IX

POTATO CARAMEL

Three receipts are given for potato caramels and one for opera caramels.

It should be noted that opera caramels and the ordinary potato caramels are as different as fudge and taffy. The first of the receipts for potato caramels is by all odds the best, but it means much hard work.

The second is much easier, but the results, while good to eat, are not so pleasing in looks or consistency. The third is a compromise. In none, owing to the very slow cooking, is it possible to use a thermometer to advantage. The old tests, supplemented by a sort of intuition that old candy-makers call "caramel sense" will have to be used to determine when cookings are completed. But with good fortune and a little experimenting, the amateur confectioner's judgment will soon become accurate.

Potato Caramel No. 1.

Stir well one pound of sugar, one cupful of milk, one cupful of Irish potato--boiled and sifted as directed before--two tablespoonfuls of b.u.t.ter and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Boil until thick, and thin with one-half cupful of milk, and again cook until thick; again thin with one-half cupful of milk and cook until the ma.s.s is of caramel consistency, tested in cold water. Stir as little as possible, but be careful that the ma.s.s does not stick to the bottom of the kettle. Pour on a well oiled marble between candy bars. Dry two days, cut in strips and dry again before finally cutting in squares. Place them in a cold place for several hours and then wrap them in parchment paper. They keep well.

This is the kind of potato caramel that is especially good for chocolate coating, although all of the potato caramels can be chocolate coated.

Make the caramels as above and allow them to dry in the open air for several hours and then cover with chocolate.

The process is fully as laborious as it sounds, but the results are more than worth the trouble. The repeated cookings give the characteristic caramel taste and color. The following receipt, however, means less work.

Potato Caramel No. 2.

Boil together one cupful of granulated sugar, one cupful of coffee A sugar, one-half cupful of Irish potato--treated as before--one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter, one cupful of milk, caramel coloring. Stir continually until the ma.s.s forms a soft ball in cold water. Then pour it onto a well oiled marble between candy bars.

Potato Caramel No. 3.

Boil one pound of brown sugar, one cupful of milk, a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of a walnut, and one-quarter cupful of Irish potato--prepared as before--until a bit dipped from the ma.s.s will form a firm ball in cold water. Stir as little as possible. Pour on an oiled marble between candy bars. The result is more like fudge but is cooked to dryness without being grained by beating.

Opera Caramel.

To two cupsful of sugar, one cupful Irish potato boiled, drained and forced through a fine sieve, add one tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and thin with one-half cupful of milk. Cook until thick; remove from the fire.

Put in one-half cupful of milk again. Cook until thick, remove from the fire and add one-half cupful of milk. Return the pan to the fire again.

This is the last time. It is wise to place an asbestos mat under the saucepan. Cook until very thick--until a soft ball can be formed in cold water.

After the ma.s.s has been removed from the fire, add one cupful of broken walnut meats, and one cupful of bon-bon cream, broken in small pieces so that it will be distributed quickly through the ma.s.s without much stirring and pour the mixture between candy-bars on an oiled marble.

When cold cut it into squares; for home use it will not need wrapping.

As with potato caramel No. 1, this confection is most pleasantly susceptible to chocolate coating. Allow it to dry in the open air for several hours and then cover with chocolate as usual.

Broken nut meats can be added to any of the caramel recipes above.

X

POTATO--MISCELLANEOUS

Potatoes are probably the most useful vegetable known to the maker of vegetable confectionery. As has been explained in the preceding chapters, they are the basis of potato fondant and potato paste, both of which are basic mixtures.

The usefulness of the potato does not end with decorative candy. In the form both of paste and fondant and prepared in other ways, it is responsible for several pleasing new confections.

=Mocha Walnuts.=--To the yolk of one egg beaten to a cream, add one-half cupful of Irish potato--boiled, drained, and forced through a sieve as described before--and one teaspoonful of coffee extract. Gradually stir in confectioner's sugar until the ma.s.s can be made into soft b.a.l.l.s.

Flatten these b.a.l.l.s, press on walnut meats, and spread to dry. If desired for packing, dip them into a crystal cooked to two hundred and twenty degrees. To insure a good surface and keep the cream from drying out, it may be well to dip the candy again after letting it dry a day.

See No. 8 in the frontispiece.

=Pecan Creams.=--The process for making them is the same as that described for making mocha walnuts except that lemon or vanilla extract is used instead of coffee,--see No. 14 of the frontispiece--and pecan meats, instead of walnut meats. Indeed, the imaginative candy-cook will be able to invent for herself several other new confections built upon this same principle.

