Children's Candies

CANDY APPLES ON A STICK | MOLASSES-TAFFY KISSES | SALT-WATER TAFFY | MAPLE TAFFY | CHOCOLATE POPCORN NUT CLUSTERS | BARLEY CANDY TWISTS | LOLLIPOPS, CANDY STICKS AND SPIRALS

Candy and children are an inseparable com­bination, particularly if the candy is taffy. Letting the youngsters help make candy may be hard on the nerves, but it's warming to the heart.

Some of the candies in this section can be made by children but all of them are to be made for children. Lollipops are a pretty fussy job for youngsters al­though they might enjoy trying to write their names on one. Popcorn balls are easier. They can at least pop the corn and form the balls. Hard candies are too hot to handle for most youngsters but they all love barley sugar and candy sticks and spirals.

Taffy is ideal. A children's party that includes a taffy pull is bound to be a success and — if you and your kitchen can stand it — a lot of fun for the adults present too. The taffy is not apt to be of the best when it is finished and most of it will be in or on the children before that times comes.

While it is best to pull taffy with fingers which have been dampened with cold water or dusted with cornstarch, children seem to have a better time when they butter their fingers and also seem to feel the warmth less. All of the taffies given here are cooked to a fairly low temperature and can be pulled until they are quite cold. If the adults present do the early pulling and then divide up the candy among the children to pull, no one will get burned fingers.

CANDY APPLES ON A STICK

2 cups light brown sugar, l/2 teaspoon lemon extract, 2/3 cup water, 6 to 8 apples and sticks, 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

Measure 2 cups light brown sugar, 2/3 cup water and 1 tablespoon light corn syrup into a small sauce­pan. A small, deep pan is good here for complete sub­merging of the apple in the hot syrup. Blend mixture well with a wooden spoon and place over heat, stir­ring until all the sugar is dissolved. When candy boils, put in the candy thermometer and continue boiling without stirring. When the thermometer registers 290°, remove candy from heat and measure in V2 tea­spoon lemon extract. Let the bubbles subside and then put the first apple into the saucepan. Have ready a pan of icy-cold water and quickly plunge the coated apple into the ice water. Allow to remain in only long enough to solidify the taffy coating.

Drain on a dampened cloth and place on a buttered pan. Dipping of the apples without the aid of the chilled water to hasten the hardening process may be done. There will be an accumulation of syrup where the apple is placed on the buttered pan but to some of us this is the trademark of a homemade taffy apple.

MOLASSES-TAFFY KISSES

1/2           cup brown sugar, l/2 cup water, 1            cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 34            cup light molasses, 1/2 teaspoon each of vanilla, 1/2         cup milk salt and soda, ¾ cup dark corn syrup Pinch of cream of tartar

Measure into a saucepan and blend well: 1/2cup brown sugar, 1 cup granulated sugar, 3/4cup light molasses, 1/2cup milk, 3/4 cup dark corn syrup, 1/2cup water, 1/4cup butter. Place over medium heat and stir occasionally to keep from sticking. When mix­ture boils put in the candy thermometer and continue to boil until the thermometer registers 254°. Remove from heat and gently stir in 1/2teaspoon each of vanilla, salt and soda, and a pinch of cream of tartar.

The last ingredient is added to bleach the candy somewhat. Pour the hot syrup on a buttered platter or large pan and allow to cool until it can be han­dled. As it cools fold the edges into the center and then take the whole amount of candy and pull and stretch for several minutes. When it is light and fluffy, twist it into lengths and cut into pieces. Since this recipe gives a soft and chewy candy it must be wrapped, each piece separately. Moistureproof cel­lophane is ideal if obtainable, though waxed paper can be used. Cornstarch or butter can be used on the fingers when pulling the candy. It is important to use light molasses in this recipe because the flavor of the dark is too strong and often bitter.

SALT-WATER TAFFY

2 cups sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 ¼ cups corn syrup    Flavoring and coloring as, 3/4, cup water               desired, 1 teaspoon salt

Measure 2 cups sugar, l 1/4 cups corn syrup, 3/4cup water, 1 teaspoon salt into a saucepan and blend well with a wooden spoon. Place over low heat until sugar has dissolved, stirring continuously. Increase the heat and do not stir during the rest of the cooking.

Wash the sides of the pan with a brush or fork covered with muslin and dipped in water, using an upward motion. This will prevent the formation of crystals which might cause the candy to sugar. After the syrup boils put in the candy thermometer, and when the ther­mometer registers 265°, remove candy from heat.

Add 2 tablespoons butter and stir very gently. If only white vanilla-flavored candy is desired, pour the candy onto one large buttered platter. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon vanilla after it has cooled. The flavor will work through when it is pulled. A variety of colors and flavors may be had by dividing into three parts. Color one pink by adding a few drops of red coloring and 1/3 teaspoon raspberry flavoring. Color the second yellow and add 1/3teaspoon of lemon extract. Leave the third white and flavor with either 1/3teaspoon vanilla or 1/4teaspoon mint. Children enjoy the dif­ferent colors and it is well worth the extra trouble of pulling three separate parts. In fact pulling taffy, making popcorn balls and taffy apples where the children participated was the success of a recent holiday party. When the candy was divided three of the children were given a color to pull. When the candy becomes light in color and texture it is stretched out into lengths and cut into pieces which are individually wrapped.

