Winter Holidays

CANDIED POPCORN IN FANCY SHAPES | FONDANT | BASIC FONDANT | MINT PATTIES | BUTTER CREAMS | ORIENTAL CREAMS | UNCOOKED FONDANT | FONDANT FOR COATING | ROYAL ICING | CRYSTALLIZING | MARZIPAN | MARZIPAN (uncooked) | MARZIPAN WITH FONDANT | CHOCOLATES AND CHOCOLATE DIPPING | HAZELNUT TRUFFLES | HAZELNUT TRUFFLES WITH SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE | FRENCH CHOCOLATES | CHOCOLATE PRALINES | CHOCOLATE CREAMS

When there's snow on the ground and the air is crisp outside, candymaking is more fun than usual. That's why so many of us make so much candy around Christmas time. Even the words "Christmas candy" have a magical quality. Candied popcorn wreaths and stars, Santa Claus lol­lipops, candy canes, and the fascinating colored and shaped marzipan dainties belong to the Christmas season. But your Christmas candymaking will not be confined to these seasonal specialties alone. Winter weather gives the candymaker her best break for all her favorite candies. Everything turns out right when the humidity is down and the weather is cool. So make all your best varieties for Christmas and New Year's, not just for the family but to pack in boxes or tins to give to fortunate friends.

The winter season also brings the sweetest day of all — St. Valentine's Day — which would not be the same without candy. For this holiday dedicated to lovers, make your favorite candies in heart shapes, out of pink fondant or bright-red hard candy or clear-cerise jelly candies. For the children, make anise-flavored lollipops decorated with icing hearts pierced with arrows. And for That Special Person, assemble an array of luscious chocolates and bonbons, add samples of your other favorites and pack it in a red-satin heart box.

Washington's Birthday is another occasion for spe­cial efforts in candymaking. Glaceed or candied cher­ries or red hard candies flavored with cherry are good choices, as are old-fashioned candies such as barley-sugar twists which were made and eaten with relish as far back as Revolutionary days. For a special party, decorate fondant patties with little hatchets made of royal icing, colored, and squeezed out of a pastry tube.

CANDIED POPCORN IN FANCY SHAPES

1 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/3 cup light corn syrup, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup water, 1 teaspoon vanilla, 2 quarts popped corn

Measure 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup light corn syrup, 1/3 cup water and 2 tablespoons butter into a saucepan and blend well together. Place over low heat and stir until mixture boils. Now put in the candy thermom­eter and continue boiling without stirring until ther­mometer registers 270°. Remove from heat and add 14 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Have ready a bowl of freshly popped corn — about 8 cups will be sufficient for the amount of syrup cooked. Pour the hot syrup over the popcorn stirring well and quickly so that all the kernels are covered.

Popcorn balls can be formed if desired. Moisten the hands with cold water and quickly take a small amount of the candied corn and gently press into a ball. If other shapes such as Christmas trees, stars and wreaths are to be made, molds or cookie cutters may be used. A large pan molded in Christmas-tree form can be found at most department stores. Press the candied corn into the mold, making sure that the corn is in all the small parts of the design. While the candied popcorn is still warm, place small pieces of colored candies to resem­ble the ornaments on a tree. Red and green colors are most effective and will make the popcorn Christ­mas tree a gay centerpiece for a children's holiday party. For wreaths and stars the candied corn is pressed in the cookie cutters. The points of the stars must be well filled to have the formation distinct. A doughnut cutter is good for the wreath, with colored pieces of candy added for holiday festiveness. If the candied corn becomes too hard to work into the molds, it may be placed in a warm oven and softened. For caramel corn use any preferred caramel recipe, cooking only to 242°. This will be stickier and is not good for molding into shapes.

Fondant

When Mother got out her marble slab and let us help her make fondant we felt as though we were being let in on a really exciting process. For in making fondant, what is one moment just runny sugar syrup changes under your hands and before your eyes into a thick, opaque, creamy candy. And fondant is the basis for mints and bonbons and myriad choco­late-cream centers that can be your proudest candies.

The directions for making fondant sound formida­ble, and plain fondant, which is where many cooks stop, is not the most interesting candy you can turn out. But making fondant is much simpler than it sounds, because the directions are so explicit; and when you have added colorings and flavors, or tried butter creams and flowing Oriental creams, you will no longer find fondant dull.

You do not need a marble slab or a wooden paddle to make good fondant; a platter or a large plate will do instead of the marble, and a spatula can be used instead of a wooden paddle. But if you have a marble slab by all means use it, because the fondant will cool more quickly.

