Like most shopkeepers in Lowland Scotland in the nineteenth century, Alex Ferguson boils pans of sugar in his Edinburgh back shop to make a range of popular sweeties. It is the heyday of sugar imports from the West Indies and every town has its favourite range of sweeties. Some are also made by street hawkers and travelling packmen. Some get songs written about them:
Ally bally, ally bally bee,
Sittin’ on yir mammy’s knee,
Greetin’ for anither bawbee,
Tae buy some Coolter’s Candy.
Sadly, no-one gets the recipe for Robert Coltart’s aniseed flavoured candy-sold around the Borders town of Melrose – before he dies, much lamented, in 1890. But not so with Ferguson’s sweetie specialities.
Such is his skill at sweetie boiling that he becomes known as ‘Sweetie Sandy’. Children, particularly, love his little sticks of variously flavoured, hard, brittle rock which they can hold easily. His sweeties are in such demand that he decides to move to larger premises. But it takes him some time to get the new place organised. And what with one thing and another, a batch of rock is forgotten. Left in the warm atmosphere, the rock crystallises and softens to a powdery texture and at first Sweetie Sandy thinks he will have to throw it out. Until, that is, he has another, more thrifty, idea which is to sell it at a reduced price so all is not lost.
The powdery rock, which melts in the mouth, goes on sale and is a roaring success. ‘When are you making some more of that nice soft rock Sandy?’ everyone is asking. Well, of course, he doesn’t tell them what all the other sweetie sellers in the city think about his ‘mistake’ rock. Instead, he starts putting aside a batch of rock every day to make it powdery and discovers that if he coats the rock in fine icing sugar and leaves it in the warmth, it will turn powdery in no time at all.
Always an innovator, when it comes to colour and flavour, he thinks up a new range for the powdery rock. Vanilla is plain white. Raspberry and strawberry sticks are pink. Lime sticks are green. Ginger is fawn, and lemon and orange sticks are coloured accordingly.
Sandy’s powdery rock soon becomes a city attraction and he is making it in such large quantities and supplying it to so many other small sweetie shops in the city that it needs a new name. So the city which is built on a rock gets its own sweetie rock.
For coughs and colds aniseed or cinnamon, rose or horehound are added to the boiling sugar mixture. Then it’s set and cut into small rectangular ‘tablets of sugar’, to be dispensed by doctors. Sucking allows the slow release of the soothing essences and sugar provides a comforting warmth to the patient.
Those who can afford the sugar cure consume large quantities. The English royal household of 1287 uses 300 pounds of violet sugar tablets and 1,900 pounds of rose sugar tablets, some of which are used as a cure for colds, and also as a cure for consumption and melancholy. Delicate children are encouraged to take either rose or violet sugar tablets for their health. Many purchases are made for Henry, son of Edward I (1237-1307), all recorded in the royal household books, but still are not able to prevent his death at the age of six.
The Romans are the first to use sugar as a medicine, finding its warming qualities a welcome winter cure in chilly Northern Europe. For most Britons, however, it is a rare commodity that arrives first with spices from the East and is kept locked up with the equally valuable spices.
By late medieval times, however, sugar has become more available. Still used by doctors as a sweetener for their bitter potions, its medicinal reputation remains important until well into the seventeenth century, though the term ‘tablet’ is largely dropped and replaced by the more general term ‘sugar candy’. Contrary to the rest of Britain, however, the Scots hang on to the word ‘taiblet’.
The first recipes appear in a cookery book by Mrs McLintock of Glasgow (1736) and are simple sugar candy recipes with flavourings such as ginger, rose, cinnamon and orange which were all used for medicinal purposes.
‘Orange tablets with the Grate: Grate the Oranges, take 2lb of sugar, an a mutchkin of water, then clarify it with the White of 2 eggs, and set it on a slow fire, and boil it till it be almost candyed, then put in the grate of the oranges, and take your white paper, rub it with fresh butter, pour it on your paper, and cut in little pieces.’
