Cook This: 3 holiday baking recipes from Nature’s Candy, including Welsh cakes

Our cookbook of the week is Nature’s Candy by award-winning author, recipe developer and cooking teacher Camilla Wynne, who is also one of Canada’s only master food preservers.

Jump to the recipes: mendiant shortbread, Welsh cakes and stollen pound cake.

From tanghulu’s hard sugar shell to delicate strawberries that sparkle, candying fruit has a vintage feel that captivates. “It’s made it since ancient China. It’s got staying power, clearly,” says Toronto-based cookbook author, recipe developer and cooking teacher Camilla Wynne.

Wynne, one of Canada’s few master preservers, had “dabbled” in candying fruit since studying pastry at Montreal’s Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Québec in 2002. But during the pandemic, teaching an online candied fruit workshop, she “really, really, really” got into it.

As is Wynne’s way with every workshop she develops, she dove deep, looking at all the angles and studying the process to teach it better. Aside from marmalade, her candied fruit workshop was her most popular ever. “I started to go down a hole. And the interest in it made me realize that I wasn’t the only one.”

Wynne followed her curiosity even further by making it the subject of her third cookbook, Nature’s Candy (Appetite by Random House, 2024). She devotes the first part of the book to exploring various methods for candying fruit — ranging from the quick, “almost all-purpose” to the multi-day “whole-ish” — and the second to roughly 50 recipes for baking with the preserved peels, berries, chips and more. The recipes are drawn from her heritage, such as Welsh cakes and carrot pudding, and interspersed with inventions like whole candied orange shells filled with Aperol granita.

As with the jam- and marmalade-making Wynne explored in her last book, Jam Bake (2021), something about the method of candying fruit hooked her.

“It’s this process of transformation that seems really magical, especially if you do the whole-fruit process. It takes a bunch of days, and it definitely monopolizes your pots. Tonight, I’m like, ‘What am I going to cook rice in?’ All of my pots have candied figs and maraschino cherries in them,” says Wynne, laughing. “But there’s a delayed gratification and this gradual metamorphosis that’s so cool. And then you have something that has staying power, too. Just like a jar of jam would, where it’s going to stay shelf stable and beautiful for months at a time.”

Wynne highlights that even though candied fruit features prominently in many holiday bakes, such as fruitcake, panforte and stollen, finding good-quality store-bought versions can be challenging in North America. Mass-produced candied cherries are bleached, “which explains why they taste like nothing,” and grocery store fruitcakes contain candied turnips. “It’s no wonder some people think they don’t like candied fruit,” she writes.

Though Wynne is clearly a proponent of trying your hand at candying, she sees the benefit in buying certain fruits, such as Amarena and maraschino cherries. She recently made her own maraschinos, which required ordering sodium bisulfite from the United States. It burned her hands as she pitted them and took four weeks of soaking and days of cooking. When there’s a comparable product available, Wynne is all for buying it. “But there’s no comparable product in terms of candied pineapple and kiwi and all of these other things that are candied.” She notes that vegetables such as carrots, chili peppers, fennel, parsnips and pumpkin candy well, and her friend pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz has even candied mushrooms, which you’d be hard-pressed to find in a grocery store. Learning how to candy these products yourself fills a void while finding joy in the act of making.

The immense response to candied fruit Wynne saw in her workshop reflects the tanghulu TikTok trend and the pull of nostalgic food in general, including the resurgence of other slow kitchen practices such as canning and sourdough. “I think people found a lot of comfort and an interest in looking at some techniques that had been on the way to being forgotten, and that brought renewed interest,” she says.

Despite this seeming return to slowness, Wynne thinks candying fruit would be “a hard sell” if a multi-day commitment involving careful tracking of measurements was the only way to do it. This is why she starts her workshops — and Nature’s Candy — with the all-purpose method, which takes less than an hour. As an author and musician, Wynne understands the need for culinary expediency but sees a space for both speed and intention. “I have a toddler and am married to a medical resident. Time is scarce in my household, but I still think it’s valuable to make time for pursuits like this that are just to appreciate something slow and beautiful.”