Following the directions is important in any candy but you will see the results of mistakes more spectacu­larly in fondant. The rules that say you should stir the sugar and water while it is dissolving and then must not stir again after it boils are not made to cause you trouble but to keep you from having it. Washing the crystals from the side of the pan is equally important, as is allowing the candy to cool down to approxi­mately 110° before beginning to cream it. All of these seemingly fussy directions are aimed at one thing: to keep your candy from sugaring off, from getting grainy, and to make sure that it will be smooth and creamy when it is finished.

For the same reason you need to be careful not to jar the pan when you are taking it off the stove or the platter or slab on which it is cooling. And when you pour the candy out onto the platter do not scrape the sides or attempt to shake out the last few drops.

Basic fondant is one of the simplest of candies. Sugar and water alone will make a passable fondant if all precautions are taken to keep it from sugaring. But to ensure success a small amount of acid or corn syrup is nearly always added. We use cream of tartar in most of our fondant recipes but if you find you have none on your shelf when you start to make fondant you can substitute a half teaspoon of lemon juice or two tablespoons of corn syrup in place of an eighth of a teaspoon of cream of tartar.

Fondant must be aged or mellowed for most pur­poses. Often an hour is long enough, but check the recipe you want to make so you're not disappointed to find that you cannot finish your candy until the next day.

BASIC FONDANT

2 cups sugar, 3/4 cup boiling water, 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Measure 2 cups sugar and 3/4 cup boiling water into a 2-quart saucepan. Blend with a wooden spoon, and place over low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture begins to dissolve. Continue stirring until the mixture boils, then add Vs teaspoon cream of tartar. Cover for 3 minutes so that steam may wash down and melt any sugar crystals on sides of the pan. Un­cover and put in your candy thermometer. With a fork wrapped with muslin and moistened in warm water wash off any further sugar crystals that form during cooking. Or you can use a moistened pastry brush. Always use an upward movement. Boil with­out stirring over medium-high heat until the ther­mometer registers 238°. Remove from heat, being careful not to jar the pan, and let stand until all bub­bles have disappeared. Pour carefully onto a marble slab or a large tray or platter that has been moistened and cooled in the refrigerator, so that the fondant may cool as quickly as possible. Pour only what leaves the pan easily. Do not scrape sides of pan or shake out remaining candy. When it feels only slightly warm to the touch (about 110°), work the candy over and over with a scraping and folding method using a wooden paddle or a spatula. As the candy thickens it becomes opaque and when finished it forms a hard crumbly white mass, and can no longer be worked with the paddle. At this point kneading it with the hands brings about the desired softness and the candy is ready to be ripened for chocolate centers, bonbons or mint patties. Cover with a damp cloth and store in a jar at room temperature. Flavoring and coloring are added after the fondant is ripened. For bonbons and mint patties fondant should be used after two days of ripening. (For chocolate dipping, see pages 32-37.)

MINT PATTIES

1 recipe basic fondant (page    1 teaspoon peppermint ex 22) tract Pink, green or yellow coloring Melt fondant in a double boiler over hot water, stirring gently, until it is the consistency of very heavy cream. Carefully, without too much stirring, add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract, and desired coloring. Fondant may be divided into portions and each
colored with a different color. Drop by teaspoonfuls on waxed paper or use a warmed funnel and wooden stick. When cool these may be decorated with royal icing or dipped in chocolate.

BUTTER CREAMS

2 cups sugar,   1/8teaspoon cream of tartar, 3/4 cup boiling water, 3 tablespoons butter

Measure 2 cups sugar and 3/4cup boiling water into a 2-quart saucepan. Blend with a wooden spoon, and place over low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture begins to dissolve. Continue stirring until it boils, then add 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar. Cover for 3 minutes so that steam may wash down and melt any sugar crystals on sides of the pan. Uncover and put in your candy thermometer. With a fork wrapped with muslin and moistened in warm water wash off any further sugar crystals that form during cooking. Boil without stirring over medium-high heat until the thermometer registers 238°. Remove from heat and let candy stand until all bubbles have disappeared. Pour on a marble slab or on a large tray or platter that has been moistened and cooled in the refriger­ator. It is important that the syrup cool as quickly as possible. When it feels only slightly warm to the touch (about 110°) add 3 tablespoons softened but­ter and work the candy over and over with a scraping and folding method using a wooden paddle or a spat­ula. As the candy thickens it becomes opaque and when finished it forms a crumbly mass and can no longer be worked with the paddle. At this point kneading it with the hands brings about the desired softness and the candy is ready to be flavored, col­ored and molded for chocolate dipping (see pages 32-37). No ripening is necessary. Store in refrigerator if not used the same day.