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Scots tablet acquires milk, and sometimes butter, distinguishing it from a simple sugar and water sugar candy. It is this improvement in flavour and texture that ensures its long-lasting popularity as it joins the galaxy of other temptations – no longer classed medicinal – to be found in Scottish sweetie shops of the early twentieth century.
‘Besides such homely sweets as gundy, glessie, cheugh jeans and black man,’ says F M McNeill in The Scots Kitchen (1929), ‘there were bottles of ‘boilings’ (Scotch Mixtures) that glittered like rubies, emerals, topazes and all the jewels of the Orient, and tasted of all the fruits of the orchards and spices of the Indies. Striped rock in variegated colours and yellow spiral sticks of barley sugar were always prime favourites, and so was ‘taiblet’ of various flavours.’
Almond Cake: a rich buttery toffee mixture, poured into a tin that has a thick layer of flaked almonds on the base. A version of this is made in Orkney.
Barley Sugar: usually made into a twisted stick of hard rock, flavoured with barley water and sometimes liquorice.
Berwick Cockles: peppermint flavoured boilings, white with pink strips and shaped like the cockle shells that used to be fished up near Tweedmouth harbour.
Bon-Bons: strips of candied lemon or orange peel dipped into barley sugar.
Black Man: treacle toffee. Also known as Treacle Candy
Black Striped Balls: black and white striped balls of hard toffee with a strong peppermint flavour.
Butterscotch: a hard boiling with a buttery flavour. Made as a quality sweetie by Keiller’s in Dundee up to the 1950s, shaped rectangular and wrapped in silver foil with a dent in the middle where it broke into two pieces. Packaged in cigarette sized packets.
Cheugh Jeans: chewy (cheugh) toffee made in different flavours – clove, cinnamon, peppermint, ginger or chocolate.
Coltart’s Candy: pronounced ‘coolter’ and made famous by the song that the sweetie man sang as he travelled round the country selling his candy. The candy was aniseed flavoured but the recipe and the custom were lost when Coltart died, greatly lamented, in 1890.
Claggum or Clack: made with treacle and water, boiled till soft ball stage and then pulled into long sticks of rock.
Curly Andra: a white coral-like sweet with a coriander seed in the centre. The name comes from the Scots’ corruption of coriander which is ‘curryander’.
Curlie Murlies also known as Curly Doddies: were a specialised Angus delicacy. In F M McNeill, The Scots Kitchen, they are described as: ‘mixed sweets of various shapes and sizes, the texture of pandrops although the Curly Murlie proper had a rather knarled exterior. They were formed on a seed or other foundation such as a carvie, clove or almond. The nucleus of the Curlie Murlie proper was probably aniseed. It was about the size of a large pea. These sweets were popular on feeding-market days when Jock was expected to give Jenny her ‘market’ in the form of a pockie (poke) of market sweeties or Curlie Murlies.’ (Murl means a crumb or fragment).
Edinburgh Rock: not the customary solid stick with letters down the centre, but a light pastel-coloured sugary confection, delicately flavoured. It was discovered by accident when Alexander Ferguson, popularly known as ‘Sweetie Sandy’, came across a piece of confectionery that he had overlooked and left lying for several months. He became one of Edinburgh’s most successful confectioners in the nineteenth century and the rock is now exported worldwide.
Glessie: ‘But the glessy! Who that ever tasted it can forget the stick of sheeny, golden rock, which stretched while you were eating it to gossamer threads of silver glistening like cobwebs in the sun.’ Scots Magazine, 1925.
Gundy: an aniseed or cinnamon flavoured hard boiling.
Hawick Balls: cinnamon flavoured hard toffee with a subtle hint of mint.
Helensburgh Toffee: more a tablet than a toffee, it has a rich creamy flavour that comes from the use of condensed milk.
Horehound Boilings: well-loved by Dundonian jute workers who sucked them to relieve their dry throats from jute dust in the factories. Still a useful sore-throat boiling.
Jeddart Snails: dark brown toffees, mildly peppermint flavoured. The name and shape were given to them by a French prisoner-of-war from Napoleon’s army who made them for a Jedburgh baker.
