I’m joining The Novel Bakers for Tea Party Week, with The Vintage Sweets Book: A Complete Guide to Vintage Sweets and Cocktail Party Treats
by Angel Adoree, British Author, Expert of all things Vintage, Stylist and Baker
Welcome to the world of Vintage Sweets where with a ‘spoonful of sugar’ and a little imagination, you can create your favorite vintage sweets and party treats for every soirée.
Angel Adoree cordially invites you to a time when life was sweeter, more sophisticated and simpler. Each chapter is filled with delightful retro sweet recipes and tempting cocktails as well as craft projects to help bring the magic to life.
This book is divided into three chapters representing the techniques used in transforming humble sugar into something marvelous and magical.
Chapter 1, Sweet Beginnings; Chapter 2, Soft-ball, Firm-ball and Hard-ball Sweets; Chapter 3, Soft-Crack & Hard-Crack Sweets.
I was intrigued by the Parma Violet Cocktail which calls for violet flavoring. I used a recipe from Cooking with Flowers to make a viola syrup. I made a small amount, enough for a couple of cocktails with the last of the violas that were moments away from languishing in our record-breaking heat. . .just like me :)
As with any edible flower, only use pansies or violas that are pesticide and chemical free. Pick your flowers in the morning when they are fresh, avoiding older bruised blooms. Rinse gently to “debug” them. Remove each pansy or viola from its sepals (green base). If your petals tear when removing sepals, it won’t matter for the syrup.
For pansy/viola syrup:
2 – 3 cups fresh or dried flower blossoms
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup sugar
Place blossoms in a medium bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let them stand for 2 hours. In a pan over medium heat, bring flower water and sugar to a simmer. Cook for 4 minutes, then remove from heat and pour through a fine mesh strainer into a glass container. Discard solids and refrigerate up to a month.
For Parma Violet Cocktail:
2 ounces peach schnapps
2 ounces pansy/viola syrup
2 ounces vodka
1 tablespoon lime juice
ice
sparkling water
I used lime around edge of glass and rimmed it with purple sanding sugar for an additional sweet note!
To a cocktail shaker filled with ice add lime juice, schnapps, vodka and syrup. Shake and strain into glasses. Top off with sparkling water.
Garnish with violas or violets if desired.
In addition to the whimsy and vintage fun in this series of tea party books, I was charmed by the adorable illustrations by Adele Mildred. It gave me an excuse to invite the mice and bunnies for a little tea party whimsy and fun.
I’m not one for candy making, but I broke out the candy thermometer for Rum & Raisin Fudge!
Rum And Raisin Fudge (20 – 24 squares)
Ingredients
2 oz. dark rum (I used a 1 ½ oz. mini bottle)
3 – 4 oz. raisins, roughly chopped
7 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
4 oz. milk
1 lb. *demerara sugar (*demerara sugar is unrefined and has a natural caramel-like flavor. If you can’t find it, substitute brown sugar.)
Directions
Place rum in a bowl with chopped raisins. Set aside to soak.
Prepare 8” pan by lining it with parchment paper. Grease paper for easy removal of fudge.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a large nonstick pan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Bring the mixture to the boil, then simmer gently for 10–15 minutes*, stirring constantly, until it reaches 116.C (240.F) – the soft-ball stage. (*mine took about 30 minutes to reach soft-ball stage).
Remove pan from the heat and allow the temperature of the mixture to drop to 110.C (230.F) Beat with a wooden spoon for about 10 minutes until mixture is thick and has the consistency of smooth peanut butter. This step is important for thickening the fudge.
Stir in rum and raisins, then pour the mixture into the prepared pan and set aside for about 3 hours to cool. (I placed mine in the refrigerator overnight before easy cutting.)
When the fudge has cooled and set, lift paper by edges to remove from pan. Cut into squares.
You can find adorable downloads like templates for boxes for your candy from the author’s website, here.
Jazzies are easy to make and require only two ingredients! The chocolate of your choice (milk, dark or white) and sprinkles or nonpareils.
Melt your chocolate using your preferred method.
I used a Wilton Easy-Pour Funnel help control the flow of the melted chocolate. Place your melted chocolate “coins” on parchment or wax paper and add sprinkles and allow them to harden.
Have your chocolate and drink it too with a Jazzies Cocktail!
Ingredients
4 ounces of milk or half and half
2 ounces chocolate liqueur
2 ounces chocolate syrup
sprinkles/ nonpareils for rimming
Rim glass with sprinkles by dipping glass in chocolate syrup then into a bowl of sprinkles of your choice.
Add milk or half and half, chocolate syrup and liqueur to cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and pour into rimmed glass.
Join us for more tea time fun and inspiration when The Novel Bakers return on Friday with The Vintage Tea Party Year.
Visit my fellow Novel Bakers for Vintage Tea Party Week:
Jain, a quiet life
Michael Lee, Rattlebridge Farm
Linda, More Fun Less Laundry
Thank you for your visit, I’m joining:
Metamorphosis Monday
Your fudge looks great Mary and I love those fun food picks:@)
There goes my diet!
