# The Candy Cook Book/Chapter 3

CHAPTER III
ASSORTED CHOCOLATES
More than a hundred different chocolates may be found in the price lists of some manufacturers. Almost all of them may be duplicated at home, if care is taken to follow directions explicitly. Regular coating chocolate must be used for dipping. It may be bitter chocolate, sweet chocolate, milk chocolate, or what is known as bitter-sweet chocolate coating, and is obtainable in ten-pound cakes. These will be sold in pieces of smaller size by dealers in confectioners' supplies. During the melting and use of the chocolate the greatest care must be taken that the temperature is right. Full directions will be found farther on in this chapter. Before preparing the chocolate the centers must be made ready.
Chocolate creams may have centers that are hard or soft, and of many different flavors, colors, ​and shapes. Fondant either cooked or uncooked, made by recipes in Chapters II and III, may be used. Directions for making centers are found on page 92. They should be small, as the chocolate coating adds to their original size.
Caramels should be cut smaller than when used without coating, as should fudge, nougatines, marshmallows, candied fruits, or fruit pastes. Nuts should be shelled, and sometimes blanched, and be perfectly dry. Dragées and other decorations for the tops of the candies should be ready for immediate use. Several kinds of centers may be made ready at one time, and then dipped one after another. A pound box can be soon filled with assorted chocolates.
The name of the center gives the name to the chocolate; thus almonds dipped in melted chocolate are called chocolate almonds; almonds dipped in fondant and then in chocolate are chocolate cream almonds.
The following suggestions for centers for assorted chocolates may be extended almost indefinitely.
* Almonds
* Almonds blanched and dipped in white fondant
* Almond paste shaped in balls, or cut in strips or cubes
* Apricot paste in cubes or fancy shapes ​
* Brazil nuts, shelled
* Brazil nuts, brown skin removed, mixed with chocolate opera fudge
* Butterscotch wafers
* Butterscotch wafers, with peanuts
* Center cream, with and without nuts, and variously colored and flavored
* Checkerberries, dipped in fondant
* Cherries, candied, dipped in fondant
* Chocolate caramels
* Chocolate fudge with walnuts
* Cocoanut, shredded
* Cocoanut caramels
* Coffee beans, freshly roasted
* Coffee fondant
Dates, stuffed with salted peanuts or peanut butter
* Fig caramels
* Fig creams
* Filberts, dropped three together, in a row, or clover leaf shape
* Fondant, flavored and colored as suggested on page 92, and mixed with nuts, candied fruits, or jam.
* Fruit cake
* Ginger, preserved, mixed with opera fondant, bit of ginger on top of chocolate
* Grapefruit peel, candied
* Maple cream
* Maple cream with walnuts
* Maple cream with blanched almond or walnut on top of each chocolate ​
* Maraschino cherries dipped in fondant
* Marshmallow caramels
* Marshmallows
* Mint jelly
* Nabisco wafers cut in pieces
* Nougatines
* Opera fudge, all flavors
* Orange peel, candied
* Oyster crackers
* Peanuts, roasted, dropped in bunches of three or four
* Peanut brittle
* Peanut butter cream
* Peanut butter fudge
* Pecan nut meats, whole
* Pecans dipped in coffee fondant
* Pecans dipped in maple cream, whole pecan on top
* Peppermints
* Pineapple, dried canned fruit, or candied pineapple, dipped in cherry-flavored fondant. Bit of pineapple on top of chocolate
* Raisins, large, seeded, dipped in fondant or stuffed with fondant flavored with vanilla
* Raspberry jam mixed with opera fondant, bit of candied rose petal on top
* Walnut meats
* Walnut meats dipped whole in maple cream, whole walnut on top
* Wedding cake
​Other suggestions may be found in the following pages.
The centers should be kept in the room in which they are to be used, that they may be neither too warm nor too cold. When a sufficient supply of centers is ready, the chocolate may be prepared.
Sweetened, unsweetened, or milk coating chocolate should be used (see page 4), and it is not wise to start with less than one pound. More than that is desirable even for a small amount of candy, as it keeps at the right consistency for dipping for a longer time, and that which is not used at once can be melted and used later. Some authorities say that never less than five pounds should be melted at one time.
The room in which the dipping is to be done should be free from steam and of an even temperature of about 65° to 75° F. On a hot or a rainy day, chocolate dipping should not be attempted at home.
Break chocolate in pieces, and put into a double boiler or saucepan over hot water. The two pans should fit closely, that the steam may not escape. Set both pans over the fire until water boils in the lower pan. Remove from fire, and stir until ​chocolate is melted, then remove dish from hot water to ice water, and beat chocolate gently until it feels a little cooler than the hand, or registers between 80° and 85° F. on the thermometer. This will take from five to twenty minutes, depending on the temperature of the room and the amount of chocolate used. At no time should temperature of chocolate go above 125° or below 80° F.
When large numbers of centers are to be dipped, the melted chocolate is poured on a marble slab, and the beating is done with the hand and the dipping with the fingers. Much experience is necessary to produce the markings seen on the best chocolates. The amateur will probably prefer to use a wire bonbon dipper or a two-tined fork. For small centers, like nuts, a small pair of tweezers is useful.
