I know, it's hardly a recipe really, is it?
But there's a lot to be said for the flavouring of sugar, and it's something our Tudor and Stuart ancestors would have done. A sprinkling of cinnamon-infused sugar would have added a soft sweet spice to an apple pie, or some stewed fruits, maybe even dredged lightly over some lemon slices or fresh strawberries. Spices were expensive and this way, none of it - not even a knobbly end of a cinnamon stick - was wasted.
For us modern folk it's lovely stirred into coffee or over warm porridge oats with honey.
The recipe appears in the c.1611 book Delightes for Ladies written by Hugh Plat. It requires that we:
"Lay pieces of sugar in close boxes amongst sticks of cinnamon, cloves, etc and in a short time it will purchase both the taste and scent of the spice."
It really is that easy.
Cinnamon Sugar
Ingredients:
- golden granulated sugar, or other sugar of your choice, to fill a small jar or container - I used about 100g and a small jar
- 3-4 cinnamon sticks
Method
Fill the jar with your sugar and tuck in the cinnamon sticks, breaking them in half for a richer flavour. Seal the lid and store for a few days - the cinnamon will start to infuse into the sugar after about 2-3 days. Excellent in coffee (although the Tudors wouldn't have known that!), or in desserts such as custards and crumbles or stewed fruits.
Have you made this? Take a photo and tag me @lovebritishhistorypics on Instagram. I'd love to see!
Interested in Tudor history? You might also like my second book, Power Couples of the Tudor Era, published by Pen and Sword Books, which explores the contributions couples made to their own times as well as how they influenced our own. Order your copy here.
You might also like Henry VIII's Tudor Cheeseboard, A Recipe for Elizabethan Trifle, Maids of Honour Recipe or A Tudor Breakfast.
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