CRAFT PROFILE: Culinary Crafts ~ Sweet Making
For this month’s craft profile, I’m tossing the bikini diet aside to take a look at a very delicious crafty skill – sweet making.
History
Honey is the earliest and simplest form of sugary treat, but until the 19th century choices for those with a sweet-tooth were relatively few and reserved for those that could afford it. The medieval wealthy enjoyed preserved fruits, the rich Tudors indulged in marzipan sculptures and in the 17th Century barley sugar, ice cream and nougat were introduced. The industrial revolution coupled with the wider availability of sugar made sweets more affordable. Many of the sweets we still love today were invented in the 19th century – peanut brittle, candy floss, marshmallow and toffee to name a few.
The king of confectionary, chocolate, originated from the bitter cocoa drunk by the Aztecs and bought to Europe by Cortez. The first shop to sell drinking chocolate in London was opened in 1657, but it wasn’t until the 1840s that Fry’s and Cadbury’s produced chocolate made specifically for eating. Today, over £3000 million is spent on chocolates and sweets in the UK every year, including 600 million Mars Bars and 200 million Cadbury's Creme Eggs. But, alongside the mass consumption of the well known brands lies a deep appreciation for the artisans’ hand-crafted and sophisticated treat.
The Experts
Ex-lawyers turned chocolate entrepreneurs, Helen and Simon Pattinson, founded Montezuma’s in 2000 hand making their chocolate with one little machine and one shop in Brighton. Dubbed by Elle as being “at the chewing edge of chocolate“, innovation and experimentation is a key aspect of Montezuma’s offering. Favourites include the wasabi, chilli, salt, ginger and curry spice truffles, although Simon admits that not every experiment has been successful. Chunks of “enrobed” cheddar, brie and stilton for example. “Every combination was truly disgusting”.
Lively Collection Truffles by Montezuma's
Dark Collection Truffles by Montezuma's
With 11 years of trading behind them, Montezuma’s are now competing with big players, but Trufflepiglet, is a great example of how very small can still be very beautiful. Owner, Kerry Wilkinson explains how the company came about, “I started out making and selling resin jewellery, but after a whole year of bad craft fair sales, I noticed a trend where food sellers always came out in profit. That Christmas I made food hampers for everyone with jams, homemade wine, chutneys, biscuits- and chocolates. They went down a treat and that was the light bulb moment. Since then I've been health and safety assessed, passed my hygiene certificate, devised an ever-growing list of recipes and got quite a following on Facebook, all within six months.” Her truffles and chocolates are made with a sense of fun and are clearly as delicious as they look – one testimonial says it all: “nom nom nom.”
Limoncello Curve by trufflepiglet
Truffle Piglet by trufflepiglet
Welsh-based confectioners, Sweet Treats, specialise in marshmallows and caramels and profess to love “all things sweet, fluffy and gooey”. Committed to producing yummy treats as naturally as possible, their raspberry marshmallows contain real raspberries and the lemon meringue marshmallows are flavoured with freshly squeezed lemon juice – super fluffy sweets that are practically good for you!
Mixed Marshmallows Jar by Sweet Treats
Roasted Hazlenut Caramel by Sweet Treats
Founded in 2010 Vanilla Stick-the art of chocolate lollipops is already widely known for its originality, quality of ingredients and artisan work. Founded by a husband and wife team, ex-pastry chef David and craft enthusiast Maggie are committed to using the very best ingredients and creating a top quality product. “It’s not always about money. It’s about making people believe in goodness. We offer value for money. The added value is that they all are handmade and hand decorated dot by dot and each lollipop is original.” Vanilla Stick’s Etsy shop states, “Since the invention of chocolate, people have strived to find a way to improve it. Well we know there is only one way to make chocolate even better. Put it on a stick!” Beauty, humour and delicious-ness. Who could ask for more?
Eve Lollies by Vanilla Stick
Carla Lollipops by Vanilla Stick
Methods
The web is a veritable sweetie shop of tutorials, recipes and ideas, so finding instructions and inspiration is a simple matter of a quick search on Google. Some of the many recipes available are:
- Simple chocolate truffles from Iced Jems
- Raspberry Marshmallows from BBC Good Food
- Caramel Nut Sweets from Nigella Lawson
- Old fashioned toffee sweets from All Recipes
- How to temper chocolate from Montezuma's
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