Set the dish of chocolate on the table with centers to be dipped on the left, and chocolate dipping paper, paraffin paper, or white table oilcloth on the right. It is well to have the paper on small boards or tin sheets that candies may be easily moved.
Drop a center into melted chocolate; with the dipper move it around until covered, then lift ​out, upside down, scrape off superfluous chocolate on the edge of the pan, and place bonbon on the paper right side up. Makea line of chocolate over the top of the bonbon when removing the dipper. Different designs on top sometimes indicate the kind of center. Between the dipping of every bonbon the chocolate must be thoroughly beaten.
Chocolates sometimes harden very quickly. On a warm day they must be put in the refrigerator as soon as coated, for ten minutes or until hard.
If the chocolate is neither too warm nor too cool and was beaten sufficiently, and chocolates were cooled quickly enough, they will have a gloss and retain the markings perfectly. If they are gray or streaked, they did not cool quickly enough. If spotted, the chocolate was not beaten enough. If chocolate runs off and forms a thick base, it was not cool enough. If the least bit of steam or water gets in it, the chocolate will become thick and unfit for coating but may be used for cooking purposes. If it does not remain thin enough for dipping, a small piece of cocoa butter may be added, or the water underneath may be heated slightly, when chocolate must be beaten again. Chocolate may be left in the dish in which it was melted and be ready for use at any time.
If chocolates are to be decorated, the nut, dragées, candied fruit, or other decoration must be put in place as soon as the bonbon is placed on the paper. Chocolates may be rolled in cocoa-nut, chopped roasted almonds, or pistachio nuts immediately after dipping.Chopped nuts may be stirred into the melted chocolate before the centers are dipped.
Do not remove dipped chocolates from wax paper or oilcloth until the bottom is glossy and chocolate is firm.
Chocolates should be packed in boxes between layers of wax paper as soon as hard. A few of the chocolates may be wrapped in gold or silver foil. They should be kept in a cool, dry place, and should at no time be exposed to the rays of the sun. They should not be placed in the vicinity of articles that give off strong odors, as chocolate is very absorbent.
Prepare coating chocolate as for dipping and beat until cool enough to hold its shape. Put into a cloth or paper pastry bag with a small tin ​rose tube in the end. Force chocolate upon chocolate dipping paper, paraffin paper, or table oilcloth in small fancy shapes, as roses, spirals, or bars, and leave until firm. Some of the pieces may be sprinkled with a very little coarse granulated sugar, flavored with peppermint, and colored pink or green.
Milk coating chocolate is particularly good in this way.
* ⅓ cup sugar
* 2 drops green color paste
* 1 drop oil of peppermint
Put sugar in a small bowl, add a drop of oil of peppermint, then, using a spoon, work in the green color paste, a tiny bit at a time, until the desired shade is obtained. Pink color paste and oil of wintergreen may be substituted for green color paste and oil of peppermint. Other colors, with or without flavor, may be substituted for either.
* Fondant
* Almond extract
* Blanched almonds
* Coating chocolate
Flavor fondant with almond extract, and make into balls, shaping them high and pointed. Dip in melted coating chocolate, and put three halved blanched almonds on the sides.
Cover almonds with boiling water, let stand two minutes, cover with cold water, drain and remove brown skins. Put in pan, and leave in moderate oven until a golden brown. Cool and dip in melted coating chocolate.
* ½ cup almonds
* ½ cup fondant
* Coating chocolate
Prepare almonds as in previous recipe. When golden brown, cut in pieces, mix with fondant, shape in balls, let dry on wax paper, and dip in melted coating chocolate.
Coarsely chop roasted almonds, mix with melted milk chocolate to make a thick paste, and drop with a spoon in small pieces on wax paper.
* Center Cream II
* 1 pound sweet coating chocolate
* ½ pound bitter chocolate
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
Make center cream as given on page 90, and shape in small balls. Put both kinds of chocolate in upper part of double boiler, and prepare for dipping as explained in the first part of this ​chapter. Just before beginning to dip, add vanilla and beat thoroughly. Dip centers one at a time, and remove to wax paper. Use coating as cold as possible in order to retain the gloss.
Make Cream Butterscotch Balls (see page 129), and leave mixture in the buttered pan. Cover with melted fondant flavored with vanilla, and when firm cut in small pieces, and dip in melted coating chocolate.
* Coating chocolate
* Fresh roasted coffee beans
Melt chocolate over hot water, being careful that not a drop of water gets into the chocolate; then beat it until cool. Dip freshly roasted coffee beans in the chocolate; lift out with a fork, and drop on wax paper or marble slab to harden. Blanched almonds or Brazil nuts, filberts, peanuts, pecans, or walnuts may be coated in the same way.
* ¼ pound coating chocolate
* 1½ cups cocoanut
Melt chocolate over hot water, and stir in all the long strip cocoanut it will coat and hold. Take out pieces the size of a marble, and lay on wax paper to dry.
