Violet Flower Spanish Candy Wedges is a traditional English recipe from the Elizabethan period for a candy (sweet) of apple puree flavoured with violets and set with sugar that's cut into wedges, gilded and served. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic English version of: Violet Flower Spanish Candy Wedges.
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The recipe presented here comes from A Book of Fruits and Flowers (London, 1653)
Take Violets, Cowslips, or any other kinde of Flowers, pick them, and temper them with the pap of two roasted Apples, and a drop or two of Verjuice, and a graine of Muske, then take halfe a pound of fine hard Sugar, boyle it to the height of Manus christi, then mix them together, and pour on a wet Pye plate, then cut it in Wedges before it be thorough cold, gild it, and so you may box it, and keep it all the year. It is a fine sort of Banquetting stuffe, and newly used, your Manus Christi must boyle a good while, and be kept with good stirring.
Modern Redaction
In Medieval and Elizabethan cookery Manus christi was a sugar confection and 'boyle it to the height of Manus christi' is a reference to the cooking of that confection. Essentially the sugar needs to be boiled to the Thread Stage of sugar cookery (110–113°C).
This is called a 'Spanish Candy' as the original recipe came from Spain, where it was made with quinces rather than apples. In this English version apples are substituted for the original quinces. In effect it's an apple, flower and verjuice sweetmeat. Note that this would have originally been made with freshly-grated lump sugar rather than modern refined sugar. A blend of 50% jaggery and 50% brown sugar would be an acceptable substitute.
Ingredients:
100g sweet violet flowers
2 dessert apples
1/2 tsp verjuice
50mg musk or ambergris (if available)
225g sugar (this should really be lump sugar or jaggery)
Method:
Core the apples, place on a baking tray, add a little butter then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 160°C and bake for about 40 minutes, or until very soft. Remove he apples from the oven, remove the skins and beat the flesh until smooth then mix in the violet flowers.
Add the sugar to a pan and heat gently, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Continue heating (still stirring all the time) until the sugar reaches about 112°C (the thread stage). Immediately take the sugar off the heat and beat into the apple and violet mix. Turn this mixture into a buttered pie dish and spread out evenly.
Just before the mixture sets completely cut into wedges. Allow to cool then separate the wedges. Traditionally these would have been gilded before eating. Even without the gilding, they still make a very interesting dessert or sweet snack.
