Sukkerarbeid og pynt

The finger test for "the small ball": dip a finger in cold water, into the sugar, and into the water again; when the sugar can be rolled into a soft ball, the stage is reached.

Erken's explanation of the sugar test "the large bubble": keep boiling and blow through a slotted spoon; when the bubbles grow larger and harder, the stage is reached.

The sugar test "the large ball": the same finger test as the small ball, but the sugar now forms a larger and harder ball.

The sugar test "the small crack": the sugar sticks to the finger and teeth but breaks with a light sound.

The sugar test "the large crack": the sugar snaps like glass; take it off the heat at once. Lemon juice or glucose prevents crystallization.

Simple rum icing from Erken's Stor kokebok 1914: 125 g confectioners' sugar stirred with the juice of half a lemon and 1 tablespoon of rum, spread on with a knife dipped in hot water and dried briefly in the oven with the door ajar.

Decorative piping icing from Erken 1914: 1 egg white, 125 g confectioners' sugar and 4 drops of lemon juice (or ¼ tsp vinegar) stirred until the mixture no longer flows out; piped through a pointed paper cone. Covered with a damp cloth when stored.

Glazing sugar: sifted powdered sugar is kept in a perforated dredger, sprinkled over pastry and melted in a hot oven to a glossy caramel.

Green pistachio glaze: 60 g blanched pistachios are pounded with 125 g confectioners' sugar and mixed with 1 tbsp orange juice and ½ tsp lemon juice; can be tinted greener with spinach coloring.

Erken's basic recipe for clarified sugar syrup: 1.5 kg sugar dissolved in 1 liter water, clarified with 2 egg whites, boiled with three additions of cold water, poached 10 minutes and strained through a cloth.

Chocolate icing from Erken 1914: 140 g chocolate melted over a water bath, mixed with 80 g sifted powdered sugar and 2 egg whites added little by little until the icing is thickly runny. Contains raw egg white.

Spun Sugar I: 2 kg sugar boiled with 4 dl water to the hard crack stage, mixed with cream of tartar, and spun into fine threads with a spoon over an oiled knife. Must not be made in humid air or a draft.

Spun Sugar II: 250 g sugar boiled with 1 1/4 dl water to the hard crack stage, mixed with 8 g glucose, cooled quickly, and flung into threads over an oiled rod on an oiled surface. The threads are cut with a hot knife and placed at once around the dessert; can be colored.

White sugar icing of 125 g confectioners' sugar, 1 egg white, and 1 dessert spoon of lemon juice, stirred 20 minutes in the same direction to a snow-white, thick icing spread on with a knife.

Erken's basic guide to sugar boiling: 1 kg sugar is dissolved in 1 liter of water, boiled over high heat without stirring, skimmed, and the edge of the pot kept clean. The boiling stages are determined with a finger test: thin thread 101.5 °C, thick thread 105.5 °C, small pearl 113.5 °C, large pearl 120 °C, small blow 125 °C, wide

Coarsely crushed loaf sugar is sifted twice; the grains that remain can be colored with a few drops of food/confectioner's coloring, rubbed evenly, dried in a lukewarm oven, and stored dry as cake decoration.