale add the pulp of six roasted apples, together with a small quantity of grated nutmeg and ginger, with a sufficient quantity of raw sugar to sweeten it; stir the mixture assiduously, and let it be served hot.
Of equal antiquity, and of nearly the same composition, is the Wassail Bowl, which in many parts of England is still partaken of on Christmas Eve, and is alluded to by Shakspeare in his "Midsummer Night's Dream." ”

“ Always put a pinch of fine salt in the bottom of the mixing bowl, which ought to be freshly scalded and wiped very dry. A damp bowl clogs with either sugar or flour, making the stirring much harder. Unless specifically directed otherwise, separate the eggs, set the whites on ice till time to whip them, beat the yolks very, very light—to a pale, frothy yellow, add the sugar, free of lumps, a cupful at a time, then the butter washed and beaten to a [138] creamy froth, beat hard together for five minutes, then add alternately the flour and the egg-whites beaten to the stiffest possible froth. ”

“ After the whites are beaten stiff they are full of little air bubbles, which if stirred break down and become watery and then the entire mixture becomes flat and tough. To prevent this, sprinkle the prepared sugar over the stiffly beaten white of egg and then with a spoon cut down through the centre and fold over; turn the bowl half-way around, then cut and fold again. ”

“ There are reasons why a retail confectioner should study sugar boiling. It gives character to the business, a fascinating odour to the premises, and a general at-homeness to the surroundings. No goods look more attractive and tempting to the sweet eating public than fresh made goods of this kind. A bright window can be only so kept by makers. Grainy or sticky drops may be reboiled ”

“ When you squeeze the fruits, throw the outside in water without the pulp. Let them remain in the same a fortnight, adding no more. Boil them therein till tender; strain it from them, and when they are tolerably dry, throw them into any old jar of candy, you may have remaining from old sweetmeats; or if you have none, boil a small quantity of syrup of common loaf sugar and water, and put over them. In a week or ten days boil them gently in it till they look clear, and that they may be covered with it in the jar. You may cut each half of the fruit in two, and they will occupy small space. ”

“ The improvement of methods in sugar manufacture no longer render it necessary that the boiling sap should be watched all night, as the sugar-makers [Pg 534] had to do in the old days, when the sap was boiled in a great kettle swung over an open fire in the woods. Still the work is hard and absorbing, for the season is short and no time can be wasted.
The women have their share of the toil. To them it falls to boil down the syrup to the proper thickness for sending out as maple molasses or as sugar in cakes. ”

“ So his business grew and grew, until to-day this enterprise founded by this baker occupies a large building with many stories in New York, and the motive power for making chocolate, candy, and sugar-plums is a 300-horse steam-engine, and 350 people are employed.
To give some idea of the quantity of the prime material, sugar, used every day in the year in this establishment, the total mass may be fairly grasped at in this way: An acre of good ground in the West Indies produces twenty tons of sugar-cane; the sweet juice expressed from the cane represents some eighteen per cent. ”

“ Another possibility, if the lid was multipurpose, is that it was used as a dish or stand under the teapot to protect the table top. Silver sugar boxes, basins, and plated sugar baskets were other forms used to hold sugar, [60] which, in whatever container, was a commodity important to the Americans. As Moreau de St. Méry noted, they “use great quantities in their tea.” [61]
Figure 18.—Stiegel-type, cobalt-blue glass sugar dish with cover, made about 1770. ”

“ They must be set several times into the oven to produce this effect, as they must be gradually flattened, and must not be allowed to burst: a cool brick oven is best suited to them.
NORMANDY PIPPINS. To one pound of the apples, put one quart of water and six ounces of sugar; let them simmer gently for three hours, or more should they not be perfectly tender. A few strips of fresh lemon-peel and a very few cloves are by some persons considered agreeable additions to the syrup. ”

“ If you have not syrup enough to cover the fruit, take the fruit out and put in more cold water, and let it get to boiling before you put in the fruit, if you have too much syrup, it should boil away before you boil your fruit in it. White sugar is better than brown for preserving, but brown sugar answers very well for common sweet meats. Every kind of ware but iron, will do to preserve in, but earthen ware is the best on account of its not imparting an unpleasant taste, to the sweet meats. ”

“ Take out the quinces, and strain the liquor through a bag. To every pint of liquor, allow a pound of loaf-sugar. Boil the juice and sugar together, about ten minutes, skimming it well. Then put in the quinces, and boil them gently twenty minutes. When the sugar seems to have completely penetrated them, take them out, put them in a glass jar, and pour the juice over them warm. Tie them up, when cold, with brandy paper.
In preserving fruit that is boiled first without the sugar, it is generally better (after the first boiling) to let it stand till next day before you put the sugar to it. ”

