The Complete Confectioner (1800)/Bomboons, Pastils

by Hannah Glasse and Maria Wilson

BOMBOONS, PASTILS, &c. &c.

To make Nut Bomboons.

Take pound of Spanish nuts, and boil them in an iron pan; when they are well boiled, rub off their skin with a napkin; if some stick too hard, pare it off with a knife; take a tin grater and grate your nuts very fine on a sheet of paper; then take a pound of powdered sugar to a pound of nuts, put it in a pan over a slow fire; when your sugar is all melted in stirring it perpetually with a wooden spoon, put your nuts in and work them well till all is well mixed, and pour it upon a tin plate; take a wooden rolling pin to spread it, which you must be very quick in doing, for it cools very fast; and when it is cold cut it into what form you please; you must take care the sugar should not be too much melted, for it is very apt to soften when the nuts are joined to it.

Lemon or Orange Bomboons.

Take a piece of loaf sugar, rasp the oranges or lemons with it, brush off what sticks to the sugar upon a paper; then pound in a mortar the same piece of sugar, and put it in a pan with that which is upon the paper, and which tastes of the lemon or orange; set it upon a gentle fire to melt it slowly; after which pour it upon a tin plate, which must be rubbed before with a little butter, or it will stick to the plate; then spread it with the rolling-pin as you did for the nuts (observe the rolling-pin must likewise be rubbed with butter, for fear it should stick) when this is done, and it is perfectly cold, cut it in what shape you please and send it up.

To make Bitter Almond Bomboons.

Take bitter almonds, boil them in water to take off their skin; after which place them in a stove to dry them; when they are well dried, take a grater and do as directed for the nuts; you must put the same weight of sugar as almonds.

To make Coffee-Cream Bomboons.

Take about a pint of coffee made with water, put in it a pound of loaf sugar, set it on the fire, and boil it to a high degree, then add a full pint of double cream, and let it boil again, keeping continually stirring till it comes to caramel height; to know when it is come to that point, you must have a bason of water by you, dip your finger in it, and put it quickly in your sugar, then in the water again to remove the sugar, which will have stuck to it; take a bit of it in your teeth, if it is hard in its crackling take it off, it is to the height required; pour it upon a tin plate, and proceed as directed for the lemon bomboons: when it is warm you may cut it in little squares, lozenges, or any other shaped pastiles, and draw a few strokes over them with a knife.

To make Orange-Flower Bomboons.

Take dried, burnt, or what we shall call pralined^[1] orange flower, which pound in a mortar, and pass through a sieve; then take half a pound of pounded loaf sugar, which mix with your orange flower, and put into a pan over a slow fire, to melt it gently in, stirring continually with a spoon; when it is all well melted, pour it on a tin plate, and do as directed for the lemon bomboons.

To make pralined Almonds.

Take a pound of almonds, clean them well of their dust with a cloth, put them in a pan, with a pound of sugar and a little water, let them boil till they begin to sparkle; then take them off the fire, and stir them well with a wooden spoon, till you see the sugar will turn gravelly; then set them again over a slow fire, to dissolve the sugar, keeping still stirring, that the sugar may stick to the almonds; when you see your almonds become reddish, and are well covered with sugar, take them off, pour them in a sieve, cover them with a clean cloth, and put them in a stove; this makes them preserve their gloss.

To make pralined Nuts.

Take a pound of Spanish nuts without their shells, which put in a pan with as much sugar, and proceed as directed for almonds; you may boil the nuts a little if you chuse, to take off their skin, but then the sugar does not stick on them so well. You may also make all sorts of pralines with clarified sugar, which must be proportioned in equal quantity to the weight of sugar you want to praline; your work will be certainly much the finer, for generally they use loaf sugar.

To make pralined Pistachio Nuts.

Take a pound of pistachio nuts ready shelled, have a pound of water on the fire, when it boils put your nuts in it, let them boil thus a little, then take them off and rub off their skin; put them again in another pan with an equal quantity of sugar, and continue exactly as directed for the almonds.

To make pralined Orange Peel.

Take any quantity of oranges, part them into four quarters, take their rind off, and take away very carefully all the white which is inwardly attached to it, so that there remains nothing but the very superficy of the yellow rind,which cut in strings as narrow as you please; when that is done, have a pan, in which you put some clarified sugar, and let it boil a little, then put your orange rind in, let the whole boil together to a high degree; take it off and stir it with a wooden spoon, till you see your sugar is well mixed together: you may set it again on the fire if you chuse, keeping stirring till you see the sugar begins to dissolve, then take it off immediately; this will make your orange rind firm and crackling in the mouth.

As there are people who do not like the bitterness of the orange rind, you may, in such a case, give a little boiling to your rinds before you put them in sugar.