Wynne opens Nature’s Candy with a Rainer Maria Rilke quote that reads like a craftperson’s rallying cry: “That something is difficult must be one more reason for us to do it.” It’s her favourite, and she laughs as she adds that, at the same time, candying isn’t hard, and readers shouldn’t let fear of difficulty turn them off. “There’s just such a focus often on easy and quick and hacks. And I’m like, ‘But what about really practicing at something, getting good at it and taking your time over something.’ There’s something so beautiful in that.” She adds that candying fruit may seem like an unnecessary, old-fashioned endeavour, “but because there’s beauty and deliciousness in it, that can be something for the sake of itself.”

Makes: 12 wedges

For the shortbread: 230 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature 94 g (3/4 cup) icing sugar 60 g (2 oz) dark chocolate, melted and cooled 245 g (1 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour 2 tbsp cocoa powder 2 tbsp cornstarch 1 tsp salt

For the ganache: 80 g (2 3/4 oz) dark chocolate callets 125 g (1/2 cup) crème fraîche

To finish (mix and match): Candied fruit, vegetables and/or nuts Dried fruit and nuts Crystallized flowers and/or herbs (see method)

Preheat the oven to 325F (160C). Grease a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

To make the shortbread, in a large bowl, cream the butter and icing sugar until silky. Blend in the melted chocolate. Sift in the flour, cocoa, cornstarch and salt and stir until combined.

Transfer to the prepared tart pan and evenly spread the batter with a small offset spatula. Prick all over with a fork. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour and 10 minutes, until the shortbread is firm and set. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the ganache, place the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. In a small pot set over medium heat, bring the crème fraîche to a simmer. Immediately pour the crème fraîche over the chocolate and let sit for 1 minute.

Whisk until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is emulsified. Using an offset spatula, spread the crème fraîche-chocolate mixture evenly over the surface of the cooled shortbread.

To finish, decorate the surface with candied and/or dried fruit and nuts, candied vegetables, crystallized flowers and/or herbs — whatever you desire. Allow the ganache to set before cutting. The shortbread will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for at least 5 days.

SIMPLIFY No candied fruit? Just use dried fruit and nuts. This shortbread is also excellent unadorned or enhanced with just a sprinkle of flaky salt.

SUBSTITUTE No crème fraîche? Whipping cream works in a pinch. No dark chocolate? Make it with white chocolate. Just replace the cocoa with all-purpose flour and omit the dark chocolate from the shortbread. No dark chocolate callets for the ganache? Use white chocolate. You can also chill the dough, roll it out to 1/4-inch thick, and cut out rounds to decorate as individual mendiant cookies. Reduce the baking time to 20 minutes.

a.k.a. Sugared Things That Look Candied & Sparkle

While the result of this method isn’t technically candied (unless we’re talking delicate flowers and leaves), this easy but impressive method makes fruits sparkle like frosted jewels. Fruits prepared this way make for stunning cake décor or a beautiful dessert garnish. That said, this treatment in no way preserves fruits, so after they dry overnight, they should be used as soon as possible. The exception to this rule is delicate edible flowers and leaves, such as violets, roses, pansies, nasturtiums, mint and lemon balm, which are so thin that they will dry completely overnight and can be stored in an airtight container for at least a month. Use regular granulated sugar for a super-sparkly effect and superfine sugar for a subtler frosted look.

Egg White Method: You’ll need a small food-safe paintbrush, a shallow bowl of sugar, a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet, and a small bowl of egg white. To be honest, I usually use fresh egg white, but if you want to be very cautious, you can use pasteurized egg white from a carton.

Brush the egg white all over the part of the fruit you want to sparkle, then dip the fruit into the sugar to coat. Transfer to the prepared wire rack and let dry for at least a few hours and up to overnight.

