Image: compiled by The Ladies' Aid Society of the Wayne Methodist Episcopal Church, Wayne, PA · Public domain
The Italian Confectioner
- Year
- 1820
- Era
- 19th century
- Origin
- England · Europe
- Language
- English
- Category
- Drinks/Confectionery
The Italian Confectioner, first issued in 1820, is a practical manual of sugar work, ices, preserves, and ornamental confectionery compiled by William Jarrin, an Italian-trained confectioner working in London. Notable for its coloured plates illustrating moulds for jellies, ices, and table ornaments, the work documents Regency-era pastillage and sugar sculpture, and remained a standard English-language reference through several revised editions across the nineteenth century.
Cooking from this book
Italian Spun Sugar Centrepiece
Signature dishJarrin's name is forever linked with the elaborate spun sugar centrepiece, a glittering architectural showpiece designed to crown a Regency dessert table. As a London confectioner trained in the Italian manner, he brought a sculptor's eye to sugar work, and his book is celebrated for the coloured plates of moulds that guided English pastry cooks toward continental sophistication. The spun sugar piece, fragile and theatrical, captures the ambition that made this volume a touchstone of nineteenth century confectionery.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
