The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-12-13
TABLE AND KITCHEN.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS ABOUT WHAT TO
EAT AND HOW TO PREPARE FOOD
CHICAGO
ADDRESSED

chocolate.
! The French "parlines'' or burnt al
| nonds, are purely of French origin.
| From these three inventions of bon
| bons we have derived all the many var
! iations, as all combinations have de-
veloped from the Roman sugar plum,
! the Italians pastile and the parline--
the French burnt almond.
| Even the city dweller who. at all
| times may obtain the very newest fan
cies in CONNECTIONS, delights in an occa-
| sional treat of homemade candies.
| These Christmas sweetmeats. like
home Christmas plum pudding,
seem to taste better and are more ap-
propriate for family gathering, than
the store product. There are few cam
| dies that improve with age. most of
| them should be eaten very fresh. For
| this reason. those who cannot conven-
iently get their supplies from the large
cities where they are made fresh every
day, often find their own make very
superior to the best they can buy in
the smaller towns.
If one does not attempt to go too elab-
orately into the work, very great va
riety of delicious candies can be made
at home with very little trouble.
The choicest of the homemade can
dies are those made from boiled sugar.
! This art in this direction lies in the at
! tention given to the changes which take
place in sugar at the different stages or
degrees of heat during the boiling pro-
cess. One must understand the method
| of determining the various conditions
which are expressed by the terms, 'to
| boil to a crack" "to pearl or "ball,'
''to thread" "tO the blow" etc.
| One of the most necessary and con-
venient implements for making home
| made candies is marble slab-the
| confectiOners use marble pouring
plates" supplied with set of different
sized frames-but these frames can be
| dispensed with if you do not wish to go
| to the expense of having them made for
your occasional amateur work. While
| you can use ordinary pOrcelain-lined or
agate saucepans for boiling the sugar
| it Is we'll to have a ring into which
| you can set the bottom of the sauce
| pan, thus keeping it steady, as the boil
ing sugar must not be disturbed after
| it is dissolved and the boiling begins.
Skilled sugar boilers generally use
| thermometer graduated from so de-
grees Fahrenheit to $50 degrees Fahren-
heit And it is rather difficult for
beginner to judge of the degree the
sugar has attained during the process
without the aid of this instrument.
| One test which will be very satlsfac-
| tory when once you have reached a de-
gree of accuracy from experiment is as
| follows: Wet the stem of a clay pipe
and dip it into the sugar when 1t is
| boiling and draw it between the finger
and thumb. If the sugar feels oily, it
has reached the Smooth degree" (215
| to 80 degrees). When it will form
small threads between the finger and
thumb as they are opened out, it has
reached the thread" degree (230 to 235
degrees). The next is the Feather" de-
gree Gao to 245 desrees), this so quick
ly follows the others that no test is
| necessary after the thread" degree is
reached; but if you want to be quite
sure, toss little of the sugar in the
air and it will show a feathery appear
ance. To discover whether the "ball'
degree (25O To 255 degreesJ has been
reached or not, dip the pipe stem into
the boiling sugar and then plunge it
into cold water fo, minute, take it
out ana try; the sugar should work
into soft ball,
The degree next in importance in
making homemade candies is the
"crack" (3l0 to 315 degrees). Test with
the pipe stem same as for the ball"
When the stem is drawn out the sugar
should harden Immediately and snap
off when bitten by the teeth, Immedi-
ately following this degree is the cara
mel" and at this stage the sugar is on
the point of burning,
Many recipes for boiled sugar candies
call for the addition of cream of tartar
or citric acid. Do not use the latter.
as the cream of tartar is the safest
| and most reliable.
This is used to cut the grain of sugar
| a term used by confectioners i'm refer
ence to all refined sugars, lump OF crys-
tai, which are boiled to a degree above
| the ball" or $50 degrees by the ther-
mometer, When cream OF tartar is
| added its action will cause the sugar TO
| become pliable while hot and transpar-
ent when ii becomes cold. Otherwise ii
would become a solid lump OF hard
candied sugar; therefore. it Is neees-
sary to "cut this grain" with cream OF
tartar for all sugars intended for drops
rocks, clear taftles, etc.
| Fondant.
The French cream or fondant once
/ xuIl uiN ~.