ORIENTAL CREAMS

2 cups sugar, l/8 teaspoon cream of tartar, 3/4 cup boiling water 1 egg white (medium size), 1/2 teaspoon glycerin        Flavorings and colorings

Measure 2 cups sugar and 34 cup boiling water into a 2-quart saucepan. Blend with a wooden spoon and place over low heat, stirring continuously until the mixture begins to dissolve. Now add 1/2teaspoon glycerin and 1/8teaspoon cream of tartar and continue stirring until the mixture boils. Cover for 3 minutes so that steam may wash down and melt any sugar crystals on sides of the pan. Uncover and put in your candy thermometer. With a fork wrapped with mus­lin and moistened in warm water wash off any further sugar crystals that form during cooking. Boil without stirring over medium-high heat until the thermome­ter registers 238°. Remove from heat and let candy stand until all bubbles have disappeared. Pour on a marble slab or on a large tray or platter that has been moistened and cooled in refrigerator. When candy feels only slightly warm to the touch (about 110°), add the stiffly beaten egg white, spreading it over the top of the syrup, then work the candy over and over with a scraping and folding method using a wooden paddle or a spatula. As the candy thickens it becomes white and creamy. Work for at least 10 minutes, then scrape together and let set, covered with waxed paper, until thick enough to mold into shapes for dip­ping. If a variety of flavors is desired the fondant may be divided into four parts: one part flavored with vanilla, the second part with mint, the third with lemon extract and colored with a small amount of yellow color and the last with raspberry extract and colored with a very small amount of red. After the candy is formed into balls for dipping it is left to dry in a cool room. When a very thin crust has formed the creams are ready to be dipped (see pages 32-37). If allowed to stand too long they become runny and very difficult to handle with the soft choco­late. The flavor is improved if the chocolates are al­lowed to ripen for a few days after dipping. The purpose of the glycerin is to keep the cream center moist and very soft.

UNCOOKED FONDANT

1 egg white   2 tablespoons water, 3 cups confectioners' sugar

Mix 1 egg white with 2 tablespoons water and then add gradually 3 cups confectioners' sugar. Flavoring, coloring and nuts may be added when the fondant is formed for dipping. This is a quick substitute for cooked fondant though it is never as creamy and smooth to the taste.

FONDANT FOR COATING

2 cups sugar, 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar, 3/4 cup boiling water, 1/2 teaspoon glycerin

Here the method is the same as for basic fondant, but add 1/2teaspoon of glycerin to the sugar and water mixture at the start of the cooking. This addi­tion of glycerin keeps the bonbon coating soft and also gives it a glossy finish. After the fondant has ripened at least 4 hours and no more than 48 hours, melt the fondant over water that has been brought to the boiling point. Care has to be taken so that the fondant does not become too hot or too dry. Warm water or a stock syrup of equal parts water and sugar that has been heated to 220° may be added if the fondant appears too thick. It is also possible for the fondant to become too moist and runny. If this hap­pens keep fondant over hot water to dry it out. For coating centers with fondant, the consistency has to be just right. The center to be coated is placed on a fork and quickly dipped into the melted fondant. When covered it is lifted out and placed on waxed paper and the excess string is used to form a curlicue or a pattern indicating the type of center dipped. Practice will soon help the dipper know when the fondant is right for coating centers. Butter creams, chocolate and vanilla, marzipan, coconut mixed with fondant, apricot paste, jelly squares and fruit mixtures all make good centers for bonbons. The fondant for coating can also be flavored and colored in many dif­ferent ways.

ROYAL ICING

2 egg whites, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1 pound confectioners' sugar

Beat together the whites of 2 eggs, 1/8teaspoon cream of tartar and 1 teaspoon lemon juice just enough to blend well. Gradually add 1 pound confec­tioners' sugar, beating until the mixture is stiff and will not drop from the spoon. Less than a pound of sugar may be sufficient if the egg whites are smaller than average. Beating time will usually be 7 or 8 min­utes. This icing is used for decorating bonbons, Easter eggs, lollipops and mints and may be colored with vegetable colorings. Feed through a pastry tube us­ing attachments of various sizes to make rosettes, leaves, etc., and to write names on Easter eggs.

CRYSTALLIZING

2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, Brown paper

Blend 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water in a 2-quart saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir until mix­ture boils. Put in your candy thermometer and con­tinue cooking without stirring until the temperature reaches 225°. Remove from heat. Cut a small hole in the center of a piece of brown paper larger than the pan. Dampen the paper with cold water and gently lay it on top of the sugar syrup, being careful to fit it closely around the sides of the pan. Allow to cool until lukewarm, Remove the paper and any crystals which have formed.

