The Complete Home Confectioner

Hilary Walden. Softcover with flaps. English. Quantum Books, 2005. Secondhand. 160pp. Homemade sweets are cheap and simple to make, are free from artificial preservatives and additives and make ideal presents for any occasion. With this book anyone can become an expert in this home tradition. It is divided into two sections: basic methods and recipes. Basic methods lay the ground rules for everything from storage times and suitable wrappings to the various stages of sugar boiling, whilst all essential equipment and ingredients are described in clear detail. The recipes are divided according to type - fudge, fondant, caramels, marshmallows, pulled sweets, nougat, chocolate work, nuts, crystallized sweets and flowers and marzipan. Step-by-step instructions and photographs clearly explain the basic methods starting with the simple sweets and uncooked versions of the classics, such as fondants, and then moving on to more complicated projects such as barley sticks and humbugs. Each sweet is illustrated in colour to give you a true model to work to, with ideas for gifts, wrappings and presents for special occasions.