Lettered Rock: long sticks of hard rock with a strong peppermint flavour, bright pink on the outside, white in the middle with red letters down the middle of the sweetie shop’s appropriate town.
Mealie Candy: a hard boiling flavoured with treacle and ginger and with oatmeal added.
Moffat Toffee: a hard toffee, amber and gold striped with a sherbert-like tangy centre. It is now made commercially by a local Moffat family who have been making toffee for generations. One of its early names was Moffat Whirlies. The Moffat Toffee shop in the town is Mecca for sweetie lovers.
Oddfellows: soft lozenges made in delicate colours and aromatic flavours such as cinnamon, clove and rose geranium.
Pan Drops: mint imperials, or Granny sookers. The sweetie your granny slipped you in church for the minister’s sermon.
Soor Plooms: originated in the Borders where they were made to celebrate an incident in local history when a band of English marauders were surprised and overcome while eating unripe plums. They are round, bright green balls with an acidic astringent tang.
Starrie Rock: still made in the Star Rock shop in the narrow (car-less) wynd known as The Roods in Kirriemuir, Angus. It was made originally by a stone mason who was blinded in 1833. The sticks are short and thin, slightly chewy, and with a delectable buttery flavour (the Rock Shop also makes excellent Horehound Boilings).
Sugar-ally-water: liquorice water. Hard block liquorice is mixed with water in a lemonade bottle and shaken until it dissolves.
Sugar-bools: small, round sugar plums like marbles.
Sugar-hearts: pink, heart-shaped fondants.
Cook’s Tips: This can easily be done without professional equipment, such as a sugar thermometer, since the practical test of putting a few drops of the boiling sugar into a cup of cold water will tell you exactly what stage the sugar is at. If the result is a little past the desired stage, remove the pan from the heat, add a little warm water to lower the temperature and continue.
500g (1lb 2oz) granulated sugar
300ml (10fl oz) water
Pinch of cream of tartar to prevent granulation
Dissolve the sugar over a low heat in the liquid and stir with a wooden spoon until no particles of sugar are left. To test – examine the back of the spoon for any sugar crystals. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove any crystals. When all is dissolved, bring gradually to the boil and simmer gently till the required stage is reached.
Smooth/Transparent Icing: (108°C) for crystallising purposes and fondant. The mixture begins to look syrupy. To test, dip finger in water and then very quickly into the syrup, the thumb will slide smoothly over the fingers, but the sugar will cling.
Soft ball: (115°C) for soft caramel, candy, fudge and tablet. To test, drop a little syrup into cold water and leave for a few minutes. Pick up between the finger and thumb when it should roll into a small soft ball.
Firm or hard ball: (121°C) for caramels, marshmallows, nougat, Edinburgh Rock and soft toffee. Test as above when the syrup should roll into a hard ball.
Small crack: (138°C) for toffees and rock. Test as above, when the thread of syrup should break lightly.
Hard crack: (154°C) for hard toffees, boiled sweeties and drops, pulled sugar and rock. Test as above, when the thread of syrup should break sharply.
Caramel: (160°C upwards) when the syrup begins to discolour, turning a darker brown colour, caramel stage is reached. If allowed to become too dark, the taste will be bitter.
Cook’s Tip: Slightly harder than fudge, but not chewy like toffee, tablet should have a slight ‘bite’ to it.
Basic Recipe:
175ml (6fl oz) milk
175g (6oz) unsalted butter
800g (1lb 12oz) caster sugar
1 tin condensed milk
Use a large 3L (5-6pt) thick-based aluminium pot to make tablet. Line a tray, 18 × 27cm (7 × 10½ inch), with a layer of tinfoil covered with a layer of clingfilm. Place prepared baking tray in the freezer overnight.
TO MAKE: Put milk and butter, cut into cubes, into the pan and melt. Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. When dissolved and beginning to simmer, add the condensed milk. Stirring all the time to prevent burning, simmer for about 9-10 minutes or until the mixture turns light amber in colour. To test for readiness: put a little of the mixture in a cup of cold water and it should form a soft ball (115°C on sugar thermometer see p170). Take off of the heat, place on a wet cloth and beat until the mixture lightens a little in colour and begins to thicken and ‘grain’. Do not allow it to become too thick or it will not pour well and will develop a fudge texture with no ‘bite’ to it.
