HOW TO CRACK NUTS AND PREPARE TOPS FOR BON-BONS.
It is more convenient to buy your nuts already shelled, although it is more expensive. English walnuts are probably used more than any other nut, for tops of bon-bons and centers also. It is probably better to purchase these with shells on and crack them yourself, as they are very easily cracked.
In purchasing these nuts, get the smallest ones possible, as the smaller they are the prettier they will look on your candies. We advise you to always keep your bon-bons small in size.
The California English walnuts do not crack out as pretty as the Grenoble nut does, as the meat in them is a much prettier shape and rougher on top, and looks much nicer on the bons-bons. The Grenoble nut is an English walnut, imported from Germany, and you may always distinguish them from the fact that you can stand them on end; while a California English walnut is so pointed at the ends that it will not stand up. Crack carefully on the side which does not have the ridge running down it, as then the halves will come out perfectly whole. The ones that break may be chopped up and saved, to be used in the centers of the bon-bons.
Almonds are very easily cracked and you will have no trouble with them. Always crack hickory nuts on the edge. Black walnuts should be cracked on the broad side, as you never use them only in small pieces, and it is not necessary to use any care in cracking them. In some candies, these walnuts are finer than any other nut, as they give the candy a peculiar flavor, especially in caramels and different taffies. These are the ordinary walnuts that grow wild all over the country.
Pecans are a very hard nut to get out whole, but if you purchase as large thin-shelled ones as possible, put them in a pan, pour cold water over them, let them stand for about five hours, then pour off the water and let stand for a while, or even over night until they dry off on the outside, you will then be able to get the meats out very nicely without them breaking much. They are a very brittle nut, but by soaking them as directed, they do not break very easily. Crack on the side which does not have the small vein running from end to end, taking care not to hit them too hard, and you will find that the halves will split open very nicely; and if you will use a little care in removing them from the shell, by using a knife with which to loosen them around the edge, you will be able to get a great many of the halves out perfect.
Use the perfect halves for the tops of your bon-bons. Pick over the broken ones and save the largest pieces of them with which to make Chocolate Pecan Fritters (see recipe), and the small pieces you may chop up fine and use for centers. It takes about two pounds of unshelled pecans, almonds, or English walnuts, to make one pound of shelled meats.
For peanut candy, always get if possible, the small unroasted Spanish peanut, and they may be purchased of any confectioner or candy factory, and at a great many of the large stores. They come already shelled and should cost you from twelve and one half to fifteen cents a pound. These nuts are much finer in flavor than the large peanut, and by using the raw ones and roasting them in the candy as we direct you in the recipe, you will find the flavor of your candy much nicer. Of course, if you wish to use peanuts for the centers of bon-bons or chocolate creams, any kind of roasted ones chopped up will answer the purpose.
In chopping your nuts, it is much better to lay them on the table and use a butcher knife with which to cut them up, than it is to put them in a bowl and use a chopping knife; as by chopping them in a bowl, you are unable to get them so uniform, as the ones at the bottom will be chopped up into a fine powder, for which you have no use, before the ones on top are small enough. By cutting them up with a knife as directed, you will be able to get them all about the same size. You will see the advantage of this after trying it once.
Pistachio nuts make one of the prettiest tops you can find for bon-bons. They are a small, dark green nut, which may be purchased at a great many large grocery stores in cities, if you live convenient to one. Also some confectioners have them on hand, but not many of them. They are an expensive nut, but a few of them go a great ways, as they must be split in two. After splitting them open, save the prettiest halves for the tops of the bon-bons, and all broken and off-colored ones you may chop up very fine, and use for sprinkling over the tops of your pink bon-bons and they also look very pretty sprinkled over chocolate creams before the chocolate hardens.