Mrs Beetons Sweets and Candy Revisited
To Make Barley Sugar
To every 450g (1lb) of Sugar allow:
285ml (½ pint) Water
½ Egg White
Lemon Juice
Lemon Essence
Put the sugar into a saucepan, with the water and when dissolved, place it over a medium heat, adding the well beaten egg white before the mixture gets warm and stir well together.
When it boils, remove the scum as it rises and keep it boiling until no more appears and the syrup looks perfectly clear.
Strain it through a fine sieve or muslin bag and return to the saucepan.
Boil again like caramel, until it is brittle, when a little is dropped in a basin of cold water, it is then boiled enough.
Add a little lemon juice and a few drops of lemon essence and let it stand for a minute or two.
Have a marble slab or large dish ready, rubbed with salad oil.
Pour on the sugar and cut it into strips with a pair of scissors, these strips should then be twisted and the barley-sugar stored away in a very dry place.
It may be formed into lozenges or drops, by dropping the sugar in a very small quantity at a time on to the oiled slab or dish.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 sticks.
Time: 15 minutes.
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