Foods, their selection and preparation

(hard ball) is reached. Pour the hot sirup slowly into the well-beaten whites of 2 eggs, continuing to beat until the mixture will hold its shape. Add 1 cup chopped nuts and i cup chopped candied fruit. Drop from a spoon onto waxed paper or pour into an oiled pan as you would fudge and cut into squares. Divinity can be varied like fudge by the use of chocolate or the substitution of other sugars and sirups for a portion of the sucrose. Divinity is a cream candy of a special tex¬ ture; so this substitution must not go too far, or the candy will not cream. Marshmallows are so readily available on the market that there is little reason to make them at home. They can be prepared by using the basic fondant proportions with more acid or with J cup of corn sirup added. The sirup in this case is not to cream. It is cooked to the hard-ball stage and poured over 2 tablespoons granulated gelatin which has been softened in 5 cup water. This mix¬ ture is beaten as it begins to cool and then is poured into a square pan, well dusted with confectioner’s sugar. The beating in this case is to add air and not to cream the sirup. The incorporated air makes the mixture opaque. Gelatin or gum arabic added to candies gives them a gummy or stiff jelly texture. These candies may be clear but are opaque if air is beaten in. The concentration of the sirup depends both on the final consistency desired and on the amount of liquid used in softening the gelatin or gum arabic. Gumdrops and Turkish paste are the best illus¬ trations of this group of candies. They are given their special texture by the use of vegetable gums or pectin products. These are softened and dissolved in the hot flavored sirup. Most of these candies are clear; the consistency comes from the gum. The sirup has about the thickness of honey. Turkish paste usually is prepared with honey as the [43] sugar and with the addition of nuts and various seed flavors. Fruit pectin gives a jelly-like consistency to candy made from tart fruit pulp and sugar, cooked to a stiff jelly stage (224° to 226° F.). Fresh fruits may be cooked in their own juices until soft, or pie grade or pulped canned fruits may be used. The fruits should be rubbed through a strainer. Fruits lacking in acid should have 2 tablespoons lemon juice added to each cup of pulp and those lacking in pectin should have it added. Corn sirup, corn sugar, or honey may be substituted for a part of the cane sugar in the preparation of these candies. The general proportions for jellied fruit candies1 are 2 cups fruit pulp or juice, 2 cups These are adapted from Cruess, "Jellied Fruit Candies,” The Fruit Products Journal , pp. 25-126 (February, 1946). sugar and \ cup corn sirup, \ ounce pow¬ dered pectin, and lemon juice to taste. Mix the dry pectin with half the cane sugar. Heat to boiling \\ cups of water and slowly sprinkle in the pectin-sugar mixture, stirring rapidly to get the pectin in solution. Add the fruit pulp or juice, corn sirup, remaining sugar, and the acid; heat to boiling point of 224° F. Pour into prepared molds or into pan dusted with powdered sugar. When set, remove from molds or cut in squares and dust with sugar. Holliday, Evelyn G., and Noble, Isabel T. Hows and Whys of Cooking, 3d ed., Chap. VIII. Uni¬ versity of Chicago Press, Chicago (1946).