MAKING OF FONDANT
Combine sugar, liquid, butter, syrup, and salt in saucepan. Place over heat and stir constantly until sugar dissolves and begins to boil. Remove spoon and keep boiling rapidly until fondant reaches soft ball stage (230-232 deg. F). When adding flavorings, chopped cherries, grated orange or lemon rind, the fondant is cooked a little longer as the moisture and oils in the flavorings tend to soften the fondant. Remove from heat and cool as rapidly as possible by pouring onto a marble slab, cooling plate or flat dish or pan. Do not disturb while cooling. Cool as rapidly as possible.
Much care must be taken in the preparation of the fondant. One of the greatest hazards in making smooth fondant is that the cooked fondant will crystalize during the cooling stage and end up full of fine sugar crystals, necessitating re-cooking.
Precautions to prevent crystalizing in the cooling stage:
1. The cooking kettle should be heavy aluminum. Be sure the kettle is less than half full before starting to cook fondant to prevent boiling over.
2. Butter kettle on sides and bottom before putting sugar in. It helps to keep fondant from scorching and the sugar from adhering (sticking) to sides of kettle.
3. Stir constantly. Be sure sugar is dissolved before mixture starts to boil.
4. Keep a pastry brush handy and wash down the sides of pan to make sure there are no sugar granules clinging to sides. A wet cloth may also be used - or put a lid on pan for two or three minutes so that the steam will dissolve any sugar granules.
If fondant is not satisfactory it must be re-cooked. This can be done by adding milk and melting over low heat until fondant has dissolved. Then proceed as in the beginning.
Be sure fondant is cool, but not cold, before beating. If it is beaten while warm, sugar crystals will form and fondant will not be smooth. The sooner it can be beaten after it is cool, the easier it is to beat. Fondant can be beaten on a platter, glass cake pan, or on marble. Wooden spoons or wooden paddles are used to beat fondant. Beat fondant using clean regular strokes from side to side, confining it to as small an area as possible so as to keep every bit of the fondant mixed. This is another one of the sugar dangers. Beat fondant continuously until it loses its gloss and thickens up; continue beating until fondant thickens again. Cover with plastic wrap, tucking edges tightly around fondant and let stand for about ten minutes. This allows the fondant to "cordialize" and become workable.
NOW IS THE TIME to check the texture for smoothness and add flavorings. Divide fondant into desired number of flavors and flavor each section according to taste, bearing in mind that it will take the same amount of chocolate to cover fondant as it weighs. The chocolate has a tendency to kill the flavor, so flavoring of the fondant has to be much stronger than you ultimately want. If fondant is too stiff it can be worked with the hands the same as you would knead bread. After flavoring is well mixed into each portion, place in separate bowls (not plastic). With finger tips, spread a thin film of butter over top; cover tightly with plastic wrap, refrigerate until ready to dip. Fondant should be at room temperature when dipped.
PREPARATION OF CHOCOLATE (For dipping of Fondant)
Chocolate comes in ten pound slabs, milk chocolate and semi-sweet. There are many grades of chocolate. For best results, only the best grade should be used. Chocolates are dipped in milk chocolate (light), semi-sweet (dark) and a mixture of two parts light and one part dark. This makes a nice variety.
Melt chocolate slowly, not more than 110 deg. F. Large quantities can be cut or broken, placed uncovered in a heat proof container and melted in the oven. The smaller the pieces of chocolate, the faster it will melt. Stir often; do not let it get too hot. Chocolate melts at a very low temperature. If allowed to get too hot, it becomes thick and unusable for dipping. An electric frying pan may be used for melting chocolate or for keeping chocolate at the right temperature while dipping. Just turn light control until light comes on, stirring chocolate constantly until melted, then turn control off. If frypan does not have a low-heat setting it may be turned on for just a few seconds at a time, keeping one hand on the bottom to assure that it doesn't get too warm. Chocolate melts at about 80 deg. and should be held for dipping at that temperature
A small quantity of melted chocolate is placed on a dipping board and mixed and worked by hand until it is cold enough to dip fondant. The chocolate must feel cool to the touch. The light milk chocolate will be thicker than the dark chocolate. Put a dab the size of a nickel on wax paper with your index finger. If it dries quickly and shines, your chocolate is ready. A whole row of dabs can be put out at one time. This makes a good heavy double bottom for the chocolate, and helps prevent the chocolate from drying out. If coating of chocolate is not heavy enough on fondant, the fondant will have a tendency to leak through the chocolate and become hard. Room temperature for dipping should not be over 68 deg. F, or chocolate will take too long to set and the cocoa butter will come to the surface and cause white streaks to appear.
Dipping consists of covering the fondant, rolled in balls, with a coat of chocolate, turning the fondant 5-6 times in the chocolate, placing them on the dabs on a tray covered with wax paper. Corn starch is used on hands when shaping balls of fondant to be dipped, to keep fondant from sticking to hands. Use only when necessary and use as little as possible. Test chocolate by dipping fondant. If chocolate runs and makes a skirt around base of dipped fondant, or if chocolate dries slowly and does not shine, the chocolate is too warm. Continue mixing chocolate with hand until when fondant is dipped, the chocolate dries quickly. By the time the fifth or sixth chocolate is dipped, the first should be setting. If extra chocolate is allowed to run on one side of the chocolate, spoiling the shape, the extra chocolate can be removed by carefully running a toothpick around the base of the chocolate when partially set, and then left to dry. Chocolates should set for several hours before boxing.
REMEMBER: All temperatures can vary according to your location and the kind of thermometer used. A Taylor thermometer is the most accurate. Before starting your candy, please check your thermometer in boiling water and note the boiling point. Adjust your cooking temperature according to the boiling point on your thermometer.
- Geraldine Haney, Tacoma, WA
Tacoma First Ward, February, 1981
CANDY RECIPES FOR GERALDINE'S CANDIES