In earlier centuries, “sweetmeats” was a broad term encompassing a variety of sweets including cakes, puddings, candied fruit and seeds, and preserves. Samuel Pepys, in his 17th century diary, spent a nice amount of time visiting people and eating their sweetmeats: here with wine, here after dinner, and here for breakfast.
This engraving was part of a series, all of which were published with sonnets. And they weren’t entirely innocent. From The Met: “The plate accompanies the third sonnet of the Enigmes, which describes an object highly desired by women, possibly referring to the sweetmeats in the bowl, but also hinting to another … meaning.”
The form is a curtal sonnet. More of my ekphrastic poetry here. If you want to dive into some 17th century recipes, click here, and here.
Sweetmeats
What started as bed-time sugar-rich snack
nutmeg, cinnamon, raisins, ginger, wine,
quinces, almonds, spiced hints of caraway
was found to be an aphrodisiac,
a seventeenth century cake sublime,
that softened starch and unloosened boned stays.
Kissing-comfits, dried fruits, yes! a fine sweetmeat
were on the menu, from morn till night time,
the post-medieval taste for sugar played
a wink and a nod to entertaining. Sweet
embrace.
©elsp 2026
And here’s the more animated YouTube version:
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