Sue's Diner: Chocolate Caramels from 1881

The recipe Rebekah and I are featuring in Sue's Diner this week is from 1881. A variation of it ran in the New York Times.

It's not an official "BryonySeries" recipe, in the sense that it has not (so far) appeared in any of the books as a food reference, and we haven't used it in one of our cookbooks.

To us, it tasted like a cross between the molasses candy of the nineteenth century and a chocolate taffy. The taste of the molasses is stronger than the chocolate, which was still an more unusual ingredient at the time.

Try this recipe on the Sue's Diner page on the BryonySeries website. Scroll down to "Recipe of the Week."

But try it this week. It will be gone next week. A new recipe will take it's place.

By the way, Sue's Diner is only real in the BryonySeries world. But didn't Timothy do a great job making the page look like a real menu at a vintage diner?

They often made snacks. Sometimes the "snack" was a batch of molasses candy. At other times, they boiled a fruit pudding and ate it straight from the bag with a butter sauce. "Before The Blood, Bryony Simons"

Playing "Old-Fashioned Girl"

It seemed that every nineteenth century book I read as a child, from An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott to Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder referenced some form of molasses candy.

So of course when writing Bryony, I referenced it, too, and put an authentic recipe (i.e. one that doesn't contain corn syrup) into the office BryonySeries cookbook, Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles from "Bryony," which is a fundraiser for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties.

Yesterday, Rebekah Baran and I made some, but we started too late to to post it. Here's some of the highlights.

Try the recipe HERE.

What did I think of the my first bite of nineteenth century candy? It's not very sweet; I could see why some recipes call for "nutmeats" (if anything to keep the teeth from sticking together); and I kept Almonzo's pig in mind and ate only very tiny pieces at one time.

Molasses boiling on the stove. This was the longest part of the process.

Molasses lightens in color after saleratus (baking soda) is added.

Molasses nearly cooled enough to pull and shape.

The finished product.

Molasses Candy

Always wanted to try this, ever since I read Louis May Alcott's An Old-Fashioned Girl when I was nine. Saleratus, by the way, is sodium bicarbonate: baking soda

 Melissa, as Bryony, had a close relationship with the housemaid’s little daughter, Anna, much to John’s chagrin. They shared spiced hot chocolate at bedtime, and Melissa looked the other way when Anna sneaked candied orange peels.

 Of course, once John was gone, the fun began in earnest. Melissa would hijack the kitchen to make molasses candy with Anna or share an entire boiled fruit pudding with the little girl for supper.

Molasses Candy

1 quart molasses

1 teaspoon saleratus, dissolved in a little warm water

Boil molasses until a small amount, when dropped into cold water, becomes crisp. Add saleratus and beat well. Pour into a buttered pan. Let cool 5 minutes, butter fingers, and pull until tan in color. Cut into sticks.

From "Memories in the Kitchen: Bites and Nibbles From 'Bryony'"

All proceeds benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Will and Grundy Counties. www.bbbswillgrundy.org.

Order the cookbook at www.bryonyseries.com/Dalton_s_Dry_Goods.html.