(3619). Materials For Making Easy Pieces (Matieres Pour Faire Les Pieces Faciles)

Macaroons, candied fruits, small cakes, bonbons, meringues or marchpanes fastened together and applied on conical-shaped molds, having their base measuring eight to ten inches in diameter, and ending in a point one inch in diameter; this style of piece is not much used nowadays except in ordinary balls or banquets. It is gum paste, nougat, royal icing and cooked sugar that the prettiest pieces are made of, and in these the true artist can be readily distinguished.

(3620). Imitation Of Natural Green Almonds (Imitation D'Amandes Vertes Naturelles)

Prepare a cooked almond paste the same as explained in the Elementary Methods (No. 125); flavor it with orange flower water and tinge it, to a light green color. Mold this paste into medium-sized olive shapes, split them lengthwise through the center and in the crack lay a fine white almond; mold and work the paste to have it assume the form of a natural green almond, then lay them as fast as done on a wire sieve and place in the heater to dry. When finished leave to get cold and glaze over with sugar cooked to " crack " (No. 171).

(3623). Almond Paste Candied (Pate D'Amandes Au Candi)

Shell and peel fourteen ounces of sweet almonds; leave to soak in fresh water for three hours, then pound to a pulp with a little water and kirsch, half of each, just sufficient to moisten the almonds so they do not oil. Cook a pound of sugar to " crack " | No. 171), in a round bottom sugar pan, mix the almonds in with the sugar and dry them for a few moments over a slow fire.

If for chocolate almond paste add a little grated chocolate or else partly dissolved chocolate. White almond-paste is colored with vegetal colorings (No. 172). Roll this paste to three-eighths of an inch in thickness and cut it up in small fanciful patterns; dry them in the heater and when sufficiently dry put them to candy (No. 3640); they can be flavored with vanilla or any other flavoring.

(3625). Malaga Raisins Stuffed And Glazed (Raisins De Malaga Farcis Et Glaces)

Split some fine Malaga raisins in two without separating the parts; remove the seeds and stuff one-third with a half-inch ball of almond paste (No. 125) colored white, another third with the same paste colored pink and the remaining third of almond paste with pistachios (No. 128); all these pastes to be prepared with cooked sugar (No. 3616); roll them into olive shapes, leaving the almond or pistachio paste show through the opening, and lay them at once on a wire sieve, then place in the heater to let get dry and glaze with sugar cooked to " crack " (No. 171).

(3626). How To Spin Sugar By Throwing (Pour Filer Le Sucre A, La Jetee)

First have a spinner constructed as follows: On the entire surface of a round of sheet iron five inches in diameter and an eighth of an inch thick are to be riveted wire pegs an eighth of an inch in diameter and three and a half inches long, and at three-quarters of an inch apart from each other. A solid handle is fastened to the spinner. Cook in a copper pan two or three pounds of sugar to '• large crack" (No. 171) or three hundred degrees Fahrenheit. As soon as done remove from the fire. Place several clean and oiled baking sheets on the floor. With the left hand take a small stick and hold it horizontally to the height of the chest or else lay it projecting over the edge of a table; with the right hand plunge the spinner into the sugar, take it out and drain off all the superfluous sugar; then, moving the instrument vigorously backward and forward over the small stick until all the sugar has run off in threads, redip the spinner into the sugar and begin the same movement again, continuing until all the sugar is spun.

In case there be no spinner handy, a spoon can be used, dipping it into the cooked sugar, lifting it out and leaving all the surplus sugar drain off by moving it backward and forward the same as the spinner.

(3627). Sugar For Casting In Molds (Sucre A Couler Dans Les Moules)

Place some lumps of sugar in a copper pan; pour over sufficient water to soak and leave till dissolved, when mix in a few drops of acetic acid and cook to 245 degrees; then remove from the fire, color a light blue with ultramarine blue and rub it against the sides of the pan with a wooden spoon to grain it. Pour it at once into molds: plaster ones are generally used for this purpose, having them properly dipped in cold water, then well drained and tied around firmly with a string so that the sugar cannot escape from the joints of the mold. After the mold is full wait until the sugar congeals on top. then break this thin crust and turn the mold upside down to empty out all the liquid sugar in order to have the subject hollow in the center. Unmold carefully, removing each piece one by one; pare them neatly and leave to cool in a dry. but not a hot place.