(3642). Burnt Almonds (Pralines)

Put a pound and a half of sugar and half of a vanilla bean in a pan, dissolve it with a little water and stand it on the fire to cook to thirty-four degrees (syrup gauge), then add one pound of fine almonds; mix all together with a wooden spoon and continue to cook until the sugar reaches "crack" (No. 171), stirring the almonds steadily till the sugar granulates. Take the pan from the fire and pour both sugar and almonds into a coarse sieve to separate the almonds from the granulated sugar, return the almonds to the pan, stand it on the fire and stir constantly until the sugar covering the almonds melts away, adding from time to time a small handful of the granulated sugar. As soon as all the sugar is added and that surrounding the almonds is well dissolved, pour it immediately on to a slab, separating them from each other, and leave to cool. Put a heaping tablespoonful of dissolved gum arabic in a basin, dilute it with a little water and let it come to a boil; then add the burnt almonds and toss until entirely covered; pour at once ou to a sieve and place in the heater to dry.

(3649). Filbert Candies (Bonbons D'Avelines En Conserve)

Procure small plaster molds imitating hazel-nuts and fasten them to a ruler, then imprint them in starch. Peel six ounces of filberts and crush to form a very fine paste with a gill and a half of water. Cook a pound of sugar to " small crack " (No. 171), add the pounded nuts, stir well and cast it at once into the starch impressions; when these candies have sufficiently hardened in the starch to be able to be handled take them out, one by one, brush carefully and stand on a sieve to cool; they can afterward be dipped in cold crystallized syrup until completely coated with candy.

(3653). Candies For Mottoes (Bonbons Pour Papillotes)

Have some small conical-shaped plaster molds, the bottoms being detruncated and rounded; they should be an inch in diameter at the bottom and one inch high. Fasten these molds on a ruler slightly apart from each other, then with this ruler imprint the molds into the starch. Put two pounds of sugar in a copper sugar basin and dissolve i: with a pint and a half of water; stand this on the fire to cook to " large ball " (No. 171), being careful to remove all the scum and keep the sides of the pan clean. When the sugar has reached the proper degree let it fall to ••small ball" by adding a few spoonfuls of orange flower water, then remove the pan from the fire and with a wooden spoon rub the sugar against the sides to mass it. As soon as it begins to whiten stir it well and east it into the starch impressions, using a spring funnel (Fig. 759) for this purpose: when the box is lull bestrew the candies lightly with a handful of starch and put the box in a heater for two or three hours. After the candies are hard remove them from the starch and range them on grates or on a sieve to cool thoroughly, then brush over with a camel's hair or feather brush.

To wrap up these candies spread open some variegated colored motto papers, in the center of each lay a printed motto folded in four and on this one of the candies, then fold the p,.pev all around toward the center and use a string attached to the table to enclose the candy (this is done by giving the string a turn around the motto and pulling on it, then the motto is released and will be found firmly twisted) and form a bouquet with the fringed ends of the paper.