Title: cookies-msg
Subject: Period cookies. Recipes.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: medieval, cookies, dessert, period, recipe, sweet

cookies-msg – 3/23/17

Period cookies. Recipes.

NOTE: See also the files: desserts-msg, candy-msg, gingerbread-msg, sugar-msg, chocolate-msg, Sugarplums-art, sotelties-msg, 14C-Sweets-art, Digby-Cakes-art, Digby-Cakes-msg, lebkuchen-msg.

************************************************************************
NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I  have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I  have done  a limited amount  of  editing. Messages having to do  with separate topics  were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the  message IDs  were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make  no claims  as  to the accuracy  of  the information  given  by the individual authors.

Please  respect the time  and  efforts of  those who have written  these messages. The  copyright status  of these messages  is  unclear  at this time. If  information  is  published  from  these  messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
************************************************************************

From: David Schroeder <ds4p+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Welsh cookie recipe
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 1993 22:02:00 -0400
Organization: Doctoral student, Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Greetings, friends!

A number of people have asked for the recipe for Welsh cookies.
What follows is my grandmother's version.  Except for the baking
soda (which isn't even really necessary) they're very much like
Digbie's Fine Cakes.  Digbie's cakes were baked, but the Welsh
tended to cook _lots_ of things on soapstone griddles, so 
preparing the same recipe on the griddle rather than in 
the oven seems like a reasonable adaptation.  

The cookies are amazingly useful -- they're good for breakfast,
lunch, dessert after dinner, and midnight snacks.  They also
tend to help "keep a body regular" given all the rush of Pennsic.

I made my quadruple batch in a deep rectangular 18 quart transparent
Rubbermaid plastic storage bin that I bought at KMart for three bucks.
It took about four hours to cook up 300-plus cookies.  A double batch
is more practical for first-timers.  Be generous with the flour when
it's time to roll out the dough.  Chilling it helps a bit, too.
I tend to have a heavy hand with the nutmeg and use half butter/half 
margarine.  Single batches aren't worth it.  You'll eat them all on
the _way_ to Pennsic, if they last even _that_ long.  Enjoy!

BERTRAM'S GRANDMOTHER'S WELSH COOKIES

         5 cups of flour
     1-3/4 cups sugar
     1-1/2 tsp. nutmeg
         3 tsp. baking powder
         1 tsp. salt

         1 cup softened margarine or butter
         3 beaten eggs
      *1/2 cup milk (add to eggs to make 1 cup)

        16 oz. dried currants

Preheat your electric skillet or griddle to 350* and lightly grease 
non-teflon surfaces with shortening.  Sift the dry ingredients on 
the left, above, into a large mixing bowl.  Work softened margarine 
or butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers or a pastry 
blender until well distributed.  Beat the eggs and add enough milk 
to the egg mixture to make 1-cup.  Pour the liquid into a well in 
the dry ingredients and stir until blended.  Fold in the dried 
currants and mix thoroughly.  If the batter is too sticky you 
may need to add extra flour at this point.  (It should feel 
almost like pie crust.) 

Roll out a portion of the dough until it's about a 1/4" thick 
on a lightly floured surface and cut out circular cookies with 
a cookie cutter or water glass.  Lift cookies from the surface 
with a pancake turner and fry them on the griddle until they 
are light brown on both sides.  Put finished cookies on 
a rack until cool.

Makes between six and seven dozen cookies 
and takes just over an hour.

These cookies are very similar to the period recipe for
Digbie's Fine Cakes.  Except for the baking powder as a 
leavening agent all the ingredients would have been easily 
available in England and Wales in the 16th century.  A period 
substitute such as beer could be used instead of baking powder,
or the ingredient could be left out entirely without changing 
the taste of the cookies.

Happy eating! -- Bertram

From: Melissa Hicks <meliora at macquarie.matra.com.au>
Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 14:04:06 +1000
Subject: SC -Riley, responding to and recipes (long)

Elaina wrote:
do the cookies use baking powder or baking soda?  if so, they are right
out!  if they use only leavening from highly beaten eggs, like an
Elizabethan 'biscuit bread' then they may be okay.  another alternative
might be Digby's "Excellent Small Cakes" - although they are 17th century.
I can post the recipe if you would like it.