Gum Arabic Method: Gum arabic is certainly less readily available than egg whites, but I do find it gives a better result. You’ll also want to use this for vegans or anyone with an egg allergy. Just mix the powder with a little water (or use rosewater or orange flower water for extra flavour) to get an egg white consistency, then proceed as above.

Candied Flowers with Real Longevity: Crystallized candied flowers and leaves last a while, but if you really want their colour and shape to stay vibrant indefinitely, you’ll need to do a little more work. Crystallize the flowers using the egg white or gum arabic methods and let dry for 24 hours.

After they’re dry, place them in a shallow bowl or pan and cover with cold 2:1 sugar syrup (a syrup made with double the weight of sugar to water). Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let sit 12 hours, after which time the petals should be covered in hard sugar crystals (if they aren’t, check again in a few more hours). Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Carefully drain the flowers and let dry completely on the wire rack before storing in an airtight container indefinitely.

In artisanal production, this process is made easier by using a candissoire, a container with a fitted rack that lets you easily lower the flowers into the syrup in a single layer and then drain the syrup from the bottom. I’ve made a DIY version by setting the rack from my air fryer inside a baking pan. This makes it easier to protect the delicate petals, as you can simply lift them out of the syrup using the rack.

Makes: 20 cakes

210 g (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour 200 g (1 cup) sugar, divided 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, divided 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp ground mace (optional) 58 g (1/4 cup) lard or shortening, cold, cubed 58 g (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cubed, plus more for frying 50 g (1/3 cup) currants 2 tbsp minced candied orange peel (see method) 1 egg, beaten 30-45 mL (2-3 tbsp) whole milk

To begin, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, baking powder, salt and mace, if using. Add the lard and butter and use your fingers to rub it in until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the currants and peel.

In a measuring cup, combine the egg and 2 tablespoons milk, then pour into the flour mixture. Stir until a pliable dough forms and has no dry bits. If it’s too dry, add up to 1 tablespoon of additional milk. Alternatively, if the dough is too soft, chill in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes to firm up.

On a lightly floured work surface, pat down the dough, dust with flour, and roll out to 1/4-inch thick. Cut into 20 rounds using a 2 1/4-inch cutter (preferably fluted). You will need to gather the scraps and roll out again to get the 20.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and nutmeg. Set a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Set aside.

To cook, heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat and grease modestly with butter. In batches, cook the Welsh cakes, leaving at least 1/2 inch of space between them, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

When the cakes are ready, transfer one at a time to the sugar-nutmeg mixture and coat with sugar on both sides. Transfer to the prepared wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

The Welsh cakes will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

SIMPLIFY Omit the candied peel and you’ve still got a pretty traditional Welsh cake.

SUBSTITUTE No currants? Use raisins or dried cranberries.

a.k.a. The Method for Tough Customers

To prep the citrus peel, using a small serrated knife, cut the top and bottom of the fruit just enough to expose the flesh. Stand it up on its bottom, then vertically cut swaths of peel off the fruit, leaving just a little flesh clinging on. The clinging flesh will have a tender, jelly-like texture when candied. The denuded fruit may now be used to candy citrus supremes or make citrus wheels or juice. I like to leave the peel in large pieces like this because it gives me options for how to use it later on, but if you know you want to make orangettes, for instance, you can cut the pieces into strips right away.

Alternatively, if you want to candy peels left over from juicing, simply scrape out the clinging, spent membranes, either by hand or with the help of a spoon, then cut the shells in half before proceeding.

To candy whole hollowed-out orange shells, cut the top 1/2 inch or so off the oranges so the flesh is exposed. Use a mini serrated knife or a paring knife to carefully cut between the peel and the flesh, removing the insides while keeping the shell intact (reserving flesh). Proceed as directed.

To prep the ginger, begin peeling the ginger by scraping off the peel with a metal spoon. Slice the ginger into 1/4-inch-thick coins, or, if you know you want it diced, you can dice it now.

