183 CHILDREN NURSERY SWEETMAKING The Nursery its own ** Goody*' Shop — Almond and Walnut Candies— The Mystery of Surprise Dates — An Edible Noah — How to Make Marzipan Vegetables — Paper Cases for Bon-Bons MuRSERY sweetmaking without a fire is a ^^ delightful amusement for children on a wet afternoon. Coloured cream fondants, peppermint creams, almond and walnut candies, surprise dates, and peppermint zoological animals may all be quite easily made in the nursery, and need only to be left to harden for an hour or two before they are ready to eat ! A box of these home-made bon-bons, prettily packed, makes a delightful Christmas or birthday present. The only ingredients required for making the fondant, which is the foundation of each of the sweets described, are the white of an egg, a pound of sifted icing sugar, and a tablespoonful of water. Peppermint essence, vanilla flavouring, cochineal, a few dates, and a couple of ounces of walnuts and shelled almonds will give the sweets all the variety one could possibly desire. The utensils re- quired for sweet- making are a few sheets of white kitchen paper, couple of strong forks, a knife, and two big soup plates. Break the white of the egg only into a cup, and give the yolk back to cook, for it will not be needed. Roll each piece up into a ball Pour the white into a soup plate, and add the spoonful of water before putting in the icing sugar, a little at a time, and stirring It well before adding more. Work in the w^ugar until the fondant is soft and pliable without being sticky. If it is sticky, add more sugar. Next knead the fondant well, and ■ divide it into three parts. Flavour one with vanilla, and colour it pale pink; flavour a second part with vanilla, but do not colour it ; and add pepper- mint essence to the third. If you want your sweets to be very exact as to shape and size, form each piece with the help of the knife into a long roll. Cut the roll into even- sized slices, and, having washed the hands and dusted them with sugar, roll each piece of fondant up into a ball. M-^ke up the vanilla-flavoured pink and white on lant into balls first, and leave the peppermint until afterwards. To make Coloured Cream Fondants, press each ball gently on to a sheet of sugar- dusted paper, and give it a tiny pinch between the thumb and forefinger to make it the correct shape. To make Almond Candies, blanch the almonds in boiling water to remove the skins, and press an almond along the top of each ball of fondant until the almond is half embedded in the sweet. The fondant is squeezed out beyond the edges of the half-nuts