Good morning, Mary! What a vintage post this morning! Love the Parma violet cocktail. It would make a hit at an afternoon get together. Enjoy the week!🌸🌞🌴
Beautiful props! I think that fudge is mighty tempting. It looks delicious! Have a great week!
The rum raisin fudge looks delish as does the rest of the treats!! Thanks for sharing..🌺😍🍩
Only Mary would have a sweet bunny pick holder and only Mary would think of putting it on the top of a scrumptous pile of fudge…so sweet!!
Another amazing table….love the whimsical styling and can just imagine “Alice” peeking from behind the table of the great tea party…..the fudge looks amazing!…I will have to go to Whole Foods for the edible flowers as I just pulled my sad pansies out of the window boxes…the heat finally got to them….Have a great day Mary! P.S. Love that quilt!!
What a fun assignment with this series of books, Mary! The viola cocktail is such a pretty color and I love how your rimmed the edge. The chocolate cocktail is one that I would love to try with one of your jazzies and a piece of rum raisin fudge. You’re having fun playing with your food, I can tell. I think I would enjoy the illustrations in the book, as much as the recipes.
Oh Mary what a lovely SWEET post!!! I love everything about it. The book is adorable with it’s drawing and paintings and you pulled off a number of the recipes in divine fashion! INSPIRED!
What a happy way to start my day! This posting brought me back to my childhood in the 50’s-all happy and whimsical! Thank you so much!
Love everything! Reminds me of making divinity and popcorn balls with my mother for our Christmas party at the Rebecca Lodge every year. Your settings are beautiful as always.
oh yum, your cover shot has me drooling, i am a sugar addict, gumdrops, sprinkles, gummy bears, its all just to much under the guise of cuteness!
i cannot grow pansies at home, its just to hot, they bolt in spring before you can blink so of course i am loving your gorgeous homegrown cocktail. oh that frozen rim shot must make you smile in those dripping temps of yours… that cocktail sounds fabulous! of course the tea cup is a stunning side piece ;-) this book was made for you with all your darling props!
of course you like your candy all liquored up…
i missed the whole jazzy section, my gosh it looks darling! your cocktail shot is swoon worthy too… oh my, don’t force me back in the kitchen! i love love love all you shared today, and i know you were working in a sweat shot and surely were powering back those cocktails to cool down!
thanks so much for playing, your energy always shines through in all you do!
Mary, I’ve never made candy because those candy thermometers just are so intimidating, but these recipes are tempting me to try! What goodies shall I sample first? The sprinkles on the edge of your jazzies cocktail is turning it into the perfect dessert! And I just found a new blue and white pattern I need~~that beautiful Portmerion!! Between the illustrations, the recipes and the charming ideas in these books I could spend all summer reading and loving them and trying to copy your ideas! :) I’m sorry to hear you are wilting with your flowers. Hopefully you can float around in your pretty lake~~take some pictures of the weathervanes. I would love to see them! Linda
Mary, I say this all the time, but really, I marvel at your creative instinct. Your photo shots could be illustrations in this book. I’m ordering these books just to have access to all these darling illustrations. I’ll admire the recipes too, but we all know I’m not the one slaving in the kitchen. Ha!
This sweet post makes me happy. The perfect start of my day, Mary!
My dear Mary, you have outdone yourself again with this gorgeous tour de sweet! The tea cups with candy spilling out is so lively and fun–you captured the heart of this book. Love, love, love your bunnies, the colorful floral tablecloth, and your darling tea cups. So far, I’ve had trouble with the conversions, and even with charts, I still winged it a little. The winging worked with the lemon tart, but that’s it. My fudge never set (but I did tinker, for shame!). After looking at your luscious shots, I’m tempted to try again. (If you make the ice cream, the caramel sauce will turn to cement …I wonder if I should have added more butter or shortened the cooking time. Candy is a mysterious world!) The violet cocktail looks so fresh, cool, and inviting, just the cure for a heat wave. Loved having tea with you, Mary, and I’m looking forward to Friday’s finale.
Beautiful post!
“Vintage Sweets” reminds me of my Granmolie…She made the best Peanut Butter Fudge, Divinity, Peanut Brittle and Homemade Marshmallows…ever!
Another day in fairyland with you Mary and all your sweet treats and cocktails! I steer away from candy making, but your treats are as tempting as any sweet shoppes~ your cocktails sound like tremendous fun and really everything is too too pretty to eat or drink! My favorite part of this post is the sweet bunny in the basket always looking over his shoulder as if he’s trying to keep the other bunnies from misbehaving! So adorable!
Jenna
Beautifully done, as always, Mary!
Adorei descobrir seu blog.Gostaria de saber onde comprar as loucas de cha? você poderia me fornecer o endereço.Achei maravilhosas.Parabéns.