Candy-Making at Home / Two hundred ways to make candy with home flavors and professional finish

by Mary M.‏ Wright

Peanut Molasses Candy

Take one cupful of sugar, one cupful of New Orleans or sorghum molasses, and a tablespoonful of butter and boil to the hard crack stage. Stir in two cupfuls of peanuts, or just as many as you can, as the more nuts in this candy the better. Pour on a greased pan. When cold break into pieces or cut into squares with a very sharp knife.

Mexican Nut Confection

Take two cupfuls of light brown sugar, a quart of sweet milk and boil until the sugar is all melted, then stir in the well beaten yolks of six eggs. Boil until thick and smooth, stirring constantly, then add one pound of almonds that have been blanched and worked into a paste, and one teaspoonful of cinnamon. Boil to a firm mass, and stir to keep from sticking. This should be made in a double boiler. Pour into a buttered mold at least two inches thick, and when very cold slice. This is good dipped in chocolate or fondant.

Nut Loaf

Take an equal quantity of walnut, hickory-nut, almond and pecan meats and chop fine. To each cupful of nut meats have one-half cupful of chopped fruit, using dates, figs, raisins or candied cherries. Work the fruit and nuts well together. For each cupful of this mixture take one cupful of fondant. Melt the fondant, and stir the fruit and nut mixture into it; then remove and knead. Form this into an oblong loaf, flatten on top. Cover with paraffine paper and let stand for several days until the fruit and nuts are well blended with the fondant, then cut into slices.

Nut Stuffed Fruit

Dates are especially nice stuffed with nut meats. Remove the stones and insert a salted blanched almond in each, or chop up some walnut meats and work into a paste with a little cream or fondant and insert in the center of the dates. Close up and roll the dates in powdered sugar or else dip into fondant. Large prunes soaked over night until plump, and then stuffed with chopped almonds or pecan nut meats are fine. Large Sultana raisins are also good stuffed with nut meats.

Cherry and Almond Confection

Take two cupfuls of sugar, one-half cupful of corn syrup and a half cupful of milk and boil to the soft ball stage. Add a half cupful of chopped almonds, one-half cupful of candied cherries, and one teaspoonful almond extract. Stir until creamy, pour into buttered pan, and when cold cut into squares. Decorate some of the squares with almond meats and others with candied cherries.