While the candy is being pulled, it should be handled as little as possible. Let the candy's own weight over the hook do the real work. To avoid "bunchiness," the confectioner must keep the mass moving in uniform thickness—a difficult task, success in which comes only from practice.
II
FOR THE CANDY-MAKER'S TABLE
For real success in candy-making the amateur needs a few small utensils similar to those that have long been used by confectioners. The advice which follows can be as well applied to old-fashioned candy making as to the new sort.
A copper bon-bon dipper, really nothing more than wire twisted so as to outline a spoon, will be found convenient for any sort of dipping likely to be attempted in the home kitchen. The wire dipper is a much more satisfactory tool than a silver fork, the implement usually recommended for this purpose.
Get fourteen inches of copper wire—preferably number eighteen—heavy enough to bear a few ounces of weight without bending, but soft enough to be shaped easily by the fingers. A quarter-pound spool should not cost over ten cents. Grasp the wire five inches from one end and bend it double at that point. The double strand—which makes the handle—will then be five inches long, and the single four. Out of this single strand, beginning half an inch from the end of the doubled strand, form a loop three-quarters of an inch long. Twisting the wire round the forefinger or a small empty spool will make the loop. Wind the two inches of wire left free about the two parallel strands, carrying it up as far as it will reach.
This skeleton spoon is excellent for dipping bon-bons, fruits or nuts. To hold objects of different sizes, the soft copper wire may be bent easily; and in this respect the home-made dippers are better than the nickeled ones on the market. For dipping creams into chocolate, this dipper is probably the best device which is available for the amateur.
Another help is the so-called rubber mat, useful for modeling wafers and centers. This is nothing more than a sheet of heavy rubber fabric, stamped so that molds are formed. Before using, place the mat in cold water, dry, and then pour the fondant into the depressions until they are entirely filled. When the fondant is dry enough to hold its form, the mat is turned upside down, and the wafers and centers easily freed. After being washed in cold water and carefully dried, the mat is ready for use again.