Put into a sugar-pan one pound of granulated sugar with half a pint of cold water, and place on the hot stove. Have two quarts of ice-water in a vessel, and when the sugar comes to a boil, dip the fingers of the right hand into the ice-water and pass them quickly around the inside of the pan, and let boil for five minutes. Dip a wooden stick, similar to a pen-holder, in the ice-water, then quickly into the boiling sugar, and again in the ice-water, lifting up the stick to feel the sugar that adheres. Should it not be sufficiently consistent to form into a ball, let boil a little longer; then try once more; and should it be a proper thickness, remove from the fire and set it on the corner of the stove, so that it no longer boils. While the sugar is cooking, beat the whites of five eggs in a copper basin until they are a firm froth; and while beating, have an assistant pour very gradually the prepared sugar into the egg-froth; and when all is added, lay the basin containing the preparation into a vessel half filled with ice-water. Remove the whip, and using a wooden spatula, mix gently for five minutes, adding a teaspoonful of vanilla flavoring. Cover the basin with a napkin, letting it rest for ten minutes. Butter and flour a baking-sheet; slide down a fancy tube (No. 3) into a pastry-bag (No. 1079), fill it with the preparation, press down onto the baking-sheet, giving a C-shape, two inches long by one wide, to forty of them; and then forming twenty more, shaped like the letter D. Sprinkle them lightly with powdered sugar; place in a very slow oven, and let bake for fifteen minutes. When baked, these cakes should be perfectly white. Remove them from the oven, let' get thoroughly cold; dress on a glass stand, and send to the table.