Yes, I would like to see Dgby's recipe (if you don't mind or you haven't
already posted it, I'm only 50 messages behind).  As to your question, the
recipes as I know them are as follows.  This is all of the information I have.

Almond Cookies

1 cup ground almonds
1 cup flour or more
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup rosewater
1/2 teaspoon ground anise seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
Almond oil and water

Moisten the ground almonds with the rosewater and a little water to make a
soft paste.  Add sugar, salt, anise, and 1 tablespoon of almond oil and mix
well.  Stir in enough flour to make a paste which is stiff enough to flatten
on a floured surface, but not too dry.  Cut into shapes with cookie cutters,
prick with a skewer, and baked in an oiled tin in a moderate oven for about
twenty minutes, until golden and cooked through.

Raspberry Cream

1 pint (600 ml) fresh heavy cream
3 whites of egg
2 blades mace
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel (without pith)
2 oz. (60 g) white sugar
1 lb. (550 g) raspberries

Melt the sugar and raspberries together on a very low heat.  Strain through
a fine sieve into a bowl and let it cool.  Meanwhile bring the cream up to
the boil, then take it off the heat.  Add, very carefully, the egg whites
beaten with a little cold crean and stir gently until the custard thickens -
putting the pan back on the heat from time to time to avoid cooling too
soon.  Put it one side and let it cool, then stir in the raspberry juice.
Mix together thoroughly to get an even pink colour, or swirl the juice in
with the minimum of stirring to created a marbled effect.

Meliora

Date: Thu, 02 Oct 1997 21:00:31 -0400
From: Nick Sasso <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: SC - Cookies and St. Francis

I recently procured this recipe from a franciscan list I subscribe to
who claim it to be Francis' favorite cookie.  My problem is that the
sender had a photocopy of a photocopy of some page out of some book.
The ingredients are most certainly on target, especially if substitute
breadcrumbs for the flour.  Alas, no documentation can I find.  I've
seen recipes similar (the many gingerbreads we have discussed here, for
example) and see this one as in line.  We are looking at about 1120-1150
or so as a general time frame in Umbria, central Italy, near the recent,
tragic earthquakes. (prayers requested from those of that disposition).

My question is whether anyone has seen this recipe or one with the same
title.  In lieu, would there be suggestion as to how to make it a
'period' presentation?  Would inferencial documentation be adequate?
How much and how close should I come?  My personna is a fransican layman
and I REALLY need this recipe to be useful in our setting.  (sure it'll
be good at home, too)  Any help would be appreciated as I pour over my
tomes and shuttle to the local University book repository for dust mites
and divine intervention on this quest. :o)

---------------------------------

Francis' Favorite Cookie

1 pound blanched almonds
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp cinnamon OR 1 tsp vanilla (OOP)
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
approx. one cup flour

Chop almonds very fine or coarsely grind in a blender.  In a bowl
combine the nuts,
honey, cinnamon, and egg whites.  Mix thoroughly.  Gradually stir in
enough flour
to form a thick paste.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the paste until smooth and stiff.
Roll out to 1/4" thick.  Cut into diamond shapes about 2 1/2" long.  Place on
lightly buttered and floured baking sheet and let dry 1 to 2 hours.

Bake 250F oven for 20 to 30 minutes until set.  Do not let brown.
------------------------------------
niccolo difrancesco

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 20:57:50 -0500
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #327

>On Fri, 3 Oct 1997, Christi Redeker wrote:
>>  How period are cookies?  Other than shortbread and gingerbread, which
>>  we have already discussed.  What are some other types of cookies, or
>>  sweetbread type items that would make good gifts for the holidays?
>
>Unfortunately, cookies, as such, are not even close to period.  They
>require the use of baking powder or baking soda - which is 19th century.
>
>You can to various sweet yeast breads.  If you go slightly out of period
>to late Elizabethan / Jacobean you have a variety of bisket breads, etc.
>that are much like biscotti.  and there's always my favorite from Kenelm
>Digbie - "Excellent Short Cakes" made to the redaction by Mistress Johanna
>of Griffenhurst.
>
>elaina

