In giving you the following recipes we will no doubt shatter a great many ideas that you now have in regard to home candy making; especially as to the style of cooking, size of batch, and length of time you keep your fondants after being made.
In making your Christmas candies, commence from three to four weeks before hand, and make your chocolate creams first, as they will keep perfectly for that length of time, and even longer. Make your bon-bon cream at least two weeks before Christmas, and let it have a few days to season before making it into bon-bons. It will keep for six weeks in cold weather if necessary and all you have to do is to dampen the cloth about twice a week, and keep it in a cool, dry place; if you wish to make bon-bons or wafers at any time, just go to the crock, take out as much as you need, replace the cloth, and it is ready for the next time.
If you have a fair sized slab, you can make at least a five-pound batch of fondant at one time, but if you use a platter to cool it on, we would not advise you to make more than about two pounds at a time, as it will not cool quick enough, and is then liable to grain.
If you ever have a batch of fondant so grainy that you cannot use it, simply cream it up and use it for fudge or caramels in place of sugar as the recipe calls.
A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE NECESSARY TOOLS.
The number of tools absolutely necessary for making candy at home, are very few outside of your ordinary cooking utensils. But we will mention a few of them here, so that you may know just what to get in case you care to purchase them.
The Thermometer—You already have, (see article on “How to Use the Thermometer.”)
Marble Slab—The next most important thing both for its usefulness and convenience is a marble slab. While it is not absolutely necessary to have one, we would advise everyone to make an effort to get one. Almost any size or kind of a piece of marble will do. If you have an old marble top stand, dresser or some other piece of furniture with a marble top, use that. If you purchase one, see that it has a nice smooth top, and the size about 18 x 18 inches. It does not matter if it is a little larger one way, but this is the standard size. You can buy candy slabs most any size of any marble dealer very cheap. If you have a large stone platter, you can use that for nearly every kind of candy in this book; but buy a slab by all means if you can.