The ability to handle chocolate successfully is a great assistance to the maker of vegetable candy. Although chocolate coating is no more an essential in vegetable candy-making than in the old fashioned kind, there are very many times when the ability to use it effectively will be very useful to the confectioner. In either sort of candy-making, it is but a finish—as acceptable a finish to the one as to the other. Many people like the flavor of chocolate, and it is extremely serviceable because it furnishes a uniform covering for confections. Thus, when chocolate coated candies rub against one another in the box in which they are packed, their uniformity prevents their taking to themselves strange flavors and colors. No candy-maker should scorn to make herself master of the intricacies of chocolate coating.

The best instructor in chocolate coating is a few pounds of chocolate, firm, well-shaped centers, an allowance of time and interest, plenty of good common sense and inclination to profit by the hints given below. With the knowledge that will be accumulated after a few trials, the candy-maker will soon be able to give to her candy the niceties of the professional product. The confectioner can well begin with nuts, or some other hard centers, for they are comparatively easy to handle. By handling them, she will soon gain the experience necessary to the successful finishing of other textures. From surprisingly little experimentation, she will obtain sufficient skill to handle successfully almost any center that will take the covering.

A thorough general knowledge of the behavior of chocolate and a clear understanding of the behavior of the stock on hand are of more value than the methods of application of the coating. Since no two lots of chocolate are exactly the same, it is well to buy a fairly large supply at one time. In this way it is possible when handling the first batch to learn the peculiarities of all the chocolate purchased and thereafter to handle the stock with assurance. For good results it is well to buy the regular "coating chocolate" which is sold by many grocery and specialty stores for just this purpose. If coating chocolate cannot be obtained, ordinary baking chocolate sweetened with confectioner's sugar can be substituted, but the substitution is to be avoided, for the finished work is sure to be inferior.

In all sorts of candy-making, climatic conditions are of the utmost importance. In no other branch of cooking is the cook so dependent upon the weather. In muggy weather it is impossible to do good work; often, indeed, it is impossible to do any work at all. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the confectioner yield respectful obedience to the humidity.

This warning is of particular weight in connection with the handling of chocolate. Even if the day is only slightly rainy, or foggy, do not try to use chocolate. Even experts do not defy this law, but since they work under commercial conditions, they are generally able absolutely to control the atmosphere.

The room in which the actual operation of coating is conducted should be warm and dry. First, break into small pieces more chocolate than you will actually use in the coating. Put these lumps in a dish set over hot water and melt them slowly at a low temperature. To do this most effectually the water should previously have been boiled and the steam allowed to subside. Of course, the water must be very hot when the dish with the chocolate is placed over it. As the first piece melts, stir slowly from time to time. When the chocolate has melted, remove the dish from the heat and work all of the oil globules from the mass. This is accomplished not by hard or rapid motion, but by perseveringly and persuasively smoothing the mass until it is sufficiently cool. These oil globules, be it noted, must be treated with the greatest respect. If they become over heated, they are likely to require much more work, even if they do not ruin the batch.

In studying this melting process, it is well to think of the action of heat upon butter. Suppose, for illustration, it is desired to cream a lump of cold butter. If much heat is applied to the butter the outside immediately becomes running grease. It is possible that the cooler inside portion of the lump may be beaten into it, but the result will not be smooth. On the other hand, if the butter is allowed to soften gradually under the influence of moderate warmth, the whole mass would melt uniformly and could be beaten into the desired smoothness.

The warning that water must not be allowed accidentally to enter the chocolate cannot be too often repeated.

Probably this is the surest test as to whether or not the chocolate is ready for the dipping: Drop a center into the mass so that it will be covered with the chocolate, remove the surplus either by pulling it over the edge of the dish, or by shaking, and let the drop fall squarely upon the sheet of special confectioner's glazed paper, or of oilcloth, or oiled paper, upon which it is to be cooled. Take care lest the piece slips when dropped. If it does slip, the base will have a thin projection that may break off and, even if it does not render the coating pervious, become unsightly. If the candy-maker is careful and the coating has been worked sufficiently and has been allowed to become sufficiently cool, the base will form squarely and evenly and the chocolate immediately will become firm. In other words, the candies should begin to set at once without forming projecting bases as soon as they are dropped upon the sheet upon which they are to dry.

Although chocolates should be covered in a warm room, they should be cooled as rapidly as possible. As soon as they are finished, they should be placed upon a small tray and removed to a cool place. The small tray is desirable since by its use the candies can be quickly transferred. In summer the tray should be placed in the refrigerator, but should not be allowed to remain for more than five minutes. If the chocolate coated confections are kept upon the ice for longer than that time, they will soon be covered by a sweat that will ruin them.

After the coated drops have become cold, the candy-maker should examine them carefully. If the bases have spread, she can assume that the chocolate was not cooled sufficiently or that the surplus was not effectively removed. If the coating is streaked or light colored, she will know that the chocolate was not worked sufficiently, or that the drops did not cool quickly enough after they were coated. If the candy becomes sticky when it is brought into a warm room, the verdict will be that the oil was not properly worked into the mass.

In the chapters that follow, there are described many candies that offer desirable combinations with chocolate. In fact, the vegetable flavors are quite as adaptable to chocolate coating as are those that have already won popular attention and favor. Occasionally, in the subsequent pages, mention is made of the fact that the confection described may well be covered with chocolate, but more often chocolate coating is not suggested when it is possible. It is assumed, and no doubt safely assumed, that the candy-cook, from her experience in the old-fashioned confectionery, will know what candy can be coated, and what cannot be successfully coated.