To Make French Puffes

This recipe hails from the 1674 manuscript of Susanna Packe (V.a.215), a glimpse into the upper-class English kitchen in the later Stuart period. 'French Puffs', here, are refined confections blending sugar, almond paste, perfumed waters, and exotic aromatics like musk, reflecting both international influence and local tastes. In the late 17th century, sugar work and delicate almond pastes were the height of fashionable dining, often served as part of the banquet course, which showcased the host’s wealth and culinary skill. The recipe encapsulates both luxurious imports (sugar, almonds, musk) and the technical savoir-faire of early modern English housewifery.

Cooks of the period would have employed a large stone or marble mortar and pestle for grinding almonds and musk, alongside a fine sieve for sifting sugar. Mixing and kneading were done by hand. The forming of shapes—knots, twists, or rings—was an opportunity for personal flair, while the sweets were baked on sheets of white paper (a stand-in for parchment) on wooden baking trays. The baking itself would have taken place in a wood-fired oven, whose heat was gauged by experience, not thermometers—often at the lingering warmth after other baking was finished.