Conference turris::cooks

    sultanas - dried "white" grapes
    raisins  - dried "dark" grapes
    currents - exactly that, dried fresh currants

    Glycerine - it is a safe, colorless, odorless, sweet liquid used to keep 
    Royal icings soft and shiny.

    I would not use Honey in place of Golden Syrup - it would change the
    taste totally - If I could not get Golden Syrup I'd use half dark and
    half light KARO or make my own syrup flavored with vanilla.

    Crystallized pineapple is dried pineapple that has been coated in sugar
    syrup first.. this causes the crystals to form.. plain dried pineapple
    would be a suitable substitute.. just not as sweet.
    
    gailann

    ps.  fondant is a made with boiled sugar - Marzipan is made with ground
    almonds - not one and the same.

    gailann

    Thanks for your speedy replies, much appreciated. Can I ask if anyone
    has a marzipan recipe and also a golden syrup recipe (is maple syrup
    ok?). Also where can I buy glycerine, (supermarket?)
    
    Thanks once again.
    

    In the UK glycerin is sold in cake shops that sell decorating
    supplies.. in the old days you could also purchase it in chemists.. if
    you know of a candy shop that sells ingredients for home made
    chocolates etc they are bound to have it as well.

    I'll get you a marzipan recipe.. as for golden syrup, personally I'd
    just experiment - can you get KARO?  That really would be your best
    substitute.

    gailann 

    My mum has a bottle of glycerin which she bought in a chemist, but it
    wasn't for cooking, are there various types of glycerin? 
    
    Unable to get Karo (I live in Italy), could you give me a suggestion
    of what to put together for the syrup? And thanks, I'd appreciate very
    much your marzipan recipe.
    
    You've been lots of help, thanks once again.
    

    Well I make syrup doing the following:

    Mix 1 cup of light brown sugar & 1 cup of white sugar with 1 cup of
    water.. heat gently, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved..
    cook gently until syrup "sheets" from the side of a wooden spoon.. at
    this point I usually flavour with maple extract and a touch of vanilla
    extract to use as pancake syrup.. instead I'd just use the vanilla if I
    were trying to make a mock Golden Syrup.

    gailann

    KARO is a brand name for corn syrup.  Perhaps you can find another
    brand.

    Golden Syrup is like LIGHT molasses.
    
    Jack

    Marzipan
    --------

    Mix 2 cups of ground almonds* with 2 cups of icing sugar - add a few
    drops of almond essence and a teaspoon of orange flower water
    (optional) - bind with *small* amount of water until you have a soft
    dough... knead on a flat surface dusted in icing sugar until it is soft
    and smooth - chill - roll out as needed.

    *the almonds should be ground almost to a flour.

    ps.  Marzipan is one of those things that everyone makes slightly
    different.. many recipes call for a raw beaten egg to bind.. because of
    the obvious health risks I simply use a spoon of water at a time until
    my marzipan binds.. it works every bit as well.

    gailann

    Thanks for all the help!
    
    

RE: .5

Glycerine is glycerine.  Assuming that what you bought from the
chemist was for human consumption and not for industrial use, it
will be just fine.  In fact, it is likely to be a chemically purer
product that what you'd get in a grocery store.


RE: .0

"raisin" is the term for a dried grape

"sultana" is a seedless, white-skinned grape variety.  It also goes
	by the name "Thompson Seedless".  When a recipe calls for
	"sultanas", it usually means raising made from Sultana
	grapes, i.e., white raisins.

"currants" are an entirely different type of fruit (i.e., not grapes).

--PSW

On a few cooking shows lately, I heard that the currant that is commercially 
available is just a small seedless raisin whose name derived from the raisins 
that were produced in Corinth.

This is not to say that there is not, as PSW says, "an entirely different type
of fruit (i.e., not grapes)".  

My dictionary says:

currant:
	1a  The small, sour fruit of various prickly shrubs.
	 b  A shrub bearing such fruit

	2   A small, seedless raisin [ME (raysons of) coraunte,
            (raisins of) Corinth, city of Greece.]

When you buy a box of currants at the market (at least in the US), you get 
definition #2 (i.e. not sour fruit, just dried, small grapes).  And, if size
doesn't matter, use raisins.  (((And if size and color doesn't matter, use 
sultanas!)))


							-JP

    Hmmm!  That would explain why dried currents (very sweet) don't taste
    *anything* like the very sour (but very yummy) fresh currants that used
    to grow in our back yard.
    
    Anyway, are white raisins the same as "golden" raisins?  If so, they
    aren't quite the same - the golden raisins are much sweeter, almost
    sugary.
    
    D!

    Nowadays when a recipe calls for currants it simply means the
    commercial, store bought variety.. they do add different texture and
    are slightly different than a larger plump raisin or sultana.  

    There is no mistaking the taste of *real* dried currants.. they are
    wonderful..  tart, very dark in colour and they give food a wonderful
    texture.. I've only ever found them in health food shops - small
    amount, big price!

    Last year I dried elderberries.. they make wonderful "currants" as well.

    gailann

    Sorry, just one more question, can I avoid putting the glycerin?
    Or substitute it?
    
    Will eventually make this cake!