[Sca-cooks] Re: Comfits

[Elise Fleming]

Johnna responded to why the comfits were grey:
>Laura Mason in Sugar-Plums and Sherbet discusses Hugh Plat's
>recipe for comfits and notes that it came to be the practice
>that "pearl" or irregular comfits had sugar cooked to 103-107
>degrees C with smooth comfits boiled to 102 degrees C. She
>describes the use of the brazier skillet that Brears uses. The
>important part was the keeping the seeds in motion over low heat
>while the syrup was added. They whitened, she says, as they dry,
>so they should be stirred until dry and cool in the pan.

Continuing to stir them in the pan until they were thoroughly dry
made my gray (grey) comfits whiter.  That may be the secret.
Regarding keeping them on the fire, the period practice was to have
them in a hanging basin which could be swung away from the heat
source.  We (myself included) have tended to put our pan directly on
the heat source.  I don't think most of us actually re-create what
was done in period because we modify the methods.

Alys Katharine