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Plum Lozenges, for Dessert
Put a pound of ripe and sound Orleans plums into a jar, and place them in a saucepan of boiling water over the fire until they are so soft that the stones can be removed. Whilst this is being done, soften in the same way half a pound of cored and sliced apples. Turn both plums and apples into a preserving-pan. Put with them the juice of half a lemon, and three-quarters of a pound of sugar, and boil quickly for three-quarters of an hour. Stir well to keep the fruit from burning. Pour the paste upon shallow dishes, and when it is cold cut it into lozenges, and dry these on a sieve before the fire. Keep them between sheets of writing-paper in a tin box.
This is a fruit paste in the mould of quince cheese or membrillo, cut into sweets rather than served in slices. The whole thing hinges on cooking the purée down far enough that it sets firm when cold.
- Orleans plumsAn old plum variety, long grown in English orchards, purple-red and fairly acid. Any firm, tart plum works — damsons, Italian prunes, or slightly underripe Victorias. Avoid very sweet supermarket plums, which give a flabby paste.
- Why the applesThey are there for pectin, not flavour. Use a tart cooking apple such as Bramley or Granny Smith, and keep the peel on for extra setting power even though the original says cored and sliced only.
- The jar in boiling waterA makeshift bain-marie to soften the fruit without scorching it or adding water. A covered heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water does the same job; give it as long as it takes for the fruit to collapse, which may be half an hour or more depending on ripeness.
- Preserving-panA wide, heavy, unlined copper or brass pan. Use the widest heavy-based saucepan or a straight-sided sauté pan you have — surface area is what drives off the water.
- "Boil quickly for three-quarters of an hour"Treat this as a guide, not a rule. Take it off when the paste is thick enough that a spoon drawn across the bottom leaves a clear track that does not flood back, roughly 105–107C on a sugar thermometer. It will spit, so use a long spoon and stir constantly.
- Sieving is optional but worth itPassing the softened fruit through a sieve before adding the sugar removes skins and gives a smoother lozenge. The original leaves them in.
- Depth of the dishesThe recipe says only "shallow"; something around a centimetre is a workable depth. Line the dishes with lightly oiled parchment; the paste is stubborn on bare china.
- Drying "before the fire"An oven at its lowest setting, 50–60C with the door ajar, does the same over several hours. The lozenges should be dry and firm to the touch but still supple inside.
- Writing-paper and storageSheets of writing paper kept the pieces from sticking to one another. Use parchment or baking paper, layered in an airtight tin. They keep for months in a cool cupboard, though they will weep if the paste was undercooked.
- YieldAbout 1 lb of finished paste, giving 40–60 lozenges depending on how you cut them.
Fruit pastes of this kind are among the oldest sweetmeats in English cookery, descended from the medieval and Tudor "quiddonies" and fruit "cheeses" — boiled-down purées set stiff with sugar and the fruit's own pectin, then dried and cut. They belonged to the banquet or dessert course, served alongside comfits and candied peel, and were valued as much for keeping a summer glut of fruit into winter as for eating fresh. The Orleans plum named here was a standard English orchard variety of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; it has since dropped out of commercial growing. Storing the finished lozenges between sheets of writing-paper is a detail worth noticing: paper was a household commodity a Victorian cook could count on.