Whoa Nelly! Stop the train and tip the porter! What about Jumballs? What
about Macaroons (almond). What about Diet Bread (really a fruity biscotti)?
What about Bisket Bread, a pre-curser of modern english biscuits or biscotti
(ie: cookies)?
These all use baking powder today, but existed in period in perfectly
recognisable forms:

From Huswife's Jewel, 1596   pg. 17

To make Fine Cakes.
Take fine flowre and good Damaske water you must have no other liqeur but
that, then take sweet butter, two or three yolkes of eggs and a good
quantity of Suger, and a few cloves, and mace, as your Cookes mouth shall
serve him, and a lyttle saffron, and a little Gods good about a spoonful if
you put in too much they shall arise, cutte them in squares lyke unto
trenchers, and pricke them well, and let your oven be well swept and lay
them uppon papers and so set them into the oven. Do not burne them if they
be three or foure days olde they bee the better.

This is clearly a square short-cookie enriched with egg yolks and spices,
baked on parchment.

To make fine bisket bread. page 19
Take a pound of fine flower, and a pound of sugar, and mingle it together, a
quarter of a pound of Annis-seeded, foure eggs, two or three spoonfuls of
Rosewater put all these into an earthen panne. And, with a slyce of Wood
beate it the space of two houres, then fill your moulds half full: your
mouldes must be of Tinne, and then lette it into the oven your oven, being
so whot [hot] at it were for cheat bread, and let it stande one houre and an
halfe: you must annoint your moulds with butter before you put in your
stuffe, and when you will occupie of it, slice it thinne and drie it in the
oven, your oven beeing no whot-ter [hotter] than you may abide your hand in
the bottome.

Although the directions are out of order, this is clearly a recipe for an
Anise Seed Biscotti-type confection that gets a drying in the oven, just as
modern biscotti does. An alternative interpretation would be that they are
cut so thin before the drying that they are like modern english tea biscuits
(ie: fine digestive biscuits).

No offense, my Lady Eleana, But I do love my cookies. As they say, there is
nothing new in this world. Perhaps the word Cooky had not been invented yet,
but they did have small cakes and pastries, which would definately qualify
as cookies by today's standards. 1596 is smack in period to me.

Aoife

Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 12:05:20 -0500
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #326

>Francis' Favorite Cookie
>
>1 pound blanched almonds
>1/2 cup honey

<snip>

>Bake 250F oven for 20 to 30 minutes until set.  Do not let brown.
>
>niccolo difrancesco

This bears a striking resemblance to macaroons, ratafia cakes, and almond
wreaths, which hail from england/france, italy, and russia respectively.
They all seem to have the same ingredients. I recall (quick, someone, hand
me my brain) that there is a recipe for mackrons or some such spelling in a
14th century English cookbook. I'll try to rack those brains a little harder
and come up with a name. And me a librarian. Sheesh. The Russian version is
quite nummy and is from Elena Molokhovet's Gift to Young Housewives (1700s).
She's got a couple of them for similar cakes.

A hint, since I made these and they were *devoured* while still too hot to
eat in the wreath form: do not chop the almonds too finely.  Chunky almonds
make for a lovely, nut brown cookie. Baked marzipan would be a good guess
here, too, i suppose, but i loved the crunchy type. I lightly chopped
slivered almonds. The results were astounding. You are supposed to use a
cookie press (which obviously won't work with chunky almonds), but I don't
own one. I simply blopped a teaspoon of the stuff on the baking sheet and
flattened, then made the hole with my finger. They like to stick to the
baking sheet, though. Mrs. Molokhovets reccomended parchment, I believe, or
rice paper. I used Pam, and had to remove from the tray a tad too early for
shape-holding. They look lovely as a wreath garnished with a bit of glace
cherry (red and green) for the holidays. I loaned that recipe out and never
got it back. Now I have to run out and try yours!
 
