17-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Saturday, December 21, 1912: Had quite a time putting things in order this morning, but how long they will stay that way I can’t tell. Ruth made some Christmas candy this afternoon.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
What kind of candy did Grandma’s sister Ruth make? . . .Maybe old-fashioned Coffee Candy? . . . Dare I suggest it? . . . I tried making Coffee Candy last December and it was a disaster that crumbled into tiny pieces. (See Interpreting Old Recipes: The Case of Coffee Candy.)
Usually when I have a cooking failure I never make the recipe again. But, bolstered by everyone’s comments and suggestions last year, I decided to give it another try.
I made some adaptations to the recipe I used last year. Here’s what I did:
Old-fashioned Coffee Candy
Boil together over moderate heat, without stirring, one-half cup strong coffee, two tablespoons butter, and two cups sugar. Boil to soft ball stage (238 degrees). Remove the pan from stove. Beat rapidly until it creams. Stir in a cup of chopped walnuts, press firmly into a buttered pan and cut into squares. (I used a 6 1/2-inch square pan.)
This Coffee Candy turned out much better this year. It had a nice coffee flavor, and a texture similar to pralines. It still had a slight tendency to crumble when I cut it, but most pieces came out of the pan just fine.
Lightweight glass balls on tinsel strands gives the effect.
The butterflies are of spun glass in myriad colors and marking. The birds are lifelike celluloid models.
The tree of snow is the latest contribution to the science of Christmas festivities. The tree is bleached white, made fireproof, and chemically preserved so that it can be used year after year, thereby aiding the campaign against the devastation of our evergreens. The decorations of rose garlands is as unusual as the tree, and the crimson of the flowers forms a brilliant contrast to the dazzling whiteness.
