Friday, December 12, 2014

The Bookworm Presents - The Vintage Sweets Book

When I saw that the lovely Angel Adoree had released another book I knew that I had to snap it up so I ordered one straight away. Unfortunately there were a few issues with delivery and my copy has only just arrived but I thought I'd share it with you.

The Vintage Sweets Book is the third book released by Angel and includes divine illustrations from Adele Mildred including templates for boxes, puppets and many more delights. The book includes an introduction and a section on sweetie know how with great hints and tips and a sweet beginign section with basic simple to make sweets.  It also includes recipes for softball, firmball and hardball sweet as well a soft-crack and hard-crack sweets. There is also a useful resources section.

"The eagerly anticipated follow up to the hugely successful The Vintage Tea Party Book. Add a novel twist to your soiree with grown-up sweets and matching cocktails to generate an aura of nostalgic sophistication .Reinvent your favorite childhood treats with grown-up flavors like lemon and mint, strawberry and basil and cherry and almond .Angel's styling tips help you create a unique vintage atmosphere The Vintage Sweet Book takes you on a delicious journey back to your favorite childhood treats, allowing you to rediscover the magic by creating them in your very own kitchen! Angel Adoree provides a mouth-watering selection of retro sweets recipes to make with your friends and family. And don't forget to add the vintage touch: presentation suggestions throughout help you get the maximum impact when you serve up your sweets."

With Christmas on the way my Sister and I decided to test out one of the recipes from the book and try making some rum and raisin fudge:
Ingredients:
50ml (2fl oz) dark rum
100g (3½oz) raisins, roughly chopped
100g (3½oz) butter, plus extra for greasing
397g can sweetened condensed milk
125ml (4fl oz) milk
450g (1lb) demerara sugar

Method:
Put the dark rum in a bowl and add the chopped raisins. Set aside to soak.
Grease a 20cm (8in) square cake tin and line it with nonstick baking paper.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a large nonstick saucepan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Then remove the sugar crystals that are stuck to the inside of the pan above the bubbling solution.
Bring the mixture to the boil, then simmer gently for 10–15 minutes, stirring constantly, until it reaches 116.C (240F) – the softball stage.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the temperature of the mixture to drop to 110C (230F) before beating it. Beat with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes until the mixture is very thick and almost has the consistency and look of smooth peanut butter. This step is vital for thickening the fudge, so ensure you beat the mixture until it is very thick and stiff.
Stir in the raisins and the rum, then pour the mixture into the prepared tin and set aside for about 3 hours to cool.
When the fudge is completely cold, cut it into 24 small squares using a sharp knife.

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