I do own an English version of the Italian recipe (Ratafia). Not from a
period source. Let me know if you'd like it anyway.

These are my favorite type of cookie. I had completely forgotten them until
you brought it up. Guess I'll have to start making stuff for x-mas. Just as
an excuse to nibble, you know.

Thanks for the blast from the past.

Aoife

Date: Mon, 6 Oct 1997 09:26:28 -0500
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - Re: ALMOND COOKIES

 A few more Almond Cookie recipes from Lady Castlehill's Receipt Book
(1700s, OOP), and Martha Washington (Possibly Period), and Two Anglo-Norman
Culinary Collections, as quoted in Pleyn Delit.

To Make Ginger Bread (Lady Castlehill's Receipt Book, copyright Hamish
Whyte, 1976, Melendinar Press, Glasgow, Scotland, a copy of a private ms.
held by the Mitchell Library, Glasgow). To the best of my knowledge, this is
the second cookbook Scotland produced, but it was never publicly printed
until this century.

Take a pound of Almonds blnach them & beate them very fine with a little
Rosewater then put themin a Dish on a Chafing Dish of coales to drye them.
For Cinnamon Bread beate them with cinnamon water; if for Ginger Bread then
with faire water. Then when your almonds are one the Fire mingle with Sugar
to your taste so with Cinnamon or Ginger. The spices must be beaten &
searced very fine. 
When it is  of a thickness to worke it take it off the Fire & so worke it
and Roll with a Rolling Pin and print it on your Moulds: & drye it before
the Fire. You must worke it with a little Gum Dragon wateres with Cinnamon
water & when you mould it up put three quarters and 2 ouces of Sugar searced
to a pound of Almonds.

To Make Marchpane Cakes (Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery, ed. Karen
Hess, Columbia University Press, NY 1980)

Take your Marchpane paste & roule it out about a quarter of an intch thick,
& cut themin little round cakes about ye bigness of a table man. cut them
some 3 & some 4 square, & some like a hart, & what other fashion you pleas.
then lay themon papers or pie plates & dry them. Then take ye white of an
egg, & beat searced [sugar] into it till it is something thick, & Ise ye one
side of themover with it, & drye them againe in a warme oven for a quarter
of an houre, then turne them & ice ye other side of them in ye like manner,
& they will be very white with smooth sides. & soe keep them for yr use.
In addition to these, Pleyn Delit (edition 2, Hieatt, et al, University of
Totonto Press, 1996) has a recipe called Emeles, which are fried almond cakes:  

From "Two Anglo-Norman Culinary Collections", Speculum 61 (1986) The
earliest 'English recipes' (in French) from mss Add 32085 (A-NA) and Royal
12 C.xii RF Jones, Ed.

Emeles

Take sugar, salt, almonds, and white bread, and grind them together; then
add eggs; then grease or oil or butter, and take a spoon and brush them, and
then remove them and sprinkle them with dry sugar.

<<redaction left out so you can have your own fun with it!>>

Aoife                         

Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 22:15:30 +1100
From: Meliora & Drake <meliora at macquarie.matra.com.au>
Subject: SC - Almond Cookies

At 12:46 PM 16/02/98 -0800, Rebecca Tants wrote:

>The only completely non-period item (we'll skip lemonade for the moment)
>was the Almond Cookies.  They were AWESOME, but came from a nice Italian
>cookbook I have and can't be dated to prior then the turn of the century.
>They were, however, inexpensive, yummy and a good solution as I got
>frantic.  (Recipe for those is 11oz almonds, 1c plus 3T sugar, 1/2 t
>vanilla, 4 egg whites, pinch of salt.  Beat egg whites and salt to stiff
>peaks, process almonds and sugar together.  Fold almonds/sugar and vanilla
>into the egg whites, bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes on greased cookie
>sheet.  YUMYUMYUMYUMYUM)

Hi Rebecca,

There is a similar recipe in Elinor Fettiplace (1602 - so is definately
renaissance not medieval) which follows:

To make french biskit bread

Take one pound of almonds blanched in cold water, beat them verie smale, put
in some rose water to them, in the beating, wherein some musk hath lien,
then take one pound of sugar beaten and searced and beat with your almonds,
then take the whites or fowre eggs beten and put to the sugar & almonds,
then beat it well together, then heat the oven as hot as you doe for other
biskit bread, then take a paper & strawe some sugar upon it, & lay two
spoonfulls of the stuf in a place, then lay the paper upon a board full of
holes, & put them into the oven as fast as you can & so bake them, when they
begin to looke somewhat browne they are baked inough.  Elinor Fettiplace
p224.

