some knack is
required for the best results.

See the illustration opposite page 72.

III. FROM POTATO FONDANT

=Uncooked Fondant.=--Potato fondant is another base--even more useful
than potato paste--upon which many confections may be built. There are
two kinds--cooked and uncooked. To make the uncooked, boil or steam
Irish potatoes, drain, and force them through a fine sieve. In all
candy-making with potatoes, these directions are of the utmost
importance. Unless the potato is carefully forced through a fine sieve,
the candy made from it will have hard and gluey spots after it has dried
out. Mix one-half cupful of the potato so prepared with the unbeaten
white of one egg. Add gradually confectioner's sugar until the whole
mass assumes the consistency of bon-bon cream. Several uses for potato
fondant will be described below, but it may be substituted for French
fondant in any of the confections of which that is a part.

=Cooked Potato Fondant.=--With one-half cupful of potato, prepared as
for the uncooked fondant, very thoroughly mix two cupsful of sugar and
thin with two-thirds of a cupful of milk. Place the mixture on an
asbestos mat over the fire and cook until thick--to the sticking point.
Pour the mass on a cold, damp marble and "cut in" like plain fondant.
Knead small quantities at a time until the whole batch is smooth. Pack
in tins lined with wax paper.

The fondant can be used without additional sugar and does not stick to
the hands. It is particularly useful as a covering.

=Modeled Candy.=--Modeled candy is easy to make, good to look at and
good to eat. When shaped to imitate fruit or vegetables, it is useful as
table decoration, and is always welcome for children's parties. Indeed,
there is no sort of candy that is surer of a warm welcome by young or
old!

The difficulty has been, however, that modeling with almond paste
requires the use of ingredients that are very expensive and very often
difficult to obtain. This has made experimenting in modeling rather
expensive for the unskilled home candy-maker. Potato fondant, on the
other hand, is inexpensive and so easily obtained that the amateur need
not count the cost of failures while she experiments. By following the
directions carefully very little practice in the modeling will give her
a facility that removes her from the class of unskilled modelers. If she
prefers to use almond paste, the home candy-maker may do her practicing
with potato fondan