Anyone want to help me figure out this recipe and what some of the ingreds are???

M

mariadnoca

Moderator
This is a web led me down the rabbit hole thing....

After reading an article, it led me to information of some loose leaf papers/photos in the Denver Libray from the 1940's of the Bauer Restaurant/Candy Company recipes.

My mom, worked at Baur's during this time and as a child my aunt would send us candies from Baur's. It was something the whole family looked forward to every Christmas. Since they closed, mom has tried to locate other companies who made their recipes (others claim they do, but they are never the same), or to find the recipes themselves. We've looked for decades...and here I just stumbled across them!

Unfortunately, they would not scan all of the recipes for me, but they did of one candy mom loved -- their Crystal Cuts (a hard candy) however, looking at this recipe it has some ingredients I've never heard of and also likely an adjustment for war time (glucose to cut back on sugar??)

Anyone want to comment or help me figure out how to turn this into a batch the size I could make at home -- or know what some of these old time ingredients are???

FYI, Crystal cuts came in many flavors, not just rum (I didn't particularly like the rum -- root beer was my fav). Anyway, what gave them their name was the look of the candy -- the hard semi-clear candy crackled in the middle to look like a starburst or snowflake. 'm not likely to replicate that, but...fyi.

The mystery is afoot!

http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy163/4ebay_bucket/Misc/CrystalCuts_zpsfcda2b98.jpg

 
Glucose's chemical structure helps to keep from crystallize. You can buy it

it cake/candy supply stores. It has a density about twice that of Karo corn syrup (based on how thick it looks when I pour it out). I think the "cream of tartar" might help with the same. I've got a few CIA level candy books at home--I can check for you there.

Lecithin is a thick liquid fat that helps with preservation. Not sure how it fits with candy, but I've used it in cookies/bread. Oh, they blend it with the extracts (which are probably alcohol-based) so maybe that helps with the distribution?
Need to confirm that LECTIN is the same as LECITHIN.

(ran out to Wiki}
Well, THAT answer THAT:
Lectins are sugar-binding proteins naturally found in plants and animals.

Lecithin is a generic term for yellowish-brown fatty substances occurring in plant and animal tissue and egg yolk.

I could probably do the math for this.

 
Here is the conversion for ~1 pound of candy (~16 oz)

Ingredient Ounces
Sugar 14.4
Glucose 1.6
Butter (Nacco) 0.32
Salt 0.065
Cream of Tartar 0.025
Otten's Rum 0.04
Albert Albek's 0.04
Lectin 0.015
Total Ounces 16.51
Total Pounds 1.03

 
Here is the same conversion, but in grams (easier to measure smaller items)

Ingredient Grams
Sugar 408.23
Glucose 45.36
Butter (Nacco) 9.07
Salt 1.84
Cream of Tartar 0.71
Otten's Rum 1.13
Albert Albek's 1.13
Lectin 0.43
Total Grams 467.91
Total Ounces 16.51

 
I've got a call in at Wilbur's Chocolate in PA. They've been around for forever.

The "young" folks there didn't know whether LECTIN was still available, but she's going to check with some of the "older" folks on Monday.

 
Totally different animals... smileys/smile.gif

years ago I used lecithin and similar compounds in the lab to make what could be described as "artificial vesicles". The goal was to end up with a specific protein inserted in an environment equivalent to a cellular membrane. Membranes of all cells, human cells, animal cells, are made by molecules similar to lecithin (ok, that is a stretch, but unless there is a serious membrane biochemist around, I can get by with this little abuse.... smileys/wink.gif

lecithins are molecules with "double personality" - one part is full of charges, one part has no charge at all, in fact it "hides" from water due to the lack of charges - that makes the molecule assemble in hundreds of units together, as little spheres if you will. Those are often formed in the lab with some proteins hanging around, so that they will become part of these tiny spheres and act as "membrane proteins".

anyway, all that to say that in food chemistry, due to the dual character of lecithins - that charge and uncharged thing - they act as emulsifiers, keeping fats and water co-existing happily

 
From reading about lectin I would bet it is an old ingredient

that does what corn syrup does in the candies made now--prevents crystallization of the sugar molecules.

 
I heard back from Denise at Wilburs. None of the *older* ladies in the candy factory remember

using LECTIN in their candies. However, Wilburs is a tiny chocolate factory and they may not have made much "hard" sugar candy.

 
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