Useless book

I bought The Victorian Kitchen Book of Candies and Confections in order to do research, as it claimed to "reveal the recipes and techniques perfected by the Victorian cook."  Well, almost nothing in this book has anything to do with the Victorian cook.  Nearly all the recipes are modern redactions, and very little is said of actual Victorian technique.  This turned out to be a nearly useless book when it comes to researching Victorian candy making.  Good think I paid less than $1 for it.

Huzzah, or the Victorian equivalent!

I was just researching granite saucepans, because it would be cool to do the recipes just like the Victorians.  Well, my research indicates that granite saucepan is not a saucepan made of granite.  It is what they called enameled cast iron due to the speckled patterns in the enamel that made it look granite-like.  I thought enameled cast iron might not hold up to the high temperatures of candy making, so I didn't even think of using my enameled cast iron.  That means, I HAVE THE RIGHT PAN!  Okay, it isn't a saucepan; it's a casserole.  However, I should be able to use it just like a saucepan.  It will just be very difficult to pour.  That means I am one step closer to actual candy making!  Now, on to "how to cool my apartment" problem.

Getting busy . . .

Wow, my life is getting busy all the sudden.  I am now the treasurer of two different college clubs.  One of them keeps asking me to go to more and more events.  At least I get a free dinner out of one of them.  I've just discovered my cost accounting will be more difficult to get an A in than I previously believed.  I am still looking for a job to pay for food and a proper church to join.  On top of that, I am involved in court cases involving bankruptcy and an ex-wife.

Why am I putting that in a Victorian candy making blog?  It is just to say my entries may not be as frequent as you or I would like them to be.  I have not abandoned the project.  From time to time, my focus may be drawn away.

Be that as it may, here is where things stand right now regarding candy.  I am in the process of downloading a treasure trove of on-line historic cookbooks, including The Complete Confectioner from the 1850s.  I have read two histories of candy with some fascinating results; and from these, I am putting together a candy timeline, a candy temperature chart, and a future reading list.  I still have not found a sugar boiling pan I am happy with.  From all the texts I have read, the pan needs to have a heavy bottom, to be nonreactive, and to have sides at least 4-5 inches high.  I will probably go to the local restaurant supply store soon to see if I can find anything.  I also need to stop at the Home Depot to see if I can purchase some marble scrap as my cooling surface.  My apartment still is too hot to make candy.  I am beginning to wonder if my thermometer is not functioning properly.  I will stop at the Bed, Bath, and Beyond on Saturday to get a new one.  If that still shows my apartment to be 78°F, I will next test a box fan to see if that lowers the temperature.  I have recipes in the waiting for molasses candy and barley sugar.  I found a reference to the use of "perlimpinpin" in barley sugar during the 18th century.  "Perlimpinpin", as far as I can tell, is a French term meaning fairy dust, magic cure, or false medicine (snake oil), depending on the source, although there is a French company that sells a spice blend called "poudre de perlimpinpin."  I am still trying to locate a recipe for this spice blend.

As you can see, I have been busy with everything.  Now, I just have to decide what I like doing and limit my activities to those things.

Chow for now.

PS:  Don't forget about my Suits and Soups Drive, which you can donate to by clicking here.

Molasses more sticky than I thought.

Who would have thunk the subject of molasses would be so sticky to unravel.

My first problem is the recipes.  One calls for "fine" molasses.  Another asks for "good" molasses.  Yet another requires "Porto Rico" (their spelling, not mine) molasses.  I wasn't prepared to have to figure out differences in molasses, so off to another search on Google . . .

Okay.  According to what I've found, "good" and "fine" are not grades of molasses.  Molasses is made during three different processings.  There is first-process, second-process, and third-process.  During each processing cycle, more sugar is removed, so the product becomes more bitter.  The first-process molasses is also called light.  The second-process is also referred to as medium or dark.  The third-process molasses is known in the United States as bootstrap molasses.  There is also something British called treacle, a refined molasses from the Victorian era which is sweeter and more mellow in flavor than molasses.  Sorghum is a syrup made from grains rather than grass, so it is technically not molasses.  Taking all of this into account, I am going to define "good" and "fine" as the higher grades.  Therefore, I wanted a first-process (fine) or second-process (good).  Sooner or later, I will work with treacle, if I can find it.