MAPLE TAFFY

1 cup maple syrup, 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar, 1 cup sugar,  1/2 tablespoon vinegar, 1 tablespoon butter

Measure 1 cup maple syrup and 1 cup sugar into a saucepan and blend together with a wooden spoon. Place over low heat until the sugar and syrup comes to a boil, stirring well. Stir in 14 teaspoon cream of tartar which has been mixed with 1/2tablespoon vine­gar.

Next add 1 tablespoon butter and allow the mixture to boil without stirring. At this point put in the candy thermometer, and when the thermometer registers 260° remove from heat. Pour onto a buttered platter or large pan to cool. As the edges of the candy cool fold toward the center. When the whole mass is cool enough to handle take it up and pull, using the tips of the fingers as much as possible. It will be quite light in color when finished. Roll the candy into strips and cut into pieces. Because of the maple syrup this taffy has a tendency to sugar when a few days old. It is just as delicious, for the texture is very fine grained and smooth to the taste.

CHOCOLATE POPCORN NUT CLUSTERS

3 one-ounce cakes sweet, 2 cups popped corn, 1 cup pecans  (broken into small pieces), 2 tablespoons rich cream   

Melt 3 ounces sweet chocolate over hot water. Slowly and carefully add 2 tablespoons rich cream and mix together. Pour this over 2 cups popcorn and 1 cup chopped pecans that have been mixed well together. Spoon out in small clusters on waxed paper and let dry.

BARLEY CANDY TWISTS

2 cups light corn syrup, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup water

Measure 2 cups light corn syrup, 2 cups sugar and 1/2cup water 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 candy thermometer registers 310°. Cooking this syrup rapidly at the end cara­melizes the syrup and adds a golden color to the candy. Pour on a buttered platter and when still warm cut into small pieces and twist each piece. This candy must be kept in a dry, airtight container.

LOLLIPOPS, CANDY STICKS AND SPIRALS

Using the hard-candy recipe (see pages 73-74) many varieties of children's candies may be made. The syrup is cooked to 300°, then colored and flavored depending on the type of candy to be formed.

Lolli­pops are a great favorite with all children and can be flavored lemon, orange, peppermint, anise, rasp­berry and strawberry.

These flavors can be obtained in most food stores. They are extracts and a whole recipe requires 1 teaspoon. If oil flavors are used, a few drops of peppermint, wintergreen or cinnamon are all that are required for a whole recipe. Vegetable colorings are best and the amount used is, of course, dependent upon the intensity of the color desired. Pink will require a very little amount of the red, and green should be very carefully used as this color is much more attractive if it is kept light. Wooden skewers may be obtained from the butcher and used for the handles of the lollipops. The candy is either poured out in circles or spooned out on a flat buttered surface.

Before the circles harden, the skewer is firmly placed in the candy.

The decoration can be planned to fit any holiday or party occasion.

Lollipops can be used as place cards for a children's party. Royal icing (see page 29) is pressed from a pastry tube to form the name of each child. The fine attachment is best for this and with a little practice you will find it easy to write the names in a script style. Names and initials may also be put on the lollipops with another pastry tube attachment that will also form a ribbon border around the edge. There are many other attachments for the pastry tube which you can experiment with to get additional ideas for decorating. Faces, flowers and holiday motifs can be worked out in many dif­ferent ways. Once you use this special royal icing in the pastry tube, the hidden artist in you will take over and the results will delight the children.

Raisins, nuts, coconut and pieces of fruit can also be used for decorating, but this must be done while the candy is warm. Raisins for eyes, a piece of nut for the nose, a piece of cherry for the mouth and coconut for the hair make an effective face.

Candy sticks are made using the same basic hard-candy recipe. The colors and flavors are a matter of choice, and if several varieties are to be made the candy is divided on plates and worked separately. If this is the case it is well to keep the candy warm until you are ready to form it in sticks. While the candy is still warm it is cut into pieces and each piece is rolled separately to form a stick. The rolling is con­tinued until the candy is cool enough to keep its shape and then is placed in a cool room. When all the sticks are formed and well cooled, keep them in an airtight container, as all hard candies readily absorb moisture if left exposed to the air.

Spirals are another attractive hard candy. The basic hard-candy recipe is followed and the candy is divided into three portions. The first is flavored with peppermint and left uncolored. The second is flavored with raspberry and colored red. The third is flavored with wintergreen and colored green. The flavors and coloring must be very carefully and gently worked into the hot syrup, for too much stirring will cause the syrup to sugar. Heat your oven in order to keep the candy warm while some portions are being shaped. About one half a tea-spoonful of the candy is taken and rolled into a long rope, and this is then quickly wrapped round and round a wooden skewer that has been well greased. The spiral is slipped off and set to cool and another is formed. It is important to work fast once the candy is removed from the warmth of the oven.

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