To candy, put the prepared peel or ginger into a pot and cover with at least 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then simmer until tender. For peels, no uncooked white pith should be visible (some peel will have little white dots, which is fine). This will take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes depending on the fruit (thicker peels such as pomelo will take longest). For young ginger, this should take about 30 minutes; for standard ginger, it should take up to 45 minutes. Drain and set aside. If you want spicier ginger, reserve the water to use in the syrup, or save it to drink as ginger tea.

In the same pot, combine equal parts sugar and water (by weight), adding 1 tablespoon glucose or light corn syrup per 250 g (1 1/4 cups) sugar. (For each cup of prepared peel or ginger, you’ll need about 250 g/1 cup water and 250 g/1 1/4 cups sugar.)

Bring to a boil over high heat, then add the peel or ginger. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until shiny, translucent, and evenly cooked. The syrup will slightly thicken to a consistency somewhere between maple syrup and runny honey, but nothing more. This should take 1 to 2 hours, and you may need to reduce the heat progressively over that time to prevent it from boiling vigorously.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely in the syrup at room temperature, preferably overnight, before storing, drying, or finishing.

Serves: 16

185 g (3/4 cup) mixed diced candied fruits 120 g (3/4 cup) golden raisins 60 g (1/2 cup) slivered almonds 125 mL (1/2 cup) dark rum 420 g (3 cups) all-purpose flour 2 tsp Mixed Spice (see recipe) 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda 300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar Zest of 1 orange Zest of 1 lemon 230 g (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature 4 eggs, at room temperature 1 tsp almond extract 250 g (1 cup) sour cream 230 g (8 oz) marzipan 77 g (1/3 cup) unsalted butter, melted 63-125 g (1/2-1 cup) icing sugar, for dusting

Optional garnishes: Candied cranberries Crystallized fresh bay leaves (see method) Crystallized rosemary (see method)

The night before you make the cake, in a medium bowl, combine the candied fruits, raisins, almonds and rum. Cover and let sit overnight at room temperature.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Grease a 12-cup Bundt or tube pan well with butter and dust with flour.

In a small bowl, whisk the flour, mixed spice, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, place the sugar and use your fingertips to rub in the orange and lemon zest. Add the room-temperature butter and fit the mixer with the paddle attachment. Cream on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, followed by the almond extract.

With the mixer running on low speed, add one-third of the flour mixture and then half of the sour cream. Alternate until all the flour and sour cream are incorporated. Add the candied fruit mixture (including any liquid at the bottom of the bowl) and mix until incorporated.

Transfer half of the batter to the prepared pan. Roll the marzipan into an even rope and form it into a circle that will fit in the centre. Place the marzipan circle in the centre of the batter and cover with the remaining batter.

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before unmoulding.

Using a pastry brush, paint the top and sides of the cake with the melted butter, then sift half of the icing sugar over top. There’s no easy way to get full coverage, as with a traditional stollen — you have to use your hands to pat the icing sugar on the sides. Keep patting until the icing sugar sticks and is dusted to your liking, so use as much as you need, but reserve some for sifting. Let cool completely, then sift the remaining icing sugar over top. Decorate with candied cranberries, crystallized bay leaves, or crystallized rosemary, if desired.

The cake will keep, covered, at room temperature for at least 5 days.

Makes: 60 mL (1/2 cup)

2 tsp whole cloves 6 allspice berries 1 star anise 3 green cardamom pods (husks discarded) 3 blades of mace (optional) 1 tbsp + 1 tsp cinnamon 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Use a spice grinder (mine doubles as my coffee grinder!) to finely grind the cloves, allspice, star anise, cardamom seeds and mace, if using. Transfer to a small jar and mix in the cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.

The spice will keep in a tightly sealed jar at room temperature for at least 6 months.

Recipes and images excerpted from Nature’s Candy by Camilla Wynne. Copyright ©2024 Camilla Wynne. Photographs by Mickaël A. Bandassak. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

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