Evening star., 1928-12-07
Dessert and COnfeCtiOn
Various Types Are Considered With Recipes for
the Best After-Dinner Sweets and
Holiday Dainties
Holiday Dainties.

Raisins. prunes peaches. dates and
figs contain high percentage OF sugar
in simple form which is readily alb
sorbed into the blood stream, and these
are good to use in desserts and cOnfec-
tions. They contain calcium, which
is essential to bone and tooth growth;
iron to make red blood corpuScleS
phosphorus for bone, muscles and nerve
cells, and they are rich in mineral salts
and fruit acids.
Water is the only thing which has
been removed from them in the drying
process. The fruits, as we receive
them, are highly concentrated foods.
They make delicious after dinner sweets.
Wash the fruit, remove the seeds, and
steam until plump. Open with a knife
and insert a filling made by putting
a mixture of fruit and nuts through the
food chopper and moistening with
lemon or orange Juice. Some cOmbina-
tions for the Stufflng are: PruneS, april
cots and almonds; figs, nuts and cltron;
figs. pruneS nuts and spices, and can
died orange peel. pruneS and nuts.
Dried fruit whips make delicious little
desserts. Use either prunes, peaches or
apricots for them. Press the cooked
fruit through sieve. sweeten to taste,
and to each cupful of pulp drop in an
unbeaten egg white, then with rotary
beater whip until stiff and serve
very cold in sherbet cups. Top each
cup with a seedless raisin pumped in
boiling water. then chilled. or with q
date pitted cut in strips and arranged
in star shape.
Sailed RaiSinS and Nuts.
Remove the stems and bits of seed
from one package of seeded raiSins.
Heat one cupful of salad oil ulitil smoke
just begins to appear at the surface.
Drop in the raisins a few at time
and cook until they are plump. Re-
move from the oil and drain on un-
glazed paper. Transfer to a clean
6aper and sprinkle with salt. These
are appropriate for afternoon tea as
well as for use as an after-dinner con-
fection.
Sailed nuts add distinction to many
dishes. It is more satisfactory to pre-
pare the nuts yourself than to buy
them ready to use. To brown them,
use olive oil, draining and sailing them
with extreme care. Ice creams, frozen
or hot puddings, custards. pies, cakes
and candies are frequently improved by
the addition of nuts. Sailed pecans
may be put in the filling and frosting
of fudge cakes, but for white cakes and
white icings the unsalted pecans or
some other nuts such as English wal
nuts or hickory nuts, are superior. Be
careful not to burn English walnutS
when browning them. Whether baking
in fruit cakes or maple frosting spice
cakes, sprinkled on meringueS and
whipped cream or marshmallow top
ping of pastries. puddings and parfaits,
or combined with cocoanut, dates. figs
or other good things. strive for delicacy.
If you want your dainties to have dis
tinction, you can rely upon well brown
ed and salted nuts if used carefully.
Make Your Own Candy.
1t is fun to spend an afternoon in the
kitchen beating sugary sirups, melting
chocolate and chopping nuts, and if
you pack the confectionS in neat boxes
and tie holly ribbons around them, they
will make excellent gifts. Tin boxes
keep them fresh longer The soft cream
candies are best when coated with
chocolate or melted fondsnt to keep
them from drying out. The following
candies are good and easy to make:
Peanut Butter Chocolates.-MiX two
cupfuls of sugar with two tablespoon
fuls of molaSSes or corn Sirup, two
ounces of chocolate and three-fourthS
cupful of milk, and beat, stirring until
the sugar is dissolved and the choco-
late is melted. Cook to the soft-ball
stage. Add one-fourth cupful of peanut
butter ard cool until lukewarm Beat
until creamy ard drop by teaspoonfuls
onto creased pans or waXed paper.
Molasses Butterscotch-MiX one cup
full of brown sugar with one cupful of
molasses and half a cupful of water,
and cook, stirring until the sugar is dis
solved. Continue cooking. stirring as
little as possible, until brittle when tried
in cold water. Remove from the fire,
add one-fourth cupful of butter or mar
garine, and one teaspoonful of vanilla
Pour into buttered pans in thin layer
Mark into squares before the mixture
eools.
Penuchi.-Put three cupfuls of brown
sugar and two cupfuls of milk into a
saucepan and bring to the boiling point,
stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Cook to the soft-ball stage stirring
constantly. Add two tablespoonfuls OF
butter or margarine and cool until luke
warm. then beat until creamy. Add one
and one-half teaspoonfuls of vanilla
and one and one-half cupfuls of nut
meats. and mix thoroughly. Pour into
Slightly creased pans, and when cold
cut in squares. The large amount of
milk gives a rich flavor because it cara
melizes slightly as it evaporateS.
Opera Creams.-Cook together two
cupfuls of white sugar one cupful OF
milk, one-eighth teaspoonful of salt
hree-fourths cupful of heavy cream
and one tablespoonful of light corn
sirup, stirring constantly until the soft
ball stage is reached. Cool until luke
warm add one teaspoonful of vanilla
and beat until the candy becomes
creamy and loses its shiny appearance
A long beating is needed. Add one
cupful of chopped pecan nuts and pour
into slightly creased pans.
Sirup Cocoanut Candy.-This is made
of three cupfuls of white sugar. one cup
full of milk, one cupful of white corr
sirup, and when boiled low and tight
lump of butter to set it boiling tighter
Stir this candy to keep the milk from
scorching. At the click stage pour hall
of it gently into a buttered pan to be
pulled later into delicious cream taffy
Into the other half, left in the pan
empty half package of shredded
cocoanut, hold this over dish of colo
water and beat Immediately into {
cocoanut candy that cuts into firm
squares of very delicious flavor
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Taffy Apples.
Select rosy-red apples free from
blemishes of all kinds. Stick into tn
core of each apple a small stick o
skewer. which you can buy from you
butcher. Hold to the stick Will
dipping the apple and while eating il
Make the sirup by boiling together on
Cupful of white sugar, one cupful G
brown sugar, half a cupful of waite
and half a cupful of vinegar. Coo
the mixture until a small amour
dropped in cold water will crack whe
pushed together between the finger.
Dip the apples in this sirup. maxim
sure that they are coated thorough!
Stand them on WaXed paper to dry, o.
better still, prop them up on thei
sticks to dry.
Nut-COated MarShmalIows.