Moden recipe by Spurling:
100g ground almonds
100g icing sugar
1 beaten egg white
little rosewater

Spurling tends to waffle a lot so the following is paraphrased:
Mix all ingredients together and bake as one large biscuit (the size of the
palm of your hand) in 180oC or 350oF oven for 35-45 mins.

Mel's Notes: I tend to make smaller maccaroons.  A double-sized batch
normally makes 20 biscuits.  I find that if I wet my hands with water or
rosewater while rolling the mixture into little balls, it gives the finished
macaroons a smooth shell.

I first thought to make this recipe because I does not contain flour and my
mother has Coeliac's Disease (cannot ingest gluten).  At the couple of
feasts I provided them at, they were a bit hit but are rather expensive to
make.  My mundane work still asks me to make these whenever we celebrate a
birthday though !!

Spurling, Hilary (1986) Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book, Penguin Books,
Available on order through any book store in paperback for around $Aust
16.00.

Hope this helps you

Meliora de Curci
Politarchopolis, Lochac, The West

Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 14:43:56 -0500 (CDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
Subject: SC - Speculaas

Greetings.  Here are two or so items I saved regarding speculaas.  I
haven't found any "period" recipes myself but have seen pictures of the
speculaas in Dutch still lifes from around 1630 or 1640.  Recipes
follow:

Alys Katharine

SPECULAAS OR DUTCH LETTER COOKIES

Dutch Letters
(From Better Homes and Gardens, January 1995, page 124)

"These traditional marzipan-filled pastry letters are eaten most
often at Christmastime, although many Dutch families in the
U.S. enjoy them for special occasions year-round.  The letter
S (for Saint Nicholas) is the most common shape, but you can
 bend the pastry ropes into letters of your choice, such as the
initials of family and friends.  Purchased frozen puff pastry
 makes this version easier than ever.  Freeze the baked letters
to keep on hand for company.  The pastries will thaw while
the coffee is brewing."

"Before purchasing the almond paste, check the ingredients
listed on the package.  Select a brand that is made only with
almonds and sugar, not corn syrup or furctose.  Otherwise,
the filling may soften and leak out of the pastry during baking."

2  17 1/4 oz. pkg. (4 sheets) frozen puff pastry
1 slightly beaten egg white
1   8-oz. can almond paste
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
granulated sugar

'Thaw the frozen puff pastry according to package directions.
For filling, in a small mixing bowl stir together egg white,
almond paste, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, and brown sugar.
Set aside.

On a well-floured surface, roll each sheet of thawed puff pastry
into a 12 1/2x 10" rectangle.  Cut each rectangle into five
10x2 1/2" strips.  Shape a slightly rounded tablespoon of
almond filling into a 9" long rope.  Place the almond rope
down the center third of one strip.  Roll up the strip lengthwise
(Alys:  short side to short side, not end over end.)  Brush the
ends with water; pinch well to seal.  Repeat with the remaining
dough strips and filling.

Place the filled strips, seam side down, on an ungreased baking
sheet, shaping each strip into a letter.  Brush with water; sprinkle
 with additional granulated sugar.  Bake in a 375º oven for 20
to 25 minutes or till pastry is golden.  Remove pastries from the
baking sheet.  Cool completely on wire racks.  Makes 20.

To freeze:  Place the cooled, baked letters between layers of
waxed paper in an airtight freezer container.  Seal, label, and
freeze for up to 3 months.  To thaw, let pastries stand uncovered,
at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Dutch Letter Cookies
(From Conrad Jay Bladey, bj333 at FreeNet.Carleton.CA, 27
December 1994)

"Take almond paste and wrap it in filo dough -- greek generally
thin sheets -- bake with cinnamon on top and when done topped
with confectioners sugar...Make the rolls about 1/2 to 2/8 inches
in diameter.  It is too righ otherwise and bake till brown.  Try a
high oven 400º etc."

Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 16:34:23 -0500 (CDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
Subject: SC - More Speculaas

Greetings.  Found another booklet of cookie recipes while doing a major
cleanout of my study.  Again, this is _not_ a period recipe.  Here
'tis.

>From _Festive Cookies of Christmas_, Norma Jost Voth, Herald
Press (Scottdale, PA), 1982, pages 36-37.

Dutch Speculaas:  Crunch “Speculaas” cookies were traditionally
shaped in elaborately carved molds, but are just as decicious cut in
squares sprinkled with almonds.  In Holland, St. Nicholas rewards
good children with “Speculaas”, “Pepernoten” (peppernut cookies),
and “Tai Tai” (a gingerbread-like cookie).

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp. milk
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cardamom
1/2 cup diced almonds

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg and milk.  Beat well.
Sift together dry ingredients and blend slowly into creamed mixture.
 Chill overnight.

For Squares or Cookie Cutters:  Roll well-chilled dough on floured
board.  Cut with floured cutter or cut in squares or rectangles with
knife.  Place on greased baking sheet.  Sprinkle with sliced almonds.
Bake at 300 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until edges start to brown.
Cool on racks.  Store in airtight container.

For Molded Cookies:  chill dough in freezer 15 minutes.  Generously
flour inside of mold.  On well-floured board, roll dough thick enough
to fill inside of mold.  cut piece of dough to fit in mold and press
in.  Flatten with floured rolling pin.  Slide spatula across to remove
excess dough.  Remove immediately by turning mold over and
tapping on back.  Ease cookie onto greased baking sheet.

For large mold, lay greased sheet on mold, invert to release cookie.
Bake at 300 degrees about 20 minutes or until edges begin to
 brown.  Cool.  Store in airtight container.  Makes 1 1/2 dozen.

Ans van den Hoogen, a professional baker, says “Speculaas” retain
clearer details of the mold when dough is very stiff and less baking
powder is used.  Baker van den Hoogen allows, however, “In our
shop we go more for flavor and are not so concerned with shape.”

Alys Katharine

Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 16:42:38 -0500 (CDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
Subject: SC - Cookie Molds

Greetings.  From the Speculass inquiry, I thought people might be
interested in a source for replicas of period and slightly-OOP cookie
molds.  "The House on the Hill" has moved several times but I think
their current mailing address is P.O. Box 7003, Villa Park, IL 60181.
The phone number (for that address) is 708-969-2588.  However, it may
have undergone one of those area code changes.

They carry many molds, in all sizes, both modern and old.  Their
catalog includes photos or drawings with the size and the origin of the
mold.  While many are between $10 and $20, a number of them are $25-60,
especially for copies of old, detailed molds.  Does anyone else know of
them and know if this is a current address?

Alys Katharine

Date: Wed, 21 Oct 1998 11:40:08 -0500
From: mfgunter at fnc.fujitsu.com (Michael F. Gunter)
Subject: SC - Elizabethan buffet (long)

These were given to me by our dear Ann-Marie. They are wonderful.

MARJORAM COOKIES

Marjoram cookies? This may sound very odd, but the raisins and fresh herbs
combine for a wonderfully sweet, but not cloying taste. The fish shapes are
very cute, if you can manage them.

To make fritters like fishes: [Epilario, #232] Blanch thy almonds [here is
a transcription error about adding chopped fish. It's not in the original
Italian] and stampe together with Currans, Sugar, Parsely and Margerum
chopped small with good spice and saffron, then have in a readinesse a fine
paste, and making it in what forme you wil you may fill them with this
composition, then frie them in oile: they make likewise be baked dry in a
frying pan, and when they are baked, they will shew like fishes.

