Flavorings

Extract of vanilla properly made is the pure essence of the vanilla bean dissolved in alcohol. Many vanilla extracts are made from Tonia beans, or from vanilla prepared synthetically in a laboratory. These are labeled vanilla compounds.

Extracts of lemon and orange are made by dissolving in alcohol, oil obtained from the yellow skin of the fruit.

Raspberry, strawberry, cherry, apple, pineapple, banana, and other familiar fruit-flavors constitute a class of flavoring extracts similar in character and similarly made.

Attar or toot of rose, one of the first perfumes and perhaps the most exquisite of all, is the base of true rose extract.

Ginger extract is made by steeping and filtering ground ginger roots in alcohol.

Almond oil is procured by pressing, powdering, and drying bitter almonds, allowing the mixture to ferment, and then distilling it by steam. Almond extract is the oil dissolved in alcohol.

Pistachio flavor can better be simulated in candy by using one part almond extract and two parts vanilla extract than by using pistachio extract.

Peppermint oil is distilled from dried peppermint plants.

Oil of wintergreen is made by distillation from the leaves of the wintergreen plant, which is found in New York and Pennsylvania.

Maple flavor is a preparation of roots and herbs used to give a maple taste to white or brown sugar candies.

All spice extracts are made either by dissolving an essential oil in alcohol or by percolating a ground bark with alcohol.

Colorings

The varied color of candies may be due to the food materials of which they are made, or to small amounts of coloring matter added to them. Satisfactory pastes may be obtained in eight colors, in small glass jars selling for fifteen or twenty-five cents each.

They are inspected and registered by the United States Government. Small amounts only are required for the delicate shades that are desirable in first-class candies. The color may be taken on the end of a toothpick and mixed directly with the candy, or be diluted with a few drops of water before being added.

Gelatine

Gelatine is obtained by the treatment of skin, ligaments, and bones of young calves with boiling water. It is for sale in sheets, in shreds, or granulated. The latter is most convenient to use, but sheet gelatine is considered best for Turkish paste.

Vegetable Gelatine

Agar-agar, or Japanese gelatine, is used by many candy manufacturers, and is for sale at confectioners' supply houses.

Marshmallow Paste

Marshmallows which are made by strong beating machinery are cheaper and more satisfactory than those made at home. For use in layer caramels, marshmallow comes in sheets weighing one pound each. There are five sheets in a box. The soft marshmallow cream that is sold in tin boxes may be added to fudge to make it soft and creamy.

Food Value Of Candy

Food is required to furnish energy and heat to the body, and material for growth, repair, and for the regulation of body processes.

Heat and energy are estimated in calories, the average person requiring enough food in the form of fat, stsrch, sugar, and protein, to furnish about twenty-five hundred calories a day.

Material for growth and repair is furnished by protein foods, of which from sixty to one hundred grams per day are needed, and by water and various ash constituents which are also needed to maintain the body in health.

The table on page 15 gives the caloric value and protein content of many of the materials called for in candy recipes. A study of these will show that candy, especially when it contains fruit and nuts, can supply both calories and protein, and is therefore to be reckoned as food.

Large amounts of candy taken in addition to regular meals may lead to increase in body weight, and to serious digestive disturbance. Reasonable amounts may well take the place of other desserts, or may be used to furnish energy in an emergency, as on a long tramp.

Recipes

For satisfactory results in candy-making, as in other kinds of cooking with tested recipes, accurate measurements are necessary. With half-pint measuring cups divided into quarters and thirds, with teaspoons, tablespoons, and a case knife, the ingredients in the following recipes can be put together without the use of scales.

The following table can be used to determine how much of any material needs to be purchased, or to change cup measurements to pounds or ounces.

Most of the recipes in this book are proportioned to make one pound of candy.

How To Measure

To measure a cup of dry material like sugar, fill the cup by putting in the sugar with a scoop or large spoon, until cup overflows, and level off with a knife. Tablespoons and teaspoons are filled and leveled in the same way. Divide with knife lengthwise of spoon for a half-spoonful; divide halves crosswise for quarters, and quarters crosswise for eighths. A cupful or spoonful of liquid is all the cup or spoon will hold. Less than a cupful of material should be measured to the proper mark upon the cup. Less than one eighth of a teaspoon is called a few grains.

Table of Measures, Weights, and Food Values

3 level teaspoons equal I level tablespoon 16 level tablespoons equal I cup

8 level tablespoons equal½cup

4level tablespoons equal ¼ cup

2 level tablespoons butter equal I ounce

Table of Measures, Weights, and Food Values (Cont.)