Pâtes de Framboises

My favorite French Christmas gift is a box of unassuming square candies that looks like a multicolored checkerboard. With one bite, I am back to the fragrance of fresh summer and fall fruits: golden apricots, raspberries, dusky black currants, greengage and purple plums, pears, and, last of all, tawny autumnal quinces. A whole orchard, and the passing of a twelvemonth, is right there in the box. The candies are made by simmering the fruit to a pulp, sieving it, and then cooking it with suga