The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-07-01
The Manufacture Of Candy.

The word candy comes to US from the
Arabic and Persian gand, another name
for sugar. Candy-making is consider.
able trade in itself. The census of 1880
reported 1882 confectioners. There
are eight or ten large factories in New
York alone, employing perhaps hun.
dred each, and using hundred barrels
or more of sugar week, besides quaint.
ties of glucose.
The 5stick" candy which seems to be
an indigenous American product, is. of
ordinary "a" sugar, boiled down with
water and little cream of tartar to pre-
vent crystalization. The mass is taken
in patches of about fifteen pounds to a
marble table, where it is kneaded like
bread, and the favoring and coloring
worked in. The paste then goes to the
"pulling hooks" where for five or six
minutes it is pulled and twisted and re.
pulled and retwisted at the hands of
workmsn who certainly earns his living.
Thence it returns to the marble table, at
one end of which is a mental plate, kept
hot, on which he works the candy into its
final shape. Stripes are pressed into the
batch, two feet long and foot thick, and
it is then drawn and twisted out till it is
the proper size of the penny "stick," the
right length of which is clipped off by
huge scissors. Clear candy is not knead-
ed or pulled. Flat candy is run into
pans, and q knife is run across where tbs
to be broken into sticks or squares. The
drops, fishes, and other fancy shapes are
made by passing the paste through
machine, which cuts aud presses it to
the proper size and shape.
Lozenges are rolled out like pie.crust,
sometimes printed in carmine with
hand stamp, and then cut out with dies.
Sugar .plums and sugared almonds are
made in a very interesting way, by
throwing the nut, seed, or other nucleus
with boiling sugar into great copper
pans, which are shaker-by hand or re.
volved by machinery over a hot fire.
Rolled over and over in the moist sugar,
the plums soon begin to grow, and are
"polished off" by each other, while the
above steam worked fans carry OFT the
dry dust Gum drops are made Of gum
arabic and sugar, boiled and mixed,
seven or eight hundred pounds at time,
in huge copper steam kettles, whence the
mixture is taken out into smaller kettles
to be favored and colored. The Cheap
gum drops and "marshmallows" are
made chiefly from glucose. Cream or
soft candies are made in simple way,
from sugar mixed with cream of tartar
to nrevent crystalizinp. To give them
their fancy forms, q fiat tray is filled
with starch, which is pressed into moulds
by series of plaster-of-Paris models
a drop, hand, face, berry, or what it may
be-arranged on long stick. Into these
starch moulds the hot cream is poured,
and then allowed to dry. Some factories,
have as much as $4,000 pounds of starch
in this use. The drying room is kept at
a high temperature, in which "creams"
soon become dry and solid. They are
then separated from the starch by huge
sieves. If they are to be CLOSED, they
are placed in huge tin pans and a cold
solution of sugar poured over shem to
stand overnight. In the morning the
ice sugar on top is broken, and the
"creanis" are found coated with fine
crystals. The liquor drops are very
curious product. The syrup is mixed
with brandy or favored water, and is
poured into the starch moulds. AS 1t
cools at the top and on the mould, the
crystals make continuous case, lmpris-
oning the liquor within.
The adulteration of candy is chiefly
by the use of terra alba, or white clay.
This harmful stuff can be detected by
dissolviug the suspected candy in water,
when the clay falls to the bottom undis'
solved. An ounce roll of cheap lozenges
will sometimes contain three quarters OF
an ounce of this Injurious stuff. The
coloring of candies is for the most part,
not dSSigerous, since piece of red col.
orir4Smatter the size of q gum drop will
color 5000 pounds of candy Unscrupu-
lous manufacturers, however, occasion
ally use mineral instead of safe vegetable
colo.s, and cart loads of such candy
have been seized and destroyed by the
health-oAicers in New York. For the
most part, carmine aud cochipeal are
used for red, saffron for yellow, caramel
or burnt sugar for brown, and this with
carmine for orange. Green and blue
candies are to be avoided. These colors
are used sometimes. however, in "decor-
ating"-a surface treatment of fine can.
dies by hand, in which water-color
artist is employed to do art work at
Wholesale according to the model set him.
AS for this purpose the proportion of col
oring matter to sugar is about one.mill-
ionth, the result of swallowing paint is
not so disastrous as might be expected.
Ia Havoring, essential oils are used, about
q pound to thousand pounds of sugar,
and this is worked in during the boiling
or kneading. Licorice colors and flavors
both at once.-Harper's Magazine.