Historical Candy: Pine Nut Candy from England
Traditional English Sweet Candy of Medieval Times
Sep 21, 2008
Extreme sweetmeat, Pine Nut Candy, is well established in the feasting of medieval royal courts of England. Medieval English court kitchens used breadcrumbs, sugar, local honey, ginger and pine nut kernels in their recipes for Pine Nut Candy.
Candy cooks desiring a very sweet tasting candy may wish to be inspired to make this historical candy.
Pine Nut Candy Recipe
Cook will note how the directions to make Pine Nut Candy are similar to making a brittle. Indeed, the modern recipe below could be adapted to make a Pumpkin Seed Candy, with equally sweet results and nutty texture as a sweet candy.
Several published recipes for Pine Nut Candy exist. Food historian Maggie Black’s Pine Nut Candy published in her The Medieval Cookbook (The British Museum Press, 1992 reprint 2007) has provenance as being close to the original medieval confectionary.
Different proportions for the locally sourced honey and pine nut kernels may relate to the desired expenditure on making the Pine Nut Candy. If resources allow, pine nut kernels can come forward as the main ingredients and not bulked with breadcrumbs, however authentic an approach this is.
Here’s a recipe for making very sweet Pine Nut Candy at home, perhaps for a Christmas candy bag.
Ingredients:
- 200g (7 oz) white sugar
- 4 tablespoons clear local honey
- 100ml water
- 100g pine nut kernels
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
Directions:
- Chill a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Chop the pine nut kernels into as small as pieces as possible.
- Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved.
- Add the honey to the saucepan and heat gently for a minute.
- Take the saucepan off the heat.
- Pour the syrup, made from the sugar, water and honey, into the chilled bowl.
- Beat the syrup hard for 3 to 5 minutes before adding the ground ginger and the chopped pine nut kernels.
- Mix the ground ginger in well.
- Ensure that all the chopped pine nut kernels are well coated by the mixture.
- Spoon the pine nut mixture into a greased shallow tin and leave to harden. This will take at least 20 minutes, perhaps longer.
- Cut into small pieces to serve or place in a candy bag as a gift.
- Pine Nut Candy is best eaten fresh and should be eaten within five days of cooking.
Pumpkin Seed Candy recipe
As an alternative or second nutty candy, perhaps for a Hallowe’en (or Halloween) candy bag or party, 100g pumpkin seeds can be substituted for the pine nut kernels in the ingredients and added at step 7 in the directions above.
Pine Nut Candy has provenance as a confectionary from Christmas feasting in medieval England. Royal court kitchens would have prepared the recipe using breadcrumbs with pine nut kernels, ground ginger, honey, sugar and water.
Pine Nut Candy is a good looking candy for a sweetie gift bag or party, that is an extremely sweet treat.
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