Antoinette Pope School New Candy Cookbook [Hardcover]

Pope (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: MacMillan Publishing Company (October 1956)
• ISBN-10: 0025980106
• ISBN-13: 978-0025980105
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,722,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Candy Reference for Professionals, February 25, 2005

By 

jerry i h (Berkeley, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Antoinette Pope School New Candy Cookbook (Hardcover)

This rather modest little book has a gained a legendary reputation, and rightfully so. If you are an experienced candy maker or confectioner, this book is a must-have. If you are an average home cook, however, you better forget about this book; it is definitely not for beginners.

During the immediate post-WW2 era a few decades ago, the Pope's ran a highly respected candy cooking school in Chicago (now defunct). This book seems to have been intended as a recipe reference book for graduates of that school. The introduction proudly states that many such people went on to start their own, successful candy business, presumably using the recipes in this book.

Considering this book's milieu, it is not surprising that all of the recipes have been thoroughly battle tested. The most reliable and complete candy recipes I have ever seen are in this book (in fact, I have only 4 quibbles from the whole book: the suggestion to store milk chocolate in the refrigerator, the treatment of gelatin in the marshmallow recipe, melting chocolate in a warm oven; I also question the statement that their special brittle recipe does not need to be stretched, since you are suppose to flip it over and spread it thin with 2 forks, which amounts to the same thing). This book is now out of print, and commands an obscenely high price as a used book. This book should be the source of all standard candy recipes for all those who make candy, whether amateur or pro. If you need a recipe for something, this is the first place to look. As such, this book is worth pretty much whatever price you have to pay for it. The only problem is that the recipe amounts are for small batches on a home stove; if you need amounts for a commercial recipe (e.g. 10# or 20#), you will either have to multiply the recipes or consult a professional reference (e.g. "Choice Confections" by Walter Richmond).

For the average home cook, the situation is a little different. This book, and many other candy books published contemporaneously, comes from an era where all women were homemakers who cooked 3 meals a day for her family and were expected to produce a panoply of candy every Christmas. This era, along with the culinary skills accumulated by these housewives, is long gone. In order to use this book successfully, you would either have to be one of these stay at home moms or be a graduate of a candy cooking course. A typical example is the recipe for divinity: it states that you beat the egg whites "until they cling to bowl". An experienced candy maker knows exactly what the author is referring to, but probably not the average home cook who is making candy for the first time. It assumes an awful lot of foundation skills that are not explained or indicated in the recipes. Many of the pesky little details you need are not explained.

Note that this book is a 3rd edition. I have not seen the 1st or 2nd editions, so am unable to tell you what the differences are. It has chapters on measurements, ingredients, equipment, fondant, fudge, divinity, caramel, taffy, marshmallow, brittles, hard candies, popcorn, jelly, marzipan, chocolate dip, easter eggs, and a worthless chapter on using Pope-School proprietary rubber molds.