Image: Lambert, Edward · Public domain
The Art of Confectionary
- Year
- 1744
- Era
- 18th century
- Origin
- England · Europe
- Language
- English
- Category
- English pre-1800
The Art of Confectionary, issued by Edward Lambert in 1744, stands among the earliest English-language treatises devoted exclusively to sugar work and confectionery. Distinct from the general household cookery books that dominated the period, it addresses the specialised craft of preserving fruits, making syrups, candies, and ornamental sugar pieces, reflecting the rising prestige of the confectioner's trade in Georgian England and the growing domestic market for refined sweetmeats.
Cooking from this book
Orange Marmalade
An early Georgian recipe for orange marmalade set with pippin (apple) jelly rather than pectin from the peel, predating the chunky Scottish style by nearly a century. The sugar is boiled to the 'blow' stage, roughly the modern hard ball or about 250 to 260 degrees Fahrenheit.
Take six Oranges, grate two of the rinds of them upon a grater, then cut them all, and pick out the flesh from the skins and seeds; put to it the grated rind, and about half a pint of pippin jelly; take the same weight of sugar as you have of this meat so mingled; boil your sugar till it blows very strong; then put in the meat, and boil all very quick till it becomes a jelly, which you will find by dipping the scummer, and holding it up to drain; if it be a jelly, it will break from the scummer in flakes; if not, it will run off in little streams. When it is a good jelly, put it into your glasses or pots.
Note: If you find this composition too sweet, you may in the boiling add more juice of oranges; the different quickness they have, makes it difficult to prescribe.
Reproduced from the public-domain text via Project Gutenberg. Spelling lightly modernised; the headnote is editorial.
To Preserve Cherries Liquid
A classic 18th-century 'wet sweetmeat' that preserves tart Morello cherries whole in a brilliant ruby syrup set with redcurrant jelly. Lambert's instruction to 'disperse them equally' as they cool reflects the confectioner's care for visual presentation in glass jars.
Take the best Morello cherries when ripe, either stone them or clip their stalks; and to every pound take a pound of sugar, and boil it till it blows very strong, then put in the cherries, and by degrees, bring them to boil as fast as you can, that the sugar may come all over them, scum them and set them by. The next day boil some more sugar to the same degree, and put some jelly of currants, drawn as hereafter directed; for example, if you boil one pound of sugar, take one pint of jelly, put in the cherries and the syrup to the sugar; then add the jelly, and give all a boil together; scum them, and fill your glasses or pots; take care as they cool, to disperse them equally, or otherwise they will swim all to the top.
To draw Jelly of Currants: Wash well your currants, put them into your pan, and mash them; then put in a little water and boil them to a pommish; then strew it on a sieve, and press out all your juice, of which you make the jelly for all the wet sweet-meats that are red.
Reproduced from the public-domain text via Project Gutenberg. Spelling lightly modernised; the headnote is editorial.