=Raisin Creams.=--To make them, form potato fondant--directions for which are given on page 61--into b.a.l.l.s and place a seeded raisin on each side. Cook a crystal syrup to two hundred and twenty-eight degrees and keep it warm by the use of the steam bath. Into it, dip, one by one, the fondant b.a.l.l.s, prepared as above. Dry on racks. If desired, ordinary bon-bon cream, flavored and colored to suit the cook's fancy, may be subst.i.tuted for the potato fondant. A satisfactory variety is given these raisin creams by pulling the raisin entirely over a pecan meat before attaching to the cream. This confection is rich in flavor and most attractive in shape.

=Peppermint Chocolates.=--Potato paste--described on page 52--is the basis for them. Make a softer paste by using less sugar, work in peppermint to taste, form it into b.a.l.l.s, flatten and dry for a couple of hours. Then dip them in chocolate as usual. After the finished candy has stood for a time long enough for the chocolate covering to have mellowed the center, the result will be a cream of excellent flavor and a texture unusually attractive because of its grain. The difference between this and the ordinary peppermint chocolate is so great that they really are not the same confection.

=Celtic Almonds.=--This attractive confection is in reality a cream, but a cream so different from the ordinary nut cream that it seems to fall into a separate cla.s.s. In place of the usual richness, there is here a delicacy of flavor and clearness of outline that is a distinctly enjoyable addition to confectionery.

Blanch almonds, split them, and dry in a soft cloth. Color potato fondant pink and flavor it with rose. Roll fondant so prepared into small b.a.l.l.s, and place upon each side of each a split almond. Each piece should then be made to imitate as clearly as possible the shape of the real almond. The ideal result is a confection that is very little larger than the real almond with a thin layer of cream between translucent nut meats. After a little experimentation, persuasive fingers can accomplish this result. When fashioned, dip the candies into a crystal syrup cooked to two hundred and twenty-five degrees and roll in granulated sugar.

Walnuts or pecans can be treated in the same way with white or colored fondant. The result, however, will not be so distinctively dainty and will be little improvement upon the mocha walnuts and pecan creams described above.

=Chocolate Bars.=--As the basis, take cooked potato fondant which has been well kneaded. Form it into a sheet about one-quarter of an inch thick. Cut therefrom bars an inch and a quarter long by a quarter of an inch wide. Dip them in chocolate and let them dry.

A pleasing variation is made from the same base--cooked potato fondant.

Knead into it melted chocolate. A portion of the resulting ma.s.s may be formed into b.a.l.l.s and the rest rolled into a long piece as slender as a pipe stem. This small cylinder should be cut into two inch lengths and the ends pointed. Another method is to make small b.a.l.l.s and give these a very thin coating of white fondant. In any case, dry on a corn starch bed and coat with chocolate.

=Vegetable Cream.=--Vegetable cream is another base with which much can be done in vegetable candy-making. In itself, it is good to eat and can be made to take many different and useful forms. To make it, mix two cupsful of sugar, one cupful of Irish potato--boiled or steamed, drained and forced through a sieve--one teaspoonful of b.u.t.ter, and one-half teaspoonful of salt. Boil to two hundred and twenty-eight degrees. Have ready one-fourth cupful each of preserved garden "ginger" and spiced beets drained from their syrup; cut very fine, and spread upon a marble slab. Over beet and "ginger" pour the cooked mixture, and "cut in" as for fondant. "Gingers" are described upon page 101 and spiced beets upon page 111.

Below, there are suggested five ways of using the cream. Many others, however, will come to the mind of the experienced candy-cook.

Vegetable cream may be formed into b.a.l.l.s and rolled in granulated sugar.

The b.a.l.l.s so prepared may then be rolled in shredded cocoanut, cut fine, or the b.a.l.l.s without the sugar may be covered with the cocoanut.

Another possibility is to dip the b.a.l.l.s into chocolate. Nuts may be added, either by rolling the b.a.l.l.s in the meats cut into little pieces, or by pressing the meats into the b.a.l.l.s and treating with the crystal syrup, or by using a drop or two of the crystal to glue the nut meat to the ball and then coating. Moreover, the b.a.l.l.s may be used in their simple form without any covering at all.

No matter what is done with them, of course, they must be dried off before serving.

XI

SWEET POTATO

Sweet potatoes used as the basis for candy-making should be baked.

Boiled sweet potato changes color during the succeeding processes and retains an amount of water that is likely to cause trouble. After baking, the potato should be forced through a fine sieve. Make sure that the sifting process is done so thoroughly that all fiber is removed.