Paul Richards' book of breads, cakes, pastries, ices and sweetmeats

Rub eight ounces of almond paste with the juice and grated rind of two lemons and eight ounces of sugar. Make a custard of one quart of rich milk, twelve yolks and six ounces of sugar; mix custard and the almond paste together and fill in puff paste lined tart molds; bake in medium heat; ice or dust with powdered sugar when done. • *• ICINGS. 205.— FONDANT ICING. To make this icing requires a marble slab, same as used for candy making; also the regular iron candy bars and a long wooden spatula or paddle. Take five pounds of granulated sugar, eight ounces of glucose and one quart of water. (More or less glucose may be used, or it may be left out altogether, but confectioners generally use glucose for cream fondants). Boil the sugar to the soft ball degree. Wet the marble with a little water. Put on the iron bars in a square or oblong and ponr the boiling sugar on the slab. Sprinkle a little water on the top. Let the sugar become nearly cold; scrape off the bars and work it with the scraper loose from the bottom to the center; then work with the spatula back and forth till it gets white and creamy and begins to harden. Scrape all together, working it with the hands in one piece. Put in a jar, cover with a wet cloth and put away for use. When wanted for use take what you require, put it in a saucepan, add what flavor and color you wish it to be, set this pan in another pan with hot water, or on a slow fire, and stir till it is all melted. Do not heat the icing more than blood warm, because too much heat makes the icing lose its creamy texture and it becomes hard and brittle — loses its gloss. When the icing is soft enough it should be used at once, because it sets and dries quickly. The large cakes are iced with the palette knife; the smaller drops and the cut-up blocks are dipped in the icing and set on wire grates to drain. Fondant is also used between the layers of cakes as a filling, because of its creamy consistency; and it is used in candy making to form the body of the chocolate and other cream candies, etc. 206.— TRANSPARENT ICING. Boil two pounds of sugar to the blow degree. Take ofE the fire and rub a little of it against the side of the pan to grain. As soon as it gets white and creamy stir it into the other sugar; and use same as Fondant Icing No. 205 while hot. 207.— IMITATION FONDANT ICING. WATER ICING. Take any quantity of icing sugar (XXXX powdered sugar)' and mix with hot water into a thin paste; color and flavor to suit. Have the icing not more than blood warm and use same as Fondant Icing No. 205. The same icing made with cold water and the proper flavor and color makes the plain water icing. The cold icing does not dry as readily as the hot icing, but is used like the others. 208.— BOILED CHOCOLATE ICING. Dissolve six ounces of bitter chocolate (unsweetened) with one pound of sugar and half a pint of water, let boil till it forms a thread between the fingers. Take off the fire, stir till it forms a thin skin on top; stir till blood warm and use same as the Fondant Icing No. 205. Flavor vanilla. 209.— CREAM CARAMEL ICING. One pound of granulated sugar, six ounces of butter, half pint of cream. Boil all the ingredients together to the soft ball. Take ofi the fire and add a little caramel color. Cool a little and use same as Fondant Icing No. 205. Chocolate may be added for Chocolate Cream Icing. Flavor vanilla. This icing may be used also between the layers for chocolate and caramel cream cake, and has the true caramel flavor. Other caramel icing may be made by adding caramel coloring to Fondant and other icings.