Meanwhile place the candies — fondant or jellies (see pages 19-27, 64-70) in fancy shapes or colors — which are to be crystallized on racks in pans deep enough so that they can be covered with the syrup. Pour the syrup over them and place a piece of muslin over the top. Allow to stand for twelve hours. Remove the candies from the syrup, place on dry racks and al­low to dry in a warm room for another twelve hours. The surface of the candies will be covered with bright sugar crystals. Bonbons and jellied candies are usually crystallized by this method. They keep better and look gayer, but the process is long and requires proper drying racks. This recipe may be doubled or tripled, using a larger saucepan in that case.

MARZIPAN

Marzipan is especially associated with the Christ­mas season, and if you have a talent for sculpture you can use it here.

The colorings may be painted on the finished shapes instead of being mixed with all the marzipan. In this case dilute the coloring with water until you get the desired shade.

Favorite shapes are strawberries, carrots, pears and apples. Potatoes are formed and rolled in cocoa in­stead of being colored. Faces are fun, too, the eyes fashioned by making indentations with toothpicks.

MARZIPAN (uncooked)

2 cups blanched almond, 1 cup confectioners' sugar, (finely grated or ground) or more, 1/4 cup egg whites

Grate or grind 2 cups almonds very fine, work in a wooden bowl with a wooden spoon, and add 1 cup confectioners' sugar alternately with 1/4 cup egg whites, using more sugar if necessary to form a stiff paste. Allow to ripen a few hours before coloring and forming into fancy shapes. Or use it for centers for chocolate dipping or roll in cocoa. This does not keep well.

MARZIPAN WITH FONDANT

3/4 pound almond paste or1 cup fondant, 1 recipe uncooked marzipan (page 31), 1/4 cup light corn syrup

Mix 3/4pound almond paste (or use the uncooked marzipan described above) with 1 cup basic fondant and 1/4 cup light corn syrup and knead until smooth. Allow to ripen. Color and form into fancy shapes.

Chocolates and Chocolate Dipping

The best compliment that can be paid store-bought candy is to say it tastes homemade. This is as true of chocolates as it is of any other candy, but the proud­est compliment a home chocolate dipper can receive is to have someone say her chocolates look profes­sional — though they must still taste homemade.

Chocolate dipping is a profession and dippers spend much time becoming adept at it, but once you have learned about the temperature requirements, the actual dipping is not difficult.

Regular coating chocolate comes only in ten-pound slabs and can usually be bought only at wholesale houses, although sometimes a local bakery may be willing to sell you some as a favor. However, you can use semisweet chocolate for dipping, the milk choco­late that is broken from big bars and sold at the ten-cent store or, if you like a bitter chocolate coating over a rich butter cream, you can even use regular baking chocolate.

Whatever type you use, you may be surprised, if you have casually melted chocolate over boiling water or even over direct heat for cakes, cookies or frostings, to find that it is extremely sensitive to temperatures and to the way it is handled at any given stage. If chocolate is allowed to get too hot, or cools tooquickly without being beaten, it will refuse to harden, it will harden in gray streaks, or it will come out in spots.

To find out why this happens we went to see a chemist for one of the big chocolate companies. He had helped earn his college tuition by working as a chocolate dipper so he knew chocolate dipping from both the scientific and practical points of view.

Professional candymakers call those gray streaks that appear even on their chocolates "bloom," and they haven't completely licked the problem them­selves. When I told him that sometimes the chocolate hardened on my fingers while I was dipping he peered at me earnestly.

"Are you anemic?" he asked. "Chocolate dippers have to be strong and healthy — and they wear red flannels."

This is because chocolate dipping must be done in a cool room if it is to be completely successful. And the gray streaks or spots appear because in chocolate there are various types of fat globules with diflFerent hardening temperatures. Unless they are kept in mo­tion right up to the moment when chocolate as a whole will solidify, the fat will harden separately from the rest of the components.

To get around this, chocolate used in dipping is never allowed to get hotter than 125° and it is better if it does not get over 110°. It is kept in motion while it is cooling and the dipping is done in a cold room, 60° to 65°, so that the chocolate coating will harden before the fat globules can separate again.

Use at least a pound of chocolate for one session of dipping, shave it finely and put it in the top of a double boiler over water no higher than 120° meas­ured on your candy thermometer. Cover the choco­late and begin to get your centers ready for dipping. Stir occasionally so that the heat is distributed evenly. When most of the chocolate is melted beat it thor­oughly with a spoon or rubber paddle, smoothing out all the lumps.

