A thin sheet of glass will be found exceedingly satisfactory upon which to model. As the glass is thin, intricate flowers of many petals, for instance, can be slipped off with little disturbance. Use a thin knife to loosen and lift only slightly, slipping each model off with as little handling as possible. Another advantage is that the glass can easily be washed.
Coloring.—The vegetable coloring pastes which are sold for use in cooking are harmless. A set of the small jars ordinarily sold for ten cents a jar will probably be enough for any candy that the amateur may make in one season. The colors generally in the set are fruit red, leaf green, golden yellow, caramel, violet, damask, rose, mandarin, orange blue, salmon and chestnut.
These pastes may be used in three ways. They may be cooked or worked into a candy mixture or they may be used very much the same as water color pigments and applied with a brush.
In the first method it is well to remember that the shade should be mixed a little heavier than desired and must be very thoroughly mixed if used in fondant or prepared compounds. The rules of color combination prevail here as everywhere. So if grades of tone or different colors are desired almost any wish may be met by combination of color.
To get just the tone desired, after mixing the colors dissolve a small portion in water and then dip into this liquid a lump of sugar. If the tint is not the right one, it is easily changed.
Any shade of green may be obtained by mixing blue and yellow with leaf green. All shades of orange are obtainable from yellow and red. All shades of violet or mauve or even purple for deep violets may be made from red and blue in different proportions.
If the color in your candy is not clear and uniform it is because it has not been thoroughly mixed. To avoid spots it must be evenly incorporated through the entire mass. If this does not seem possible with coloring paste, dissolve in a little warm water and then add it to the fondant or prepared compound.
In applying with the brush use the wash methods much as in water color work and the shading will be much more artistic and the variety much greater. Apply a medium shade uniformly and let thoroughly dry and then shade with light and darker tones. Do not use much water, as the surface of the candy does not absorb the water as does water color paper.
White Daisy.—This makes an unusually pretty modeled piece, as will be seen from the illustration facing page [138], and from No. 13 of the [frontispiece].
White potato fondant is used for the petals and candied orange peel for the center, and angelique for the stem and leaves.