The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-12-10
CHRISTMAS GOODIES.
All That's Sweet Was Made But to Be
Last IA hen SAxeetest

I
and of such long standing it may really
be considered a natural taste with pres
ent generations. The origin of the SUI
gar plum dates back to Roman times. for
| it was a certain noted confectioner, Jul
nus Dragastus, belonging to the noble
| and illustrlous family of Fabius. who
first thought of covering almonds with
layers of sugar. There is a custom still
observed in Europe by some OF the no
] bihty, of distributing these sweetmeats
/ (dragatD on occasions o. great rejoic-
| ing. such as births and marriages
mis- is probably the first candy of
which We nave any authentic knowledge.
ne French, quick to accept anything
/ light. dainty and contributing 10 the
! lighter vein of pleasures soon invented
4 delicious CONNECTIONS of their own, al
| though it was an Italian confectioner. q
| protege of the Medicis, who first con-
! ceived them. The bonbons OF the Flor
entine. John Pastilla, became all the
vogue. These 'pastiles" have changed
very little, if any, since that time. as
there was little improvement possible.
| They were even made of all kinds OF
favorings, such as rose, violet, hello
trope, carnation. coffee and chocolate.
The French 'parJines" or burnt al
monds, are purely of French origin
From these three inventions of bonbOns
We have derived all the many variations,
as all combinations have developed from
the Roman sugar plum. the Italians pas
tile and the parline. the French burnt
almond.
Even the city dweller who, at all times,
CONNECTIONS, delights in an occa sional
treat of homemade candies These
Christmas sweet-meats, ---.e homemade
Christmas plum pudding. seem to taste
better and are more appropriate for a
family gathering. than the store prod
uct. There are few candies that i'm
prove with age. most of them should
be eaten very fresh. For this reason,
those who cannot conveniently get THEN
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 10 go too elab
orately into the work. the very great va
riety of delicious candies can be made
at home with very little trouble
The choicest of The homemade candies
are those made from boiled sugar The
are in this direction lies in the attention
given TO the changes which take place
in sugar at the different stages or de-
grees Of heat during the boiling process !
One must understand the method of de-
termining the various conditions which
are expressed by the terms. Ito boil to
a crack" ito pearl" or ball" to
thread" Ito the blow" etc
One Of the most necessary and con-
venient implements for making home
made candies is a marble slab-the con-
fectioners use marble pouring plates"
supplied with a set of different sized
frames-but these frames can be dis
pensed with if you do not wish to go TO
the expense of having them made for
your occasional amateur work. While
you can use the ordinary porcelain-lined
or agate saucepans for boiling the sugar
it is well to have a ring into which you
can set the bottom of the saucepan. thus
keeping 1t steady. as the boiling sugar
must not be disturbed after it is dis
solved and the boiling begins.
Skilled sugar boilers generally use a
thermometer graduated from 80 degrees
Fahrenheit to $50 degrees Fahrenheit
And it is rather difficult for a 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 satisfactory
when once you have reached a degree |
of accuracy from experiment is as fol- |
lows: Wet the stem of a clay pipe and !
dip it into the sugar when it is boiling |
and draw it between the finger and |
thumb. If the sugar feels oily. has |
reached the smooth degree CHS 70 300 |
degrees). When it will form small |
threads between the finger and thumb /
as they are opened out, it has reached |
the "threaL degree C2sO TO 235 degrees). |
The next is the feather degree Gao to /
245 degrees; this so quickly follows the /
others that no test is necessary after 4
the thread" degree is reached: but If I
you want to be quite sure. toss a little
Of the sugar in the air and il viii show
a feathery appearance. TO discover !
whether the "bali' degree ESQ TO 255 de-
grees) has been reached or not, dip the
pipe stem into the boiling sugar and
then plunge It into cold water for min
ute; take IL out and try; the sugar should
work into soft ball.
The degree next in Importance in max
ing homemade candies is 70 piaceshrd I
ing homemade candies is the crack
- to 5I5 degrees. Test with the pip
stem same as for the bail" When the
stem Is drawn out the sugar should hard
sn Immediately an snap Of when Bit
Ten By lne teeth. Immediately follow
ug this degree is the caramel and al
his stage the sugar is on the point OF /
burning.
aIany recipes for boiled sugar candies
,an for the addition Of cream Of tartar
y citric acid DO not use the latter. as
he cream OF tartar is the safest and
most reliable.
This is used 70 cut the grain Of sugar.
term used by confectioners IL reference
20 all refined sugars. lump or crystal.
x hicn are boiled e. a degree above ,he
ball" or - degrees by the thermom-
ter. men cream OF tartar IS added is
action VIII cause the sugar 70 become
,nable while hot and transparent when
t becomes cold. Otherwise IL would be-
one a solid lump Of hard oandied ST.
-ar. therefore. Il IS necessary u scut
sugars intended Tor drops rocks. clear
ames. etc
Fondant
The French cream q fondart once
made VII give very great variety -
delicious sweetmeats- FoHcant should be
prepared at least twenty-four hours be-
-ore you wish 20 use & and vaLI keep fer
weeks 81 q cool. dry place. covered 3lia
danp cioth- No matter how large
quantity IS desired. DC not attempt 60
make too much AZ q time
put q pound q Er4nulated snear % a /
perfectly clean. smooth saucepan zlth
7vo-thsris q q cup q watsr Ob1u1sl !