In the meantime have the candies you are going to dip lined up on a board or tin in the room where you are to dip them. Spread waxed paper or oilcloth over your work surface or use a marble slab.

Professional dippers grease a section of the marble slab, pour out part of the chocolate and work it with their fingers until it is the right consistency and the right temperature. We found it easier to put part of the chocolate into a pie tin which could then be moved on and off a pan of warm water, depending on whether it was beginning to get too cool or too warm. As needed, more chocolate is added from the double boiler.

The right temperature for dipping, according to authorities, is about 83°. But the chocolate dipper cannot easily measure the chocolate at this thick stage with a thermometer and must learn to recognize the right stage by dipping test pieces.

If they harden in a minute or two the chocolate is probably just right. If they develop gray streaks or dots it isn't. If they spread out and you cannot form a design on top that doesn't melt away, the chocolate is too warm. In practice it is surprising how quickly you can begin to tell by touch when the right moment has come. The chocolate should begin to feel cool to your fingers and seem to thicken slightly under them.

Dipping forks may be used instead of the fingers butwhile it may sound easier and certainly is less messy, there are many objections to it. Finger dipping is the best and quickest way for the amateur to be­come a professional.

SUGGESTED CENTERS FOR CHOCOLATES

Plain fondant mixed with	Butter brickal
chopped nuts or fruit	Toffee
Butter cream mixed with	Cherries dipped first in
chopped nuts   fondant
Maple creams	Fruits
Oriental creams	Jellies
Nougats	Apricot paste
Caramels	Apricot orange balls
Butter crunch	Marzipan

HAZELNUT TRUFFLES

1 cup hazelnuts (finely 1/2 cup water grated), 2 tablespoons confectioners, 1/2 cup sugar sugar, 2 squares grated bitter, 2 teaspoons cocoa, chocolate (2 ounces)

Mix 1 cup finely grated hazelnuts with V% cup sugar and 2 squares grated chocolate in a 1-quart saucepan. Blend in x/% cup water gradually. Put over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate is melted and sugar dissolved. The mixture will be thick and hard to handle. Cool, then form into balls and roll in a mix­ture of 2 tablespoons confectioners* sugar and 2 tea­spoons cocoa.

HAZELNUT TRUFFLES WITH SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE

1 cup toasted hazelnuts, 1 egg white, (finely grated) 2 packages semisweet chocolate (12 ounces), 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 14 cup cream

Grate 1 cup toasted hazelnuts and blend with 1 cup confectioners' sugar. Add just enough egg white to make a firm paste. Melt 2 packages semisweet choco­late over hot water. Scald 1/4cup cream and cool to temperature of chocolate. Pour cream into chocolate and mix with a wooden spoon until blended, then mix in hazelnut paste. Put into a pan lined with waxed paper and set in a cool place. Cut in oblongs or squares when hard. Or form into balls and roll in cocoa or chocolate shot.

FRENCH CHOCOLATES

1 pound sweet dark or milk , 1/2 cup finely grated toasted, chocolate nuts (optional), 1/3 cup heavy cream

Melt 1 pound sweet dark or milk chocolate slowly over hot water. Scald Vs cup heavy cream and let cool down to the same temperature as the chocolate. Pour the cream into the chocolate and beat quickly with wooden spoon until thoroughly mixed. Pat into a pan lined with waxed paper and slice off in oblong shapes when set. For variety add l/z cup grated toasted nuts after beating in the cream.

CHOCOLATE PRALINES

1 cup sugar  1/2pound sweet or semisweet, 1 cup nuts — almonds or dipping chocolate, hazelnuts

Measure 1 cup sugar and 1 cup nuts into a heavy skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring occasion­ally until sugar melts and nuts begin to make popping sounds. Pour into greased pan. Let cool and then grind finely and mix with 1/2 pound melted chocolate. Pour into a pan (8 by 11 inches) which has been lined with waxed paper and mark in squares. When cool cut and serve plain or dipped in chocolate.

CHOCOLATE CREAMS

6 one-ounce semisweet choc olate pieces,  l/2 cup sweetened condensed
Milk, 1 tablespoon butter,3/4teaspoon vanilla

Melt 6 ounces chocolate and 1 tablespoon butter in a double boiler. Add l/2 cup sweetened condensed milk and cook until thick. Then add 3/4 teaspoon va­nilla. This will take about 15 minutes of cooking, un­til the candy is thick enough to drop by spoonfuls and hold its shape. It may be shaped into centers and dipped in chocolate or fondant.

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