Spring Holidays

EASTER EGGS | SPUN SUGAR | PULLED MINTS

For the candymaker Easter is the big spring­time challenge. Candy eggs of one sort or another are the Easter specialties, along with marshmallow chicks and chocolate bunnies. But here again those friends of yours who have been going without sweets for Lent will welcome your best can­dies whatever shape they come in. If you are not an expert yet, this is the time to try your hand at fudge or its near relatives, penuche and pralines.
But once you have mastered chocolate dipping you will not want to miss the fun of making chocolate-coated Easter eggs big enough to decorate with pink or yellow flowers, green leaves and a bright name written across the top.

If you can find molds in bunny shapes in your neighborhood, Easter bunnies are also fun to make, either out of marshmallow, to be dipped in chocolate, or out of solid chocolate. Dust the molds with corn-starch and spoon in the marshmallow as soon as it has reached the right consistency for pouring. Chill and then dip in chocolate. Or melt semisweet or milk chocolate and pour into the molds.

Chicks can be shaped with scissors from cooled marshmallow, and then dipped in yellow colored sugar. Use pieces of nut for the eye and the bill.

For an Easter Saturday variation from coloring and painting real eggs, let the children in on the decorat­ing of their own chocolate eggs or even on making marshmallow chicks.

Candy is welcomed on St. Patrick's Day because it is a break in the Lenten fast and because the green-colored candies are everyone's favorite. Make pulled mints, green mint patties decorated with shamrocks, and green jellied candies or hard candies in shamrock shapes.

On April Fool's Day do not leave the field to the practical joker who presents you with chocolate-covered soap or pepper-flavored bonbons. There is an older tradition which calls for real candy, made in clown colors of red, green and white for presentation on the first day of April. Nougats made with red cher­ries and green pistachio nuts are just right for the occasion. So is divinity with the same mixture.

Welcome spring on May Day with spun sugar molded into little May baskets which can be filled with tiny crystallized fondant flowers.
Spun-sugar nests can also be used for Easter and for decorating special ice-cream desserts. If you un­dertake spun sugar you will need a big cleared space in your kitchen. You'll have a gay time spinning it, and the delicate gossamer threads which result are well worth the time and effort of the after-job of cleaning up.

EASTER EGGS

Easter eggs may be made either from marshmallow, divinity or butter creams. Butter creams are prefer able to plain fondant. Except for miniature eggs, Ori­ental creams are too runny to use at all. Very large eggs must be dipped a second time after the first coat ing has hardened so that the filling will not ooze. Marshmallow eggs may be shaped by hand beiore the mixture is cold or may be cut into shape with scissors. For decorating use royal icing tinted pink, yellow and green. Use a small pastry tube. With a little practice you will be able to make rosettes and write names with the best of them. Outlines of bunnies or large flowers may be used instead of names.

SPUN SUGAR

2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon light corn syrup, l/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

Measure 2 cups sugar, 1 teaspoon light corn syrup and 1 cup water in a saucepan and blend together. Place over low heat and stir until mixture boils, then add 1/8teaspoon cream of tartar. Wash down sides of pan with pastry brush or fork wrapped with muslin (dipped in water) to prevent crystal formation on the pan. Put in the candy thermometer and continue to boil without stirring until the thermometer reg­isters 310°. The candy at this stage forms fine threads very readily. Dip a warm spoon in the hot syrup and shake back and forth over a long metal candy bar that has been greased. Many threads will form which may be gathered up and shaped as you wish. It takes practice to move the spoon fast enough to form the threads and not let drops of syrup fall. Just the right amount of syrup must be on the spoon to form the threads as the spoon is moved back and forth. Spun sugar has no keeping qualities and must be used al­most immediately. It may be formed into nests to be used for Easter baskets or it may be used to decorate special ice-cream desserts.

PULLED MINTS

2 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon light corn syrup, 2/3 cup water, Flavor and coloring

Measure 2 cups sugar, 2/3 cup water and 1 table­spoon light corn syrup into a 2-quart saucepan and blend well. Place over low heat and stir until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a boil. Wash away any crystals that may form while cooking, using either a pastry brush or a fork wrapped in muslin and dipped in water. Put in thermometer after syrup boils and cook without stirring until 265° is reached. Remove from heat and pour candy onto buttered plates, divid­ing into portions to be colored separately. When the candy is cool enough to handle fold edges in to the center. Keep other portions warm in a slow oven while the first portion is pulled. Add flavor and coloring as you start pulling — 1 teaspoon peppermint ex­tract is enough for the whole batch — the amount of coloring depends on the tint desired. Pull the candy, using cornstarch on the hands to prevent sticking. When the candy is hard to pull and has become quite cool, twist it out into a long rope and cut into small pieces. Dust each piece with confectioners' sugar and store in an airtight container. After a few days the candy will become smooth and mellow. Pink, green and white are the usual colors, with peppermint the favorite flavor.

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