FINISHING Pour the mixture into the chilled tray. Leave for 30 minutes to set. Cover with clingfilm and put it in the freezer for one and a half hours. Take out. Remove from the tin and turn onto a cutting board. Leave for 10 minutes. Score the tablet into 4 squares with the heel of a sharp knife. Break into 4. Then score each square into 3 lengths. Break off each length. Score into cubes. Finally, break into small cubes and store in an airtight container.
Orange – Add 175ml (6fl oz) fresh orange juice instead of milk. Before pouring, mix in the orange zest.
Vanilla and Walnut – Mix in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 50g (2oz) finely chopped walnuts when the sugar is removed from the heat. Coffee and Walnut – Add 1 tablespoon instant coffee powder and 50g (2oz) finely chopped walnuts before pouring.
Cinnamon – Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon oil.
Ginger – Add 50g (2oz) chopped preserved ginger before pouring.
Peppermint – Add 2-3 drops of peppermint oil before pouring.
Fruit and Nut – Add 50g (2oz) finely chopped nuts and 50g (2oz) seedless raisins before pouring.
An eighteenth-century medicinal sweetie from Lady Clark’s extensive collection.
125 g (4½ oz) butter
125g (4½oz) black treacle
500g (1lb 2oz) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Use a large 3L (5-6pt) thick-based aluminium or stainless steel pot. Line a tray, approximately 18 × 27cm (7 × 10½ inch), with tin foil covered with a layer of clingfilm – place in the freezer for a few hours or overnight.
MAKING: Melt the butter and treacle together in a pan, stir and add the sugar. Increase the heat gradually until it bubbles. Keep stirring all the time to dissolve the sugar. Test in a cup of cold water. When it forms a firm ball (121°C see p170), remove from the heat and add the lemon and ginger. Pour out very thinly into a prepared baking tin. Crack into pieces when cold and store in an airtight tin.
Cook’s Tips for handling hot sugar: The final shaping is best done with a partner because there is only a short time (perhaps two to three minutes) when the hot sugar is cool enough to handle and is still flexible. It will suddenly cool and stiffen, which can leave you caught out with a piece of sugar totally the wrong size and shape. If an extra pair of hands are not available and you get caught, reheat the sugar gently in a warm oven with the door open, checking frequently. The other hazard of working with hot sugar is its inner heat. While the outside feels cool enough to handle, the inside may be hot enough to burn your hands.
250g (9oz) soft brown sugar
25g (1oz) butter
1 tablespoon water
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
700g (1½ lb) golden syrup
Use a large 3L (5-6pt) thick-based aluminium or stainless steel pot. Line a tray, approximately 18 × 27cm (7 × 10½ inch), with tin foil covered with a layer of clingfilm – place in the freezer for a few hours or overnight.
BOILING: Boil the sugar, butter and water for five minutes to dissolve the sugar. Add the cream of tartar and golden syrup. Bring up to a gentle simmer and continue to simmer without stirring until it reaches hard crack (154°C, see p170). Pour out onto an oiled laminated or marble surface.
FINISHING: Leave the sugar to cool for a few minutes. Then, scrape into the centre with a palette knife or plastic scraper. When cool enough to handle, oil hands and push the mixture into a thick, short, tubular shape. Roll out between the fingers to double its size. Fold over and roll out again. It will begin to stiffen up. Before this happens, roll out and cut into strips with oiled scissors. Roll each strip out to about the thickness of a finger. Place on trays. Store in an airtight tin.
An aniseed or cinnamon flavoured hard boiling.
500g (1lb 2oz) Demerara sugar
1 tablespoon black treacle or golden syrup
50g (2oz) butter
300ml (10fl oz) water
Aniseed or cinnamon oil
Use a large 3L (5-6pt) thick-based aluminium or stainless steel pot. Line a tray, approximately 18 × 27cm (7 × 10½ inch), with tin foil covered with a layer of clingfilm – place in the freezer for a few hours or overnight.
