The
idea of sugar from potatoes which I told you about yesterday intrigued me
greatly. On a whim, I decided to look and see if carrots have ever been taken seriously
as a source of sugar. I have not, to date, found any evidence of a carrot-sugar
industry, but being determined to give you a sweet carrot story, I went back to
Candy-making revolutionized;
confectionery from vegetables (1912.)
Carrots.
To the art of
candy-making, the use of carrots has brought a harmless new color. Formerly the
peculiar yellowish orange of the carrot candy was a shade that the
confectioner, amateur or otherwise, could not hope to attain without the use of
artificial substances.
The statement that
carrots are valuable in candy-making for their color must not be thought to
mean that the confections made from them are not very good to eat. Quite the
contrary; carrot candies have a very pleasing flavor.
Carrot Rings.
To make them, peel
medium sized carrots and let them stand several hours in cold water. Cut
crosswise into slices about one-quarter of an inch thick and with a small round
cutter or sharp
knife remove the center
pith. Drop the rings into boiling water and cook until tender. After they have
thoroughly drained, drop them into a syrup made by boiling one part of water
and three parts of sugar to two hundred and twenty degrees. Boil until the rings
become translucent, probably about ten
minutes. Dry on a wire rack, taking care that the rings do not touch.
The next day, heat the
syrup to two hundred and twenty-five degrees and again dip the rings and dry as
before. If desired, when they are dry, fill the centers with bonbon cream or
marzipan. When this center has become firm, dip the candy into a syrup cooked
to two hundred and twenty-eight degrees. Even if the centers are not filled, it
is well to make this third dipping; the ther-
mometer should, however,
register two hundred and thirty degrees instead of merely two hundred and
twenty-eight.
And
here is a completely different concept of Carrot Cake, from The Cook's Dictionary and House-keeper's
Directory (1830) by Richard Dolby
Carrot Cake.
Take a dozen large and
very red carrots; scrape and boil them in water with a little salt; when done,
drain them, take out the hearts,and rub the rest through a bolting; put them in
a stewpan, and dry them over the fire. Make a cream patissière, with about half a pint of milk; and when done mix it
with the carrots; add a pinch of minced orange-flowers pralinée, three quarters of a pound of powder-sugar, four whole
eggs; put in, one at a time, the yolks of six more, and a quarter of a pound of
melted butter; mix all these ingredients together well; whip up the six whites
to a froth, and stir them in by degrees. Butter a mould, and put some crumb of
bread in it, in a minute or two, turn out all the bread, and three quarters of
an hour before the cake is wanted, pour the preparation into the mould and bake
it. Serve it hot.
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