The French, who are very fond of the delicious flavour of the orange-blossom, leave the petals in the candy; but a more delicate confection, to English taste, is made as follows:—Throw the orange-flowers into the syrup when it has boiled about ten minutes, and after they have simmered in it for five more, pour the whole out, and leave them to infuse until the following day, or even longer, if more convenient; then bring the syrup to the point of boiling, strain it from the blossoms through a muslin, and finish it by the foregoing receipt.
COCOA-NUT CANDY.
Rasp very fine a sound fresh cocoa-nut, spread it on a dish, and let it dry naturally for two or three days, as it will not bear the heat of an oven, and is too oily for use when freshly broken. Four ounces of it will be sufficient for a pound of sugar for most tastes, but more can be used at pleasure. Boil the sugar as for the orange-flower candy, and when it begins to be very thick and white, strew in the nut, stir and mix it well, and do not quit it for an instant until it is finished. The pan should not be placed upon the fire but over it, as the nut is liable to burn with too fierce a heat.
For almond-candy proceed in exactly the same way, but let the almonds, either whole or split, be perfectly well dried in a gentle oven, and do not throw them into the sugar until it approaches the candying point.
PALACE-BONBONS.
Take some fine fresh candied orange-rind, or citron, clear off the sugar which adheres to it, cut it into inch-squares, stick these singly on the prong of a silver fork or on osier-twigs, dip them into liquid barley-sugar, and place them on a dish rubbed with the smallest possible quantity of very pure salad oil. When cold, put them into tin boxes or canisters well dried, with paper, which should also be very dry, between each layer.
EVERTON TOFFIE.
No. 1.—Put into a brass skillet or small preserving-pan three ounces of very fresh butter, and as soon as it is just melted add a pound of brown sugar of moderate quality; keep these stirred gently over a very clear fire for about fifteen minutes, or until a little of the mixture, dropped into a basin of cold water, breaks clean between the teeth without sticking to them: when it is boiled to this point, it must be poured out immediately, or it will burn. The grated rind of a lemon, added when the toffie is half done, improves it much; or a small teaspoonful of powdered ginger moistened with a little of the other ingredients as soon as the sugar is dissolved and then stirred to the whole, will vary it pleasantly to many tastes. The real Everton toffie is made with a much larger proportion of butter, but it is the less wholesome on that very account. If dropped upon dishes first rubbed with a buttered paper, the toffie when cold can be raised from them easily.
Butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 1 lb.: 15 to 18 minutes. Or, sugar, 1 lb.; butter, 5 oz.; almonds, 2 oz.: 20 to 30 minutes.
No. 2.—Boil together a pound of sugar and five ounces of butter for twenty minutes; then stir in two ounces of almonds blanched, divided, and thoroughly dried in a slow oven, or before the fire. Let the toffie boil after they are added, till it crackles when dropped into cold water, and snaps between the teeth without sticking.