BASIC SUGAR BOILING: Dissolve the sugar treacle or golden syrup, butter and water over a low heat in the liquid, stirring with a wooden spoon until no particles of sugar are left. To test – examine the back of the spoon for any sugar crystals. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove any crystals. When all is dissolved, bring gradually to the boil and continue to simmer gently testing a few drops regularly in a cup of cold water. When it reaches hard crack (154°C, see p170) remove from the heat and pour into well-greased tins. Mark into squares just before setting. When set, break up into pieces and store in an airtight tin.
Cook’s Tips for handling hot sugar: the final shaping of the rock is best done with a partner because there is only a short time (perhaps two to three minutes) when the hot sugar is cool enough to handle and is still flexible. It will suddenly cool and stiffen, which can leave you caught out with a piece of sugar totally the wrong size and shape. If this happens, reheat gently in a warm oven with the door open, checking frequently. The other hazard of working with sugar is its inner heat. While the outside feels cool enough to handle, the inside may be hot enough to burn your hands. So go cannily to begin with.
500g (1lb 2oz) granulated sugar
300ml (10fl oz) water
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Icing sugar
Flavourings/colourings to taste: use either a few drops of peppermint oil or a teaspoon vanilla extract (white), or a teaspoon ground ginger (fawn), or a few drops of raspberry or rose essence (pink), or a few drops lemon essence (yellow)
Use a large 3L (5-6pt) thick-based aluminium or stainless steel pot. Line 2 trays, approximately 18 × 27cm (7 × 10½ inch), with tin foil covered with a layer of clingfilm.
BASIC SUGAR BOILING: Dissolve the sugar over a low heat in the liquid stirring with a wooden spoon until no particles of sugar are left. To test-examine the back of the spoon for any sugar crystals. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove any crystals. When all is dissolved, bring gradually to the boil and simmer gently till it reaches hard ball (121°C, see p170). Remove from the heat and add a flavouring and colouring.
FINISHING: Leave the sugar to cool for a few minutes. Dust the work surface lightly with icing sugar. Pour out the hot sugar, scraping it into the centre with a palette knife or plastic scraper. When cool enough to handle, oil hands and push the mixture into a thick, short, tubular shape. Roll out between the fingers to double its size. Fold over and roll out again. It will become opaque with working and begin to stiffen up. Before this happens, roll out and cut into strips with oiled scissors. Roll each strip out to about the thickness of a finger. Place on trays and leave, uncovered, in a warm atmosphere overnight, or until the texture softens and becomes powdery. Store in an airtight tin.
Cook’s Tips for handling hot sugar: the final shaping of the rock is best done with a partner because there is only a short time (perhaps two to three minutes) when the hot sugar is cool enough to handle and is still flexible. It will suddenly cool and stiffen, which can leave you caught out with a piece of sugar totally the wrong size and shape. If this happens, reheat gently in a warm oven with the door open, checking frequently. The other hazard of working with sugar is its inner heat. While the outside feels cool enough to handle, the inside may be hot enough to burn your hands. So go cannily to begin with.
50g (2oz) pearl barley
600ml (1pt) water
500g (1lb 2oz) granulated sugar
25g (1oz) butter
Use a large 3L (5-6pt) thick-based aluminium or stainless steel pot. Line 2 trays, approximately 18 × 27cm (7 × 10½ inch), with tin foil covered with a layer of clingfilm.
MAKING BARLEY WATER: Put the barley and water into a pan and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for about an hour. Strain into a bowl and leave to settle, allowing the starchy particles to settle to the bottom. Add more water to make up barley water to 600ml (1pt) – some will have evaporated.
BASIC SUGAR BOILING: Dissolve the sugar over a low heat in the barley water, stirring with a wooden spoon until no particles of sugar are left. To test-examine the back of the spoon for any sugar crystals. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove any crystals. When all is dissolved, add the butter and bring gradually to the boil, testing a few drops frequently in cold water until it reaches hard crack (154°C, see p170). Remove from the heat.