To make fresh Orange Flower pralined.

Take any quantity of orange flowers, pick them carefully leaf by leaf; when that is done, have a pan with what quantity of clarified sugar that is necessary, boil it as before, then put your orange flower in; you will see that it will spoil all your sugar by the water it will throw off; let it boil thus till your sugar recovers as far as the first degree, then take it from the fire, and stir it till your sugar turn sand or gravel-like: should it not dry so well as you would have it, set it again on the fire, and keep stirring it perpetually, till you see your sugar begins to melt; take it off immediately, and continue by stirring to reduce it into a sand: better to have a little more trouble in working your sugar to reduce in sand, because then the orange flower does not take so much sugar, and has a better flavour; after it is dried throw it in a sieve to drain the sugar from it, and keep nothing but the flower; then place it in that sieve, in the stove, to finish drying it quite, stirring now and then for fear it should stick together; when it is well dried, put it in your boxes and keep it for use.

To make Lemon Pastils.

Take half a pound of pounded loaf sugar, sifted as fine as possible, put it in a plate, take three or four lemons, which squeeze over your sugar; mix it well with a spoon, till you see it makes what is called a royal paste, a little thickish, that you may take it upon a knife: then take half a sheet of paper and cover it with little, round, and flat drops, which we call pastils, of the size of a farthing; place it in the stove with a slow, fire till it is quite dry, and take if off from the paper; you may add to it, if you chuse, some of the skin of the lemon rasped or grated, but not chipped; for as it is a melting pastil, some of the bits would remain in the mouth, which is not quite so well.

To make Chocolate Pastils.

Take a little chocolate, which put in a pan over the fire to melt it; stir it with a spoon, when it is well melted, take half a pounded in a mortar and sifted, which dissolved in a little clear water. When that is done, put in your chocolate; if you find the paste too thick, add a little water, enough to bring it to that degree of liquidity specified for the lemons; then dress it on half sheets of paper as we then directed, but do not put it in the stove, for the heat softens chocolate; let it dry naturally in a cupboard, and when dry, take them off from the paper and put them in boxes for such purpose.

To make Raspberry Pastils.

Take half a pound of pounded loaf sugar on a plate, then a quantity of raspberries, which squeeze through a sieve; when that is done, add the juice to the sugar till it makes a paste of that consistency specified in speaking of the lemons; dress it on the paper and put it in the stove till dry.

Another Way to make Raspberry Pastils.

Mash the raspberries, put in a little water, boil and strain them, then half a pound of fine sugar, sifted through an hair sieve; just wet the sugar to make it as thick as a paste; put to it twenty drops of spirits of vitriol, set it over the fire, making it scalding hot, but not to boil: drop it on paper, it will soon be dry; if it will not come off easily, wet the paper. Let them lie a day or two on the same paper.

To make Currant Pastils.

Do exactly as directed for the raspberries; you have no occasion to put any water to these two sorts, because the juice of the fruit is enough of itself to dissolve the sugar, and make your paste as thick and as clear as you would have it.

To make Coffee Pastils.

Take half a pound of pounded loaf sugar, have about the quantity of two dishes of coffee made with water, which put in your sugar, and mix well till you see it makes a royal paste a little thick, and proceed as before directed for the lemon drops.

You may make them another way, viz. with ground coffee, which you sift very fine through a sieve, then adding a little water, as directed for the chocolate drops.

To make Orange Pastils.

Take about a dozen oranges, squeeze out the juice, boil the rind very tender, cut out most of the white, and beat the yellow rind very fine; rub it through an hair sieve, and to a pound of the pulp put a pound and a half of fine sugar, put in the juice till you make it thin enough to drop from a tea-spoon: drop it on glasses, and set it by the fire; let it stand there about two hours, and then put it in a stove; the next day turn it: it will be dry in twenty-four hours.

To make Barberry Pastils.

Take a good quantity of barberries, strip them off the stalks; put to them a little water, to keep them from burning; boil them, and mash them as they boil, till they are very dry; then rub them through an hair sieve, and afterwards strain them through a strainer, that there may be none of the black noses in it; make it scalding hot, and half a pint of the pulp a pound of the sifted sugar; let it scald, and drop it on boards or glasses; then put it in a stove, and turn it when it is candied.

To make Ratafia Pastils, either of Apricot Kernels, or half bitter, and half sweet Almonds.

Take a pound of kernels or almonds, beat very fine with rose-water, take a pound of sifted sugar and the whites of five eggs beat to a froth, mix them well together, and set them on a slow fire; keep them stirring till they begin to be stiff: when they are quite cold, make them in little round drops; bake them on paper and thin plates.

1. The word praline is from the French; there being no word to express the real idea of the French in this mode of preserving.