Cardamom Comfits

The seeds should be kept in their husks until they are required to be used, as they lose much of their flavour and virtues when deprived of them. They are often mixed with grains of paradise, but these have not the aromatic taste of the cardamom, and are more hot and spicy. Break the husks of the cardamoms by rolling them with a pin; separate the skins from the seeds, put two pounds into the comfit-pan, and proceed as for Scotch caraways. Make them a good size, and quite smooth.

Barberry Comfits

Pick the barberries from the stalks, and dry them in a hot stove on sieves; when dry, put about two pounds into the comfit-pan, and proceed as for almond comfits, giving them first a charge of gum and flour, and finish as others. Make them of a good size and quite smooth; finish with very white loaf sugar with syrup.

Cherry Comfits

These are made from preserved cherries, dried. Roll them in your hand to make them quite round, dust them with powdered loaf sugar, and dry them again; then proceed as for barberry comfits. Any other preserved fruits may be made into comfits after the same manner.

Comfits Flavoured With Liqueurs

Blanch some bitter almonds, or the kernels of apricots or peaches; let them soak in hot water for an hour, then drain them, and put them into any sort of liqueur or spirit you may desire. Lower the strength of the spirit water, that the kernels may imbibe it the better, cork the jug or bottle close, and let them infuse in it until the spirit has fully penetrated them, which will be about fourteen or fifteen days; then take them out, drain and dry them in a moderate heat; when dry, proceed as for almond comfits.

Orange Comfits

Take some preserved orange-peel, and cut it into small thin strips; dry them in the stove, and make as cinnamon comfits.

Lemon Peel or Angelica may be made into comfits after the same manner. Let the strips of peel be about the size of the pieces of cinnamon, and thoroughly dried before working them in the pan.

Nonpareils

Pound some loaf sugar, and sift it through a fine wire sieve; sift what has passed through again in a lawn sieve, to take out the finest particles, so that you have only the fine grain of sugar left without dust. Put about two pounds of this into the comfit-pan, and proceed as for Scotch caraways, working them well with the hand until they are about the size of pins' heads.

To Colour Nonpareils Or Comfits

Put some of your comfits or nonpareils into the comfit-pan, shake or rub them about until warm, then add a sufficient quantity of prepared liquid colour (see Colours) to give the desired tint; be careful not to make them too wet, nor of too dark a colour, but rather light than otherwise; shake or rub them well about, that they may be coloured equally; dry them a little over the fire, then put them in sieves, and finish drying them in the stove. Clean the pan for every separate colour.

Comfits In Gum Paste

Raspberry Comfits

Prepare some gum paste made with sugar, or the scrapings of the comfit-pan pounded and sifted through a lawn sieve. It may be flavoured with raspberry jam, by mixing some with the paste. Colour it with prepared cochineal; mould it into the form of raspberries, and dry them in the stove; when they are perfectly dry and hard, pearl them as for cinnamon comfits, working them until the size of natural raspberries. Colour them when dry with cochineal, as comfits.