Cuberdons

Step 1: The night before, whisk 2 ⅛ oz gum arabic powder into ¼ cup warm water until there are no lumps, cover and leave to dissolve completely into a thick, clear syrup.

Step 2: Spread the dry 3 ⅓ lb cornflour 4 cm deep in a deep tray and level it without packing it hard. Press a 3 cm cone (a clean wooden cone, a small pointed piping nozzle or a moulded piece of modelling clay wrapped in film) into it in rows, about 2 cm apart, to make 24 neat hollows.

Step 3: Put 10 ½ oz granulated sugar, 3 ½ oz glucose syrup and ¼ cup water in a heavy pan over a medium heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring, raise the heat and boil to exactly 225°F on a thermometer.

Step 4: Take off the heat and stir in the gum arabic syrup and 2 ⅛ oz raspberry purée purée. The temperature will drop; return the pan to a low heat and bring it back to 225°F, stirring gently so it doesn't foam.

Step 5: Stir in ¼ tsp citric acid and ¼ tsp purple food colouring until evenly purple. Let the syrup cool to about 167°F; pouring it hotter makes the cornflour walls collapse.

Step 6: Pour into a jug with a fine spout and fill each hollow right to the top. Dust a thin layer of dry cornflour over the surface.

Step 7: Leave the tray uncovered in a warm, dry room for 3–4 days without touching it. The crust forms from the outside in; checking too early breaks the walls and they leak.

Step 8: Lift each cone out with your fingers, brush off the starch with a soft pastry brush and lay on baking paper. A good cuberdon has a firm, dry shell that gives a little when pressed. Eat within 3 weeks, before the centre turns grainy.