Prepare moulds with plaster of Paris from the natural objects you wish to represent; make them in two, three, or more pieces, so as to relieve freely, and have a hole at one end into which the sugar may be poured; let them be made so as each part may be fitted together exactly; and for this purpose make two or three round or square indentions on the edge of one part, so that the corresponding piece when cast, will form the counterpart, which may at all times be fitted with precision. Let the object you would take the cast from be placed in a frame made either of wood or of stiff paper, embed a part of it in fine sand, soft pipe-clay, or modelling wax, leaving as much of the mould exposed as you wish to form at one time, and oil it with sweet oil; mix some of the prepared plaster with water, to the consistency of thick cream, and pour over it; when this is set, proceed with the other portions in the same manner until it is complete. Let them dry and harden for use.

Take a sufficient quantity of syrup, (clarified with charcoal or animal black) to fill the mould, and boil it to the small ball; rub some of it against the side to grain it; when it turns white, pour it into the moulds: take them out when set, and put them into the stove at a moderate heat to dry. The moulds must be soaked for an hour or two in cold water previously to their being used, which will be found better than oiling them, as it keeps the sugar delicately white, which oil does not. Colour your articles according to nature with liquid colours (see Colours) and camel's-hair pencils, or the usual pigments sold in boxes may be used. If a gloss is required, the colours should be mixed with a strong solution of gum Arabic or isinglass, to the desired tint. Eggs and fruit may be made as light and apparently as perfect as nature, by having moulds to open in two, without any orifice for filling them. Fill one half with the grained sugar, immediately close the mould, and turn it round briskly that it may be covered all over equally. To accomplish this, it is necessary to have an assistant that it may be done as speedily as possible.