Early Confit Recipes

A Book Of Cookrye published 1591

To Make Cherries in Confection.

Take ripe and chosen cherries, cut of half the stalks and put them in a frying pan over a soft fire, for every pound of Cheries strew upon them a pound of good white sugar in pouder, seeth them so till the third part be wasted, when they are sod put in a little Rosewater with a few cloves, and sinamon beaten togither, then let them coole two or three houres, and then put them into your pots.

To Make Prunes in Confection.

Take Prunes of damaske & do like with them as you did with cheries, save that for every pound of Prunes take xii. ounces of sugar, and that there must be wasted the fourth parte of the sirrup awaye, and that the Cloves and Sinamon must be but half brused, or els both be a like.

Thomas Dawson, THE SECOND PART OF THE GOOD HUS-WIVES JEWELL, 1597.

"A goodlye secret for to condite or confite Orenges, citrons, and all other fruites in sirrop"

"(1) Take Cytrons and cut them in peeces, taking out of them the iuice or substance, (2) then boyle them in freshe water halfe an hower untill they be tender, and when you take them out, (3) cast them into cold water, leave them there a good while, (4) then set them on the fire againe in other freshe water, (5) doo but heate it a little with a small fire, for it not seeth, but let it simper a little (6) continue thus eight daies together heating them every day inn hot water: (7) some heat the watre but one day, to the end that the citron be not too tender, but change the freshe water at night to take out the bitternesse of the pilles, the which being taken away, (8) you must take suger or Hony clarified, wherein you must the citrons put, (9) having first wel dried them from the water, & in winter you must keep them from the frost, (10) & in the Sommer you shal leave them there all night, and a day and a night in Honie, (11) then boile the Honie or Sugar by it selfe without the orenges or Citrons by the space of halfe an hower or lesse with a little fire, (12) and being colde set it againe to the fire with the Citrons, (13) continuing so two mornings: if you wil put Honnie in water and not suger, you must clarifie it two times, and straine it through a strayner: having thus warmed and clarified it you shall straine and (14) sett it againe to the fire, with Citrons onely, making them to boyle with a soft fire the space of a quarter of an houre, (15) then take it from the fire & let it rest at every time you do it, a day & a night: (16) the next morning you shall boyle it again together the space of half an hower, and (17) doo so two morninges, to the end that the Honie or Suger may be well incorporated with the Citrons. All the cumuing (sic) consisteth in the boyling of this sirrope together with the Citrons, and also the Sirrope by it selfe,and heerein heede must be takken that it take not the smoke, so that it savour not of the fire: In this manner may be drest the Peaches, or lemmons Orenges, Apples, green Malnuts, and (18) other liste being boile more or lesse, according to the nature of the fruits."

Ranciata: The Original Mediterranean Cuisine: Medieval recipes for today. Santich, Barbara, Chicago Review Press, 1995. ISBN 1-55652-272-X. Recipe originally from the Liber per Cuoco.

Toy la scorza del ranzo e fane quellii pezi che tu vole e curali ben dentro, miti a mole per 15 zorni poy le lessa in aqua tanto che sia tenere, lasale sugare per tri zorni, poy lomiti in lo mele che tu la voi bolire per tri zorni, poi la fa bolire un pocho e chambia poy quello mele e miti l'altro chon le spezie; ma prima le specie siano messe dentro sia spumato lo mele, bolla tanto che 'l mele sia ben cocto, poy la lassa alquanti zorni a l'aiere senza sole.

Her translation:

Take orange peel and cut it into pieces as desired and clean the inside, and set them to soak for 2 weeks then boil them in water until soft, leave them to dry for 3 days, then put them in the honey that you wish them to boil in for 3 days, then boil them a little and then change this honey for the other with the spices; but first the spices have to be put in the honey; then boil these together, skimming, until the honey is well cooked, then leave them to dry for several days in the fresh air, out of the sun.

Her recipe:

Carefully remove the peel of ripe, unwaxed oranges, retaining most of the pith. Cut into fine strips or segments, as desired. Soak in several changes of fresh water for 24 hours. At the end of this time, drain, then slowly bring to the boil in fresh water to cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Drain the orange peel, pat dry and leave to dry thoroughly, weigh when dry.

Measure an equal mass of honey and slowly bring to the boil, skimming the froth from the surface. Add the peel and cook slowly until the honey reaches the 'soft ball' stage, by which stage there will be very little 'free' honey remaining. Remove the orange peel and arrange it on an oiled tray, or on a tray lined with baking paper. Leave to dry for several days and sprinkle with ground ginger, or toss in a little caster sugar flavoured with ginger, before storing in an airtight container.