Pennsylvania German Recipes: Candies

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From The Pennsylvania German Cook Book by J.A. Keller, 1902.

The Fundant

Take the white of one egg, the same amount of cold water, one pound confectioners’ sugar. Mix all together. You can make all kinds of candy with this fundant. Mrs. Wettach.

Uncooked Fundant No. 2

Two tablespoons sweet cream, and the juice of any fruit to flavor. Thicken with confectioners’ sugar. Roll into any shape desired, and dry on oiled paper. Cold boiled milk with one teaspoon of glycerine to cup of milk will answer in place of cream. An endless variety of candies can be made by moulding into different shapes. Use only confectioners’ sugar for these cream candies.

Fundant No. 3

Take granulated sugar and a little more than enough cold water to moisten. Boil until it makes a soft ball in water. Stand aside to cool, don’t stir. After it is partly cool stir rapidly until it creams, then take in hands and work like dough, and make into any desired form.

Mrs. C. W. Berry.

Fudges

Two tumblers granulated sugar, one tumbler milk, two squares of chocolate, grated, butter the size of a walnut. Boil until brittle. Stir constantly after taking it off from the stove. Add vanilla. And just before it is cold pour it into a greased platter, and cut into squares.

(Excellent.) Mrs. C. Norton.

Maple Creams (Fine)

One cup maple molasses, one half cup milk one cup blown sugar, one teaspoon vinegar. Boil until it makes a soft ball in cold water. Then take off, and add one cup chopped hickory nut meats and stir briskly until cool.

Mrs. C. W. Berry

Cream Bon Bon

Make a roll one and a quarter inch in diameter and about three inches long, of two or more colored creams. With case knife scrape side of roll just enough to fur it. Cut slices length of roll, and nearly quarter of an inch thick. Twist this into open spiral, double ends together and form into round bon bon with furred side on top. Two or three trials and you will succeed.

Caramels

Two cups brown sugar, one cup molasses, one tablespoon butler, two tablespoons flour, one-half cup sweet milk, one-half cake of chocolate. Flavor with teaspoon vanilla.

Butter Scotch

Three pounds coffee sugar, one quarter pound butter. Sufficient water to dissolve the sugar. Boil without stirring until it will easily break when dropped in cold water. When done add one-half teaspoon cream of tartar, and flavor to taste, pour into greased pans, and mark into squares.

Marsh Mallows

One-half pound white gum arabic, dissolve in one pint of water. Add to it one pound of powdered sugar, stir all together in a double boiler, or sauce pan set in another until it is thick and white. Try it in water as soon as it thickens. If it forms a firm but not hard ball it is done. Remove from the fire. (If you want inflated marshmallows.) Beat the whites of three eggs, and add them gradually to the paste, then flavor with orange flower or rose. It may be poured out on a pan or dish covered with corn starch. When cool, cut into any shape desired, and pack away in confectioners’ sugar.

Langtry Bon Bon

Cut marshmallow paste into squares. Make some cream, by using the white of an egg, the same quantity of water, and as much confectioners’ sugar as will make a thick icing. Color part of the icing brown with melted chocolate, leaving part white. Drop the pieces of marshmallows into the white candy, lift them out when well covered, and turn them on to waxed paper to dry. If it does not dry quickly, add a little more sugar, use the colored icing in same manner.

Gum Drops

Half a pound of gum arabic, one-half pound confectioners’ sugar, and half a pint of water. Make similar to marshmallows, do not stir after thoroughly mixed. Have a tray of cornstarch well packed down, make holes in it with the closed end of a thimble. Pour the syrup into these holes. (Syrup may be flavored while hot.) Leave them in the starch several days in a warm place to finish them. After they are removed from the starch and brushed, dampen them, then shake them up in a little granulated sugar.

Molasses Candy

One quart of molasses, one-half cup vinegar, one cup sugar, butter the size of an egg, one teaspoon soda dissolved in a little hot water, and stirred in just before removing from the fire. Flavor to taste, when cool enough, pull it white.

Mrs. G.E. Holbien.

Nut Candy

Five cups sugar, six tablespoons of water, four tablespoons vinegar, one of butter. Boil without stirring until crisp. Line buttered pans with peanuts, and pour the candy over them. When nearly cool mark off into squares.

Peppermints

Turn one-half cup boiling water upon two cups granulated sugar. Boil five minutes, stir in a tablespoon of essence of peppermint, and stir over the fire until it is thick, drop in drops on buttered paper.

Mrs. G. E. Holbein.

White Taffy

Two pounds granulated sugar one teacup cold water, two teaspoons vinegar, two tablespoons butter. Boil until brittle when tested in water. When done add one tablespoon vanilla and pour on buttered platter. Pull rapidly until white and brittle.

Candy for Lean People

(Eat After Meals)

Three cups C. C. sugar, two-thirds cup dark molasses, (not syrup) one-third cup cold water, one-third cup new milk, one-half pound butter, one-third pound pure chocolate, put sugar, water and milk, together, put on the fire and stir until sugar is dissolved. As soon as it begins to boil, put in chocolate, after that has been melted put in butter, do not stir after this, as it may candy. Grease a long shallow pan. Roast three pounds of almonds shelled, not brown, chop and spread in bottom of pan, as soon as the candy breaks when dropped in cold water, pour it over the nuts. Ralston.

Hickorynut Macaroons

Beat the whites of two eggs to a froth, add slowly one cup of pulverized sugar, and one cup of nuts chopped fine. Mix thoroughly, and drop on buttered tins. Bake slowly.

Salted Almonds

Blanch half a pound of almonds, dry them, then spread on a pan. Put a good teaspoon of butter with them and stir them up on the stove until they all are greasy, then put in oven until a pale yellow not brown. Stir often, sift teaspoon salt over them, when cold shake superfluous salt from them.

Kisses

Whites of four eggs and half a pound of powdered sugar whipped stiff. Place upon greased paper and bake same as creams. When done press two of them together.

Chrystalized Popcorn and Nuts

Boil one cup white sugar with three tablespoons water and one of butter, until it slums threads when dropped from spoon, then pour on three quarts of popped corn and stir. Nuts used the same way. are very nice. Mrs. G. E. Holbien.

Corn Balls

Take molasses candy soft-boiled. Put corn into a bowl, and pour on enough candy to moisten corn, stir well together, then lift out a large spoonful and press into a ball, and so on. Place where it will harden and cool.

Very Fine Corn Balls

Dissolve an ounce of gum arable in half a pint of water, after dissolved add a pound of confectioners’ sugar, and boil stirring all the time, until a little of it cooled in a saucer becomes so stiff that you can hardly stir it. Flavor to taste, and pour on corn and form into balls.

Keller, J.A. The Pennsylvania German Cook Book. Scranton Printing Company, 1902.

J.A. Keller

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