FINISHING: Leave for a few minutes before pouring onto an oiled laminate work surface (not wood) or marble slab. Begin by turning the sugar into the centre with a scraper or palate knife. When cool enough to handle, oil hands and push the mixture into a thick, short, tubular shape. Roll out between the fingers to double its size. Fold over and roll out again. Continue rolling and folding. It will quickly become opaque with working and begin to stiffen up. But before this happens, roll out and cut into thick strips with oiled scissors. Roll each strip out to about the thickness of a finger give it a twist and cut with scissors into shorter lengths. Store in an airtight tin.
These were originally shaped into small half-ounce bars, indented in the middle so each piece could be broken in two.
125g (4½ oz) butter
500g (1lb 2oz) light brown sugar
600ml (1pt) water
1 tablespoon treacle (optional)
Use a large 3L (5-6pt) thick-based aluminium or stainless steel pot. Line a tray, approximately 18 × 27cm (7 × 10½ inch), with clingfilm – place in the freezer for a few hours or overnight.
BASIC SUGAR BOILING: Dissolve the butter and sugar over a low heat in the liquid stirring with a wooden spoon until no particles of sugar are left. To test-examine the back of the spoon for any sugar crystals. Brush the sides of the pan with water to remove any crystals. When all is dissolved, add treacle (if using), bring gradually to the boil and simmer gently. Test by putting a few drops into cold water until it reaches hard crack (154°C, see p170).
FINISHING: Remove from the heat and pour into the prepared tin. Leave to cool. When almost set, mark the surface into rectangle bars. Break up when set and store in an airtight tin.
Whisky is optional, but for the most subtle flavouring avoid the strongly peaty island malts.
Yield: 45-50 pieces
300ml (10fl oz) double cream
250g (9oz) unsalted butter
250g (9oz) glucose
1kg (2lb 4oz) granulated sugar
2-3 tablespoon Lowland malt whisky (optional)
Use a large 3L (5-6pt) thick-based aluminium or stainless steel pot. Line a tray, approximately 18 × 27cm (7 × 10½ inch), with tin foil covered with a layer of clingfilm – place in the freezer for a few hours or overnight.
TO MAKE: Put cream and butter into the pan and bring to a simmer. Add the glucose. Continue simmering and add sugar. Stir well to dissolve sugar. Simmer for about 9-10 minutes, stirring frequently, when it should turn a light amber in colour. Test for readiness: put a little in a cup of cold water and it should form a soft ball. (115°C, see p170). Take off the heat. Add the whisky. Place pan on a wet cloth and beat until it begins to turn creamy and ‘grains’. This is beaten for longer than tablet.
FINISHING: Pour into the chilled trays. Leave for 30 minutes to set. Then put in the freezer for 1½ hours. Take out. Remove from the trays and turn onto a cutting board. Leave for 10-12 minutes. Score with the heel of a sharp knife into four squares. Then score each square into three lengths and then into cubes. Break into pieces.
This name comes from the similarity to the earthy fungus: dark, intense and a rare treat.
Yield: 20-28
200g (7oz) best quality plain chocolate
75ml (3fl oz) double cream
25g (1oz) unsalted butter, softened
1-2 tablespoons rum
TO MAKE: Break the chocolate up finely (this can be done in the food processor). Put into a bowl. Heat the cream to boiling point and add the butter and rum and mix through. Pour over chocolate and blend till smooth and all the chocolate is melted. Pour onto a large flat plate and chill in the fridge until it is set and firm enough to shape.
Method 1: With a teaspoon, scrape across the chocolate to form a truffle ‘curl’ in the same style of a butter ‘curl’. Roll in cocoa powder.
Method 2: As soon as the mixture sets and before it hardens, put it into a piping bag with a 1cm (½ inch) nozzle. Line the baking tin with clingfilm. Pipe into small rounds. Refrigerate for about an hour.
Method 3: When the mixture is firm, use 2 teaspoons to shape into roughly oval bite-sized portions. Leave in rough shape or roll by hand into round balls, using cocoa powder to prevent sticking. Finish by rolling in either cocoa powder or ground toasted hazelnuts or almonds.