in an oven with the
door open, to dry. Boil two pounds of sugar with a pint of water and two
tablespoonfuls of vinegar till it begins to change color (this is some
little time after the brittle stage is reached, and is called caramel);
lightly oil the skimmer, and drop a basket in the candy; remove as
quickly as possible, but see that the whole is well coated, yet has as
little superfluous candy as possible, for which reason the baskets must
be warm when they are dipped, also the skimmer. You must not leave the
candy on the fire after it _begins_ to change color, but the work of
coating the baskets had better be done quite near the fire, with the pot
containing the candy on some part of it where it will be kept hot, but
not cook. They must be slipped on to an oiled dish, and, needless to
say, most carefully handled.

Other baskets are made with nougat, others with pastry, and the Swiss
make what they call _Vacherin_ with almond paste, and serve whipped
cream in them; but the idea may be extended and improved upon by serving
dried fruits or candies, or ice-cream in them, and they are a decided
improvement on the paper baskets so often used for the last purpose,
being eatable.

_Swiss Vacherin._--Take half a pound of almond paste, three quarters of
a pound of confectioners' sugar, and the white of one egg. Shave the
almond paste, stir the egg and sugar together, and flavor with a little
orange-flower water or wine; work all together with the hand into a
smooth, stiff paste that will roll out; if there is a disposition to
crack or crumble, use more white of egg and almond paste. Roll it just
as you would pie crust on the pastry board, using confectioners' sugar
in place of flour. Line small cups or tartlet moulds, or anything that
will make a good form for baskets, which have been very slightly oiled.
Put them aside to harden and dry. Chop a tablespoonful of blanched
pistachio-nuts till they are as fine as corn-meal, mix with an equal
quantity of granulated sugar. Trim the edges of the cups or baskets with
scissors, turn them out of the moulds, very carefully dip the edges in a
saucer containing white of egg beaten to liquid--the edges only need to
be just wet. Have the chopped pistachio-nuts and sugar also in a saucer,
dip the wet edge of the cup lightly into it, and shake gently. If
properly done, the cups will now have a pretty green border. When these
are filled with whipped cream, sweetened, flavored, and colored, t