At the Sign of the Sugared Plum

by Mary Hooper

  Remove and place the plums in a very low oven or airing cupboard until thoroughly dry, then dip each fruit quickly into boiling water, drain off excess moisture and roll in caster sugar. Pack in greaseproof paper until needed.

  Sugared orange peel

  Wash two large unwaxed oranges, and use a small sharp knife to cut off the tops and bottoms. Slice off the peel very thinly, from top to bottom, taking care to get only the zest. Cut the zest into long neat strips, then cut it in half, so that each strip is about 4 x 1 cm. Boil a saucepan of water, add the orange peel and boil for three minutes. Drain and plunge the peel into cold water. Repeat this blanching process twice more, using fresh boiling water each time.

  Put 500ml of cold water and 500g caster sugar into a saucepan and boil until the sugar is dissolved. Add the drained peel and simmer for one hour. Drain and dry on a rack for three hours.

  Candied angelica

  Cut several tender angelica stems into equal lengths, cover with water and boil for five minutes. Peel off the outer skin and simmer until the stems turn light green. Drain and dry on a cooling rack. Cover with plenty of sugar and leave for three days. Then place in water and simmer gently until they turn green again. Drain, roll in caster sugar and dry on a rack.

  Marchpane (Marzipan) fruits (A modern-day version)

  450g ground almonds

  225g icing sugar

  225g caster sugar 2 eggs

  1 tbs. lemon juice

  Whisk the eggs and lemon juice. Stir in the sugars and ground almonds, and use your hands to form the mixture into a ball.

  Divide this ball up according to how many different fruits you intend to make, and knead a few drops of colouring agent into each new ball.

  Make up your fruits by shaping as necessary, and refrigerate until needed.

  Frosted rose petals

  Break apart full pink or red roses and remove the white bottom edge of each petal. Sprinkle the petals with rose water (or dip them in a bowl of it) then lay them to dry on kitchen paper in the sunshine. Sift icing sugar over them. Every two hours or so, repeat the process, turning them over each time, until the petals have dried to a crisp. Lay in boxes between white paper.

  Bloomsbury Publishing, London, Berlin, New York and Sydney

  First published in Great Britain in August 2003 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  36 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QY

  First published in the USA in August 2003 by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers

  175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

  This electronic edition published in July 2011 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

  Text copyright © Mary Hooper 2003

  The moral right of the author has been asserted

  All rights reserved

  You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise

  make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means

  (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying,

  printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the

  publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication

  may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978 1 4088 2544 0

  www.bloomsbury.com

  www.maryhooper.co.uk

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