Something I did not know about molasses, though.  Although all its calories come from carbs, like sugar, molasses is nutritious.  It is high in minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, selenium, and copper.  All the metals a growing steampunk needs.  It also contains uridine, which has been scientifically shown to help fight depression.  Throughout history, molasses has been used to cure everything from arthritis to gray hair.  Suddenly, molasses candy is sounding very appealing.


Next, I had to figure out which brands are which process.  Grandma's Molasses comes in two types:  Original and Robust.  Their website says Original is pure cane juice.  This means it is really not a molasses at all.  Robust is a blend of first-process molasses.  The only other brand I can find in the U.S. is Brer Rabbit.  They have mild (first-process), full (second-process), and bootstrap.  Amazon has 337 listings for molasses, including 5-gallon buckets and molasses dog biscuits.

So, off to the grocery store I went in search of molasses.  My local big-box grocer is King Soopers (owned by Kroeger).  They had a 12 fl. oz. jar of Grandma's Original for $3.99.  I felt that was too expensive, so I checked the Dollar Tree.  They did not have any molasses.  I next checked the Mexican supermarket, Rancho Liborio.  They did not have any molasses.  I checked the Safeway, they had Grandma's for $3.99 and Brer Rabbit for $3.59.  I was still not tempted to buy at those prices.  My next stop was WalMart.  They had the Grandma's Original for only $2.50 a jar.  This is the first thing I have found at WalMart that actually made it worth the travel time.

I am now in possession of all the ingredients to make molasses candy.  However, it will probably be a few weeks before I make the recipe.  I am still looking for a good heavy-bottom kettle, and I have to try to get my apartment a little cooler.  According to what I have read, the temperature has to be 68F with a humidity under 40% to make candy.  Therefore, my next step is to find an inexpensive way to cool my apartment.

Saleratus, anyone?

I love thrift stores.  I found a facsimile of Common Sense in the Household at Goodwill, which has a Library of Congress registration date of 1871.  I got this for $1.  The original book was over 550 pages of recipes and hints, including how to get dried ink out of a white shirt.  For my purposes, I looked in the candy section.  There are only two candy recipes:  Molasses candy and sugar candy.

The first interesting thing is the use of “saleratus”.  I think this is baking soda, but I will search the Internet for a proper definition.  What this tells me, however, is that at some point written recipes switched from using the term saleratus to baking soda.  This could help with dating some recipes, like that Cornell reprint I am debating.

Here is the poop on saleratus.  It is a soda, but not sodium bicarbonate.  According to my search, it is more likely potassium bicarbonate.  Here is one site that describes it, even mentions how it was mixed with water.  The Merriam-Webster site says it is "a leavening agent consisting of potassium or sodium bicarbonate."  Joe Pastry even says somebody sold both potassium bicarbonate and sodium bicarbonate under the name saleratus.  When I make these recipes, I will try baking soda and hope it works.  Otherwise, I will need to find a seller of potassium bicarbonate.

The next interesting thing is the assumptions.  This is definitely not a beginners manual.  What exactly is “pull white” supposed to mean?  How much water is the saleratus supposed to be dissolved in before adding to the candy?  What is supposed to be used for “flavor to taste”?  Measurements are still not all exact, such as “butter the size of an egg.”  There are also no temperatures; the candy should “crisp in cold water”.  Yet another oddity, the molasses candy is stirred frequently but the sugar candy is boiled without stirring.  Does something in the molasses keep the sugar from crystallizing?

The last interesting thing is that the author calls the molasses candy “taffey” (author's quotes, not mine) when cut into squares but without pulling.

I think I am going to do the molasses candy as my first experiment.  There are only 5 ingredients with no real special equipment involved.  I know this isn’t fancy French creams, but a guy has to start somewhere.