Candy Making: Candy Recipes, Candy Ingredients, Sugar, Candy Supplies

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Candies and Bonbons
And How To Make Them
By Marion Neil (1913)

Materials Used in Candy Making

When making candy, always use the best materials.
Candy of the better grade is very largely made up of
sugar, with the addition of various colors, flavors, nuts,
fruits, etc., and sometimes fat, starch, and glucose. The
food value of candy may be expressed by the amount of
sugar contained, but the wholesomeness of the other
ingredients must be taken into account.

                                           Sugar
   The sugar used in nearly all candy is the cane variety.
Beet-sugar is very good and costs less than cane-sugar,
but it is not so sweet and will not produce so palatable a
sweetmeat.
   Parents do their children a great injury by denying
good, pure candies. The child requires a large amount of
sugar, for sugar assists in the process of growth as no
other food element can possibly do. Children of an older
growth, too, require a proper amount of good, pure sugar,
for these white crystals feed the ever-burning flame of the
body, supplying animal heat, which is life, and rousing
the nervous energies, in some cases, even better than
phosphates.
   Sugar, too, possesses great antiseptic properties, and
can be employed to preserve animal and vegetable
substances from decomposition. If added to fish, meat,
etc., it renders less salt necessary for keeping them,
causing them to retain more of their natural taste and
flavor.
   As much pure sugar as can be eaten without producing
acidity is most beneficial to any one who has a desire for
it. When sugar is submitted to various changes of
temperature, we find it taking a number of different forms
and exhibiting various characteristics. No other single
material in cookery can be produced in so many different
forms. Brown and yellow sugars consist of the coarser
part of the sugar, and are suitable for some kinds of
candy.          Confectioners’ sugar is a specially pulverized
sugar suitable for icings or frostings, and is used also in
candy making. Maple-sugar is obtained from the sap of
the sugar-maple tree and it makes delicious candy. All
sugars, especially confectioners’ sugar, should be kept in
a dry place.

                                           Glucose
   Glucose is a material against which there is much
needless prejudice. Many people are really surprised
beyond belief when told that glucose is one of the sweet
principles of fruits, and is the chief constituent of honey.
Glucose, or starch-sugar, is made from corn-starch, which
is as natural a product as cane-sugar. It is prepared by the
action of a dilute solution upon corn-starch. The
conversion is completed by the action of steam under
pressure.
   Glucose is easier to digest than sugar, because before
the digestive organs can assimilate sugar they must
convert it into glucose.
   In candy making small quantities of glucose are used to
prevent the sugar from granulating during boiling. The
best candy is produced by the use of 85 per cent sugar
and 15 per cent glucose.

Cream of Tartar
Cream of tartar or tartaric acid may take the place of
glucose in some recipes, as they also tend to prevent
granulation.

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