“ It is necessary to observe, that the boiling of sugar more or less, constitutes the chief art of the confectioner; and those who are not practically acquainted with the subject, and only preserve fruit in a plain way for family use, are not aware that in two or three minutes, a syrup over the fire will pass from one gradation to another, called by the confectioners, degrees of boiling, of which there are six, and those sub-divided. ”

“ To begin at the bottom, one can easily imagine a person whose only ambition is to make a little candy for the window fit for children. This could be done with a very small outlay for utensils. The next move is the purchase of a sugar boiler's furnace not very costly and certainly indispensable where quality and variety are required, it will be a great saving of time as well as money, the sugar will boil a much better color, so that cheaper sugar may be used for brown or yellow goods, while one can make acid drops and other white goods from granulated. ”

“ There is no more economy in buying cheap sugar than cheap flour. A barrel of pure, clear, granulated sugar will last longer, and in the end be cheaper, than any of the coffee or brown sugars.
Before collecting your materials for making cake or pies, see that your stove or range is in good order; the grate shaken free from ashes; all the fuel needed for the cooking added and burning clear. Be careful that no doors or windows are opened, so that the air will blow across the stove. No oven can bake well if this is not prevented, or if the sun shines across it. ”

“ Turn into a bag to drain. For a quart of this apple juice set one and one-half pounds of sugar on shallow dishes in the oven to heat. Set the juice over the fire with the leaves from a bunch of mint; let cook twenty minutes, then strain into a clean saucepan. Heat to the boiling point, add the hot sugar and let boil till the syrup, when tested, jellies slightly on a cold dish. Tint with green color-paste very delicately. Have ready three to five custard cups on a cloth in a pan of boiling water. Let the glasses be filled with the water; pour out the water and turn in the jelly. ”

“ The injury which boiling does is not by any means well understood by many good cooks. Last year I gave up all the care of putting up fruit and pickles to a competent and honest girl; but, by her not knowing that sugar, when boiled, actually changes its nature, and loses much of its sweetness, she used more than twice the quantity which I have used this year, and then the fruit was not so sweet as it ought to be. (When making syrup to eat on hot cakes bear this in mind: after the sugar is dissolved let it come to a boil, but do not boil it.) ”

“ If the sugar is to be made into cakes it requires to be boiled longer than if intended for graining in tubs, as is the more common form.
Finally, when frequent trials show that the proper degree of concentration has been reached, the master of the ceremonies pronounces it "done," pulls off the fagots, and lets the fire go down, or else draws the pan off the arch and lets it cool. Then the [Pg 217] sugar is stirred vigorously with a huge wooden paddle until it begins to grain, when it is poured out into the tubs, or dipped into tins, if intended for cakes. ”

“ In making the jam always avoid placing the preserving-pan flat upon the fire, as this of itself will often convert what would otherwise be excellent preserve, into a strange sort of compound, for which it is difficult to find a name, and which results from the sugar being subjected—when in combination with the acid of the fruit—to a degree of heat which converts it into caramel or highly-boiled barley-sugar. ”

“ Jam is made by boiling the fruit with sugar, and it is false economy to get common sugar; cheap sugar throws up a quantity of scum. Years back many persons used brown sugar, but in the present day the difference in the price of brown and white sugar is so trifling that the latter should always be used for the purpose. The sugar should not be crushed. It is best to boil the fruit before adding the sugar. The scum should be removed, and a wooden spoon used for the purpose. A large enamel stew-pan can be used, but tradition is in favour of a brass preserving-pan. ”

“ If you wish your sweetmeats to look bright and clear, use only the very best loaf-sugar. Fruit may be preserved for family use and for common purposes, in sugar of inferior quality, but it will never have a good appearance, and it is also more liable to spoil.
If too small a proportion of sugar is allowed to the fruit, it will certainly not keep well. When this experiment is tried it is generally found to be false economy; as sweetmeats, when they begin to spoil, can only be recovered and made eatable by boiling them over again with additional sugar ”

“ Crême Renversée. —Put in a copper sugar-pan three ounces of granulated sugar with half a gill of cold water. Toss the pan briskly to melt the sugar well; then place it on the stove, and let it boil slowly until it becomes a light brown color. If a moderate fire, it will require four minutes, but if a brisk one only two will suffice; this will now be a caramel. Take a pudding-mold holding one quart; line the interior with all the caramel, holding the mold in the left hand, and spreading it evenly all round. ”