Our Version::
Make a batch of your favorite shortbread cookie dough, or use refridgerated
sugar cookie dough.
Filling:
1 c. blanched almonds
1/2 c each raisins and currants
1 c powdered  sugar
3 T dry marjoram, or 1 T fresh
1/2 c. fresh parsley
4 threads of saffron
1 tsp "good spice", ie a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, etc
Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, and blend
until the stuff begins to stick together. Makes 2c. filling.
Roll out the pastry dough, and cut out shapes. Fish shapes are appropriate.
Place a dollop of filling on the bottom crust, cover with a top crust, and
seal the edges with a fork dipped in water. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 min, or until lightly brown.

(Note: I used commercial sugar cookie dough and it wouldn't make the
"sandwich" so I just mixed the lot together. Still came out very tasty.)

<snip of PEAR PUDDINGS recipe. Actually an illusion food>

My thanks to Ann-Marie for all the recipe assistance and to Alys D. for all
the work she put forth in making it happen.

Gunthar

Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 11:10:02 SAST-2
From: "Ian van Tets" <ivantets at botzoo.uct.ac.za>
Subject: SC - back to Biscotti

        The recipe is from "the good huswife's jewell" (1596) and is
for a biscuit that, in my dear lady's opinion, resembles biscotti.  My
apologies for any spelling mistakes that I may have inadvertantly
added.

Jan van Seist
a resident of the Shire of Adamastor,
 the southernnmost shire of the Kingdom of Drachenwald.

To make fine bisket bread.
       Take a pound of fine flower, and a pound of sugar, and mingle
it together, a quarter of a pound of Annis-seedes, foure eggs, two or
three spoonfulls of rosewater put all these into an earthen panne.
And, with a slyce of wood beat it the space of two houres, then fill
your moulds half full, your moulds be of tinne, and then lette it
into your oven, being so whot as it were for cheat bread and let it
stande one houre and an halfe:  you must annoint your moulds with
butter before you put in your stuffe, and when you will occupie of
it, slice it thinne and dry it in the oven, your oven beeing no
whotter than you may abide your hand in the bottome.

Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 20:24:12 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Cookie cutter cookie dough....

retants at hotmail.com writes:
<< I wonder if anyone has documented or found reference to
 anything, particularly cookies and such, frosted or iced? >>

I can't say whether frosted cookies per se are documentable but almost all
the literature that is available makes allusions to sweets and other tidbits
served in assorted shapes. If frosting is documentable , your best bet would
be to look in VERY late period sources since sugar was extremely expensive and
was used mostly for medicine or as a spice. IIRC, Food in History documents
sugar as costing around the equivalent of 500 American dollars/lb. (e.g. L200
English) in the 13th century C.E. which cost would make it prohibitively
expensive for even the most wealthy to make frosting from it.

Ras

Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 08:28:44 -0600 (CST)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
Subject: SC - Marzipan:  Was:  Purple Fleur-de-Lys

Margaret wrote:
>Also, does anyone know how late flour started to be mixed with
>marzipan to make cookies (your basic Mexican wedding cookie/almond
>crescent/humdah Christmas cookie).

It wasn't within the SCA period.  The late 17th-century recipes I have
seen don't use it.  A few years ago I had questioned the use of sugar
syrup in making marzipan since most of the English recipes don't have
that variation, but modern ones do.  Then, I found a mid-1600s French
recipe with a sugar syrup added.  As for adding flour, I would wonder
if it might not be in the latter part of the 1700s at the earliest.
There was a lot of innovative dessert making going on then.  Wonder if
I have any cookery books in that time period??

Alys Katharine

Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1999 18:12:57 PST
From: "Bonne of Traquair" <oftraquair at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - jumbles or cracknels recipe needed

Cindy:  I only have a photcopied page so I am not positive of the book,
but I beleive it is "Sallets Humbles and Shrewsbury Cake" recipe which
calls for "dryed" flour. The original source is not listed on the page I
have.

