Experimental cookery

Color of fondant. Fondant crystallizing without stirring is not snowy white but more transparent. The snow-white appearance of the stirred fondant is due to the small air particles. When the water contains alkaline salts the fondant without cream of tartar added has a yellow or gray tinge ; that with cream of tartar or acids is white. Fondant made with hard water, />H 7.2 to 7.8, has a creamy tint. This may be caused by slight traces of flavones in the sugar, but it is probable that it is due to caramelization or some other cause. If, to some of the same sugar and water, a little cream of tartar is added, a snowy white fondant is always obtained. If, however, corn sirup is added to the sugar to make fondant with the above water a gray color develops. The color is so pro- 66 SUGAR COOKERY nounced that the fondant is not attractive looking. If distilled water is used with the corn sirup and sucrose, the gray color does not develop. Ripening. When fondant stands 12 to 24 hours it seems more moist and is more plastic and kneads more easily than when it was first made. In the candy trade this is known as "ripening." Fondants that contain substances that cause slow hydrolysis of the sucrose become softer on account of the formation of invert sugar, but ''ripening" is an additional process and occurs in fondant containing only sucrose. Carrick suggests that the reason for this "ripening" is that the small crystals in the mass are dissolved, thus lettiqg the large crystals move more easily, and they are thus more plastic. Honey fondant. Candies made from pure honey, on account of their high levulose content and the moisture-absorbing property of honey, usually become very sticky in a few hours after they are made. Phillips reports the combination of honey, whole milk, and lactose sugar to make fondant. Stratton combined honey and lactose in fondant. Fondant usually contains some crystals of each of the sugars that enters into its composition, but in Stratton's combination the crystal phase was entirely lactose, the crystals being particularly minute. But the lactose crystals have a tendency to grow so that fondants smooth at first became somewhat grainy. It was found that the honey fondant would absorb a relatively high percentage of whole milk by mechanical mixing, and that this milk tended to prevent the growth of the lactose crystals. It was also found that the honey has an unusual preservative action, for the milk in the mixture remained sweet as long as the candy was kept. Fudge The factors that control the size of the crystals in fondant making also determine the size of the crystals formed in fudge. Fudge is often made of brown sugar. Brown sugar contains a higher percentage of invert sugar than granulated sugar. Thus it crystallizes less readily than granu- lated sugar. Fudge also ripens with storage and if placed in a container with a tight-fitting lid becomes much softer and more velvety after 24 hours' storage.