French Confectionery Magic explores the delicious little bit of alchemy that happens when France gets its hands on fruit, sugar, nuts and chocolate. We’ll make an assortment of traditional confiserie, which might include jewel-like pâtes de fruits, almondy calissons, chewy nougat, chocolate mendiants, candied orangettes, crisp florentines, and the extraordinary slow transformation of fresh fruit into fruit confit.

Some confectionery processes take days—or even weeks—so we’ll have a little help from our past selves, with ingredients prepared at different stages so you can see and work with the entire process without moving into the bakery for a fortnight. Along the way, we’ll explore candy temperatures, crystallization, fruit preservation, chocolate, nuts, and the techniques behind some of France’s most beautiful traditional sweets.

No confectionery experience is necessary. Come prepared to play with sugar, learn some genuinely fascinating techniques, and leave with a rather unreasonable quantity of very fancy candy.