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Dessert

Spanish Liquorice Jujubes

A confection made from gum arabic, sugar, Spanish liquorice, and hot water, set in layers of starch powder.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Spanish Liquorice Jujubes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the gum base

  1. Prepare the gum arabic and boil it with the sugar until it reaches the small pearl stage.

Add the liquorice

  1. Dissolve the Spanish liquorice in the hot water and strain it clean.

  2. Incorporate the prepared liquorice into the boiled gum and sugar mixture.

  3. Remove any scum from the surface.

Cast

  1. Cast the mixture in layers of starch powder in a flat box as indicated for rosolios.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Gum arabic
Forms the gel structure that gives the jujubes their chewy, firm body.
Sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps set it into a firm, chewy texture when boiled.
Spanish liquorice
Provides the characteristic flavour and dark colour of the jujubes.

The step that matters

Boiling to the small pearl stage. Boiling the gum and sugar to the small pearl stage concentrates the sugar so the mixture sets firm when cooled. Under-boiling leaves it soft and sticky, while over-boiling makes it hard and brittle.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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