Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Maple Caramels. — Make a rich maple syrup by boiling maple sugar with a little water. To three cups of this syrup add two cups of light-brown sugar, three table-spoonfuls of glucose, and one-half cup of boiling water. Stir all together, then boil until it reaches the caramel stage. Now add a cup of rich, sweet cream, and half a cup of butter, and let it boil until it will snap when dropped into iced water. Keep stirring it all the time. When done, remove from the fire and pour into a buttered, shallow pan to cool. As soon as cold, cut it into blocks and wrap each in paraffine paper. Maple Creams. — Mix 2 lbs. maple sugar, one-quarter teaspoonful cream of tartar, and a cup of water. Boil in a granite or porcelain kettle until the soft -ball stage is reached. To test, drop a little of the syrup into iced water and immediately roll it between the thumb and finger, and if it will readily form into a soft ball it is cooked enough. Set it away in the kettle until it is almost cold, then beat until creamy; then pour into a shallow, buttered tin pan. When perfectly cold, turn the pan upside down and the cream will drop out. Cut into small squares with a sharp knife. Maple Taffy. — Boil together 2 lbs. of maple sugar, 1 lb. of light-brown sugar, Yz lb. of glucose, and a pint of water. When the taffy reaches the caramel stage pour it into a buttered dish to cool. When cool, pull until white. Marsh-mallows. — Dissolve by heating over a slow fire 8 ozs. of gumarabic in three gills of water, stir, and strain. Boil 1 oz. of marshmallow roots in a little water for half an hour, strain, and boil low ; add the gum solution with Y* lb. of loaf sugar or powdered sugar; let cook slowly, and stir constantly until it becomes a thick paste which will roll between the fingers ; add the wellbeaten whites of two eggs, stir for a minute or two, and pour into a pan or box to cool. In the bottom of the box or pan. sheets of white paper should be placed, with the ends projecting from the sides by which to lift out the paste, when it may be cut in little blocks and rolled in powdered sugar. Molasses Candy. — Half a pound of brown sugar , % lb. of butter, one quart of molasses ; boil until it will crack when dropped into cold water. Add, if you like, 1 lb. of shelled walnuts or blanched peanuts, just as the kettle is lifted from the fire. Spread on dishes and cut into squares, or pull and plait, as you choose. Nut Bars. — Peanuts, almonds, English walnuts, or pecans may be Old-fashioned Butter-scotch CANDY used for this candy. Prepare the nuts by removing the inner covering and chopping them. Grease the bottom and sides of a broad, shallow tin pan with fresh butter, and put the nuts into it, spreading them evenly. Put I lb. of granulated sugar, with half a teacup of water and a pinch of cream of tartar, into a kettle, and boil until thick, but not too brittle. Pour the syrup over the nuts and set aside to cool. When slightly stiff, mark off into wide bars with a sharp knife, and let stand several days, when it will become soft and delicious. Old-fashioned Butter-scotch. — Put