Cook all this at once, stirring constantly but very gently from the time you put it on the stove until it is done. When it commences boiling, put in thermometer and cook to about 256 or 258. Be careful to stir underneath thermometer to prevent its sticking. When done, pour on slab, and when cool, pull same as others and flavor with vanilla.
PEPPERMINT RECEPTION MINTS.
Use the above recipe for “Cream Taffy.” Flavor strong with peppermint while on the slab. After the taffy has been pulled, place it on a table or slab dusted with XXXX sugar. Shape the batch round; pull it out in a long strip, cut into small pieces as you pull it out, and roll them in XXXX sugar. Leave the pieces spread out for a few hours. Place them in an air tight jar where they will turn mealy.
BUTTERSCOTCH (BRITTLE).
- 2 pounds sugar.
- ½ pound glucose.
- ⅜ pound butter.
- ¾ pint water.
Put sugar, glucose and water in kettle on hot fire, stir until it boils, wash down sides of kettle, then put cover on until it steams well, remove cover and put thermometer in and cook to about 300, then set kettle off the fire and put in the butter, stirring it through the batch thoroughly, then put the kettle back on the fire, and you must now stir it constantly; but before you put the butter in it should not be stirred. Just before you put in the butter, take out the thermometer, as it is less trouble to stir the candy with the thermometer out, and it does not need to be cooked to any exact degree. In putting in the butter, you reduce the temperature of the batch about fifteen degrees, and it is necessary to cook it, after the butter is put in, up to about the point it was before; but you will have no trouble with this, and as soon as it boils up good and hard and commences to turn color a little, drop some off the spoon very quickly in cold water, and if it forms a mass of threads in the water it is done. Be very sure to stir this well after the butter is in it or it will stick. When done, set off the fire and add a good teaspoonful of lemon extract, stir it in well and if you have a funnel, pour it in the funnel, and drop on greased slab in wafers, which is the nicest way to make this butterscotch; or you may pour the whole batch, if you wish, on the greased slab, putting your bars on edge of slab to keep it from running off, and let it run over as large a surface as possible, as the thinner it is, the nicer it will be. Mark it in squares, but do so very quickly, as it does not take it long to harden; and always remember this: that you must take your spatula or a long butcher knife, and loosen the whole batch thoroughly from the slab before it gets perfectly cold, as then it will not stick when cold and also loosen the wafers. Your slab must be well greased before pouring this on, but no matter how well you grease it, if you allow the candy to get perfectly cold before loosening it, you will find it will stick somewhat. In loosening this candy before it gets cold, we do not mean to take it off the slab, but just to simply run something under and loosen it, letting it remain on the slab afterward, and you will find that it does not stick.
SOFT BUTTERSCOTCH
- 2 pounds sugar.
- 1 pound glucose.
- ⅜ pound butter.
- ½ pint dark molasses.
- ¼ teaspoonful ground ginger.
- ⅔ pint water.
Put sugar, glucose and water on the fire, stir until it boils, wipe down sides of the kettle, cover and steam same as other recipe, remove cover, put in thermometer and cook to about 245. You notice, probably, we say “about” in giving degrees in some recipes, which means that if they are one or two degrees either way, it does not hurt them. When the batch is up to 245, put in the molasses, butter, and ginger, and leave the thermometer in it and stir constantly, but not too hard, and cook to about 260, then remove the thermometer, and pour on greased slab and mark and cut up to suit. This candy does not get brittle like the other, but is nice and chewy; and if you put it in boxes, it must be wrapped in wax paper, or the pieces will stick together. We may as well mention the fact here, that in most of these candies, you will find that in hot weather, or rather on warm days, it is necessary to cook them several degrees higher than it is on a very cool day. This only applies to candies of this nature, which are called hard boiled candies. In candies which are creamed up, such as fondant, you do not make this distinction, as those must always be cooked the same.