​This is an excellent way to utilize a small amount of chocolate that may be left from dipping centers.
* 6 figs
* Confectioners' sugar
Chop figs finely, and slowly add sifted confectioners' sugar until mixture is stiff enough to mold into small balls. Shape, let dry, and dip in melted coating chocolate.
* ¼ pound figs
* ¾ cup fondant
* Sweet coating chocolate
Put figs through meat chopper, and mix with fondant, kneading together until perfectly smooth. Shape in small balls, and dip in melted coating chocolate.
* 1 cup apple jelly
* 2 tablespoons gelatine
* ¼ cup cold water
* 1 teaspoon orange extract
* ½ teaspoon lemon extract
Melt apple jelly over hot water, add gelatine soaked in cold water, and extracts. Strain into small molds or into a bread pan half an inch thick. When firm, remove from molds, and if in a sheet, cut the jelly in cubes. Dip in melted coating chocolate.
Mix broken pecan nut meats, roasted Spanish peanuts, or roasted almonds, with just enough cool chocolate to hold them together. Drop from tip of spoon in rough piles as large as a half dollar.
* Maraschino cherries
* Fondant
* Coating chocolate
Drain as many cherries as are wanted, and dip them in melted fondant. When all are covered, dip into melted coating chocolate. If a drop of syrup breaks through the chocolate, cover the spot with melted chocolate. The fondant will very soon liquefy in the center.
* 2 cups sugar
* 1 cup water
* Few grains cream of tartar
* 2 tablespoons maraschino cordial
Boil sugar, water, and cream of tartar to 235° F. Add maraschino cordial, and boil up once. Cool for two minutes. Pour into starch molds, cover with starch, let stand twenty-four hours, brush off starch, and dip in melted coating chocolate, or crystallize.
* ½ cup marrons
* 1 cup fondant
* Coating chocolate
Cut marshmallows across, and stuff with a pecan nut meat or a piece of Canton ginger. Press together and dip in melted coating chocolate.
* Marshmallows
* Melted coating chocolate
* Chopped blanched almonds
Mix almonds with twice the amount of melted coating chocolate, and when beaten until cool, dip marshmallows, one at a time, and drop on wax paper.
Prepare Candied Orange Peel (see page 148), dip each orange straw separately in melted coating chocolate, and lay on wax paper to dry.
Prepare Candied Grapefruit Peel (see page 147), dip each grapefruit straw separately in melted coating chocolate, and lay on wax paper to dry.
* ½ cup fondant
* 3 tablespoons peanut butter
* ½ teaspoon vanilla
* Few grains salt
* Coating chocolate
Mix fondant, peanut butter, salt, and vanilla with a spatula on marble slab or plate until thoroughly blended. Shape in small balls, and dip in melted coating chocolate.
* Fondant
* Oil of peppermint
* Coating chocolate
Melt fondant over hot water, flavor to taste with one or more drops of oil of peppermint, and drop from tip of spoon on waxed paper, or into starch impressions (see page 93) the size and shape of peppermints. When firm, dip in melted coating chocolate.
* 2 tablespoons hot top milk
* 2 cups confectioners' sugar
* ½ teaspoon melted butter
* 3 drops oil of peppermint
Mix hot milk, one and one half cups sifted confectioners' sugar, butter, and peppermint, add more sugar as needed to make stiff, and then knead on a marble slab or a board for ten minutes, or until candy is creamy in texture. Shape with the hands into balls, or roll out on a board, and ​cut with small round cutter, and dip in melted coating chocolate.
* ½ cup pignolia nuts
* ½ cup fondant
* 1 tablespoon almond paste
* Few grains salt
* Melted coating chocolate
* Chopped pignolia nuts
Place half a cup pignolia nuts in oven, and bake until a delicate brown. Chop fine, mix evenly with fondant, almond paste, and salt, shape in small balls, dip in melted coating chocolate, and roll at once in unroasted chopped pignolia nuts.
Other nuts may be substituted for the pignolia nuts.
* Filberts
* Candied cherries
* Fondant
* Vanilla
* Coating chocolate
Cover filberts with boiling water and leave two minutes. Drain, cover with cold water, remove skins, and dry on a towel. Flavor fondant with vanilla, and shape in balls the size of the nuts. Dip first a nut, then a cherry, then a ball of fondant in melted coating chocolate, place close together on oilcloth or wax paper, and join with a line of chocolate.
* Fondant or center cream
* Milk chocolate
* Shredded cocoanut
Make very small centers from any of the recipes for fondant or center cream in Chapter V, dip in melted milk chocolate, then roll at once in shredded cocoanut, chopped fine.
* Fondant
* Coating chocolate
* Raspberry or strawberry jam
Put a piece of firm fondant on a marble slab or bread board, roll out one fourth inch thick, cover half of it with stiff raspberry or strawberry jam; on top place remaining layer of fondant, and cut out with small round cutter. Leave until dry, and dip in melted chocolate.
The trimmings may be gathered up, and worked together into little balls which may also be dipped in chocolate or in melted fondant.
Dipping Assorted Chocolates.
Measuring Ingredients for Fudge.