Welcome to the Old-fashioned Recipe for Fondant Page of the:-

Vera Rider has uncovered this interesting recipe for fondant, or candy, for winter/spring feeding.
It comes from the 1945 Yorkshire B.K.A. handbook, but is still relevant today.

The old fashioned wording has been kept as in the original article.

Candy for Bees.
5lb or 5 pints of cane sugar, 1 pint of water, half level teaspoon full cream of tartar.  
Place water in pan and bring to boil, add sugar and cream of tartar.  
Boil very slowly until every grain is dissolved, then boil more briskly continually stirring
until 235 degrees Fahrenheit is reached if a thermometer is used, or when the contents rise 
up in foam and bubbles.  Allow this to continue for two minutes.  
To test if boiled sufficiently without using a thermometer, drop a little syrup on a cool 
surface such as a plate.  If it does not stick to the fingers when pressed in and withdrawn 
it is boiled sufficiently, but should it stick to the fingers it should be boiled again for
half a minute and again tested.  Remove from fire and allow to cool.  
Whilst cooling the contents should not be stirred.  When thermometer reaches 137 degrees 
Fahrenheit, or when a thin crust of sugar is beginning to form on top, it should be stirred 
briskly and should soon turn creamy and stiff, when it can be placed in moulds.  
To make good candy with a nice smooth grain, it is essential that the early part of the 
process be not hurried.

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