"To make Iambles"

Take eight ounces of flower dryed in an Oven, foure ounces of hard Sugar
beaten and cerst, one ounce of Aniseede being dryed and rubd betweene
your hands, the dust taken cleane out, mixe all these together with the
whites of two new laid egges, and as much damaske-rose-water as will
worke it with a good temperate past, then roule it in long roules as big
as your little finger, then cast it into Letters of Knots of what
fashion you please, so pricke is with a Needle and bake it in an Oven
upon white papers as hot as for Manchet, and in a quarter of an houre
they will bee enough, and then Box them and keepe them dry all the yeare
long for your use, and let them not bee browne in any case.

**the redaction**

1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
teaspoon anise seed
2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon rosewater
1 tablespoon water

Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl. Add the anise seed to the
flour, rubbing it between your hands to release the flavor.  Beat the
egg whites stiff and fold them carefully into the flour mixture.  Add
the rosewater and just enough water to make a workable dough.  With
floured hands work the dough into long rolls. Shape the rolls into
letters and figures.  Place these on a greased cookie sheet and prick
them with a fork for decoration.  Bake the cookies in a preheated 350
degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until they are done but not browned.
Remove to a rack immediately.  The cookies are best when fresh, but will
keep well in a tightly covered jar for a couple of weeks.
Yield: about 10 large cookies.

Lady Bonne

Date: Wed, 5 May 1999 06:15:42 -0600 (MDT)
From: Mary Morman <memorman at oldcolo.com>
Subject: SC - exellent small cakes

Excellent Small Cakes

Modern cakes and cookie recipes are inappropriate for pre-17th century
recreation because they use baking powder or baking soda - 19th century
inventions.  These "small cakes" are somewhat like a shortbread, but rise
slightly due to the use of eggs and cream.

The original recipe is from Sir Kenelme Digbie's The Closet Opened printed
in 1669 by Digbie's nephew and including his uncle's store of recipes used
at court.

"Excellent Small Cakes

Take three pound of very find flower well dryed by the fire, and put to it
a pound and a half of loaf Sugar sifted in a very fine sieve and dryed;
Three pounds of Currnats well washed and dryed in a cloth and set by the
fire;  When you flower is well mixed with the Sugar and Currants, you must
put in it a pound and a half of unmelted butter, ten spoonfuls of Cream,
with the yolks of three new-laid Eggs beat with it, one Nutmeg; and if you
please, three spoonfuls of Sack.  When you have wrought your paste well,
you must put it in a cloth, and set it in a dish before the fire, til it
be through warm.  Then make then up in little cakes, and prick them full
of holes; you muct bake them in a wuick oven unclosed.  Afterwards Ice
them over with Sugar.  The Cakes should be about the bigness of a
hand-breadth and thin:  of the cise of the Sugar Cakes sold at Barnet.

This recipe uses the redaction made by Mistress Johanna von Griffenhurst
and is made as follows.

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/8 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
6 tablespoons whipping cream
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
5 ounces of currants

Mix all ingredients well into a stiff dough and cook 12-15 minutes in a
325o oven until slightly brown on the bottom.

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 18:39:08 -0700 (PDT)
From: H B <nn3_shay at yahoo.com>
Subject: SC - Shrewsbury Cakes

Help!  I don't  know if this has already been discussed here, but I
couldn't find anything on it in the Florilegium.  I found this recipe
for Shrewsbury Cakes in the Meridies A&S pages, by Mistress Evelyn
Demond; unfortuately she gives only a redaction, and I don't have
either of the source texts she mentions.  So first, here is the recipe
as it is given there:

This version is adapted from Sallets, Humbles, and Shrewsbury Cakes,
and Dining With William Shakespeare.

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (margarine must taste like butter)
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp rosewater or orangewater (vanilla works)
2 cups sifted unbleached four

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add rosewater.  Sift flour with
nutmeg.  Stir dry ingredients into butter-sugar mixture until blended.
Chill ten minutes for ease of handling.  Roll dough into one inch balls
and press them down on a cookie sheet to make circles.  Bake at 350
degrees until slightly brown (you want a "white" cake).  Cool on a wire
rack.  Store in an airtight tin.

Now, I tried this recipe, twice.  And as given, the resulting mixture
is so dry, there's no way I could "roll" it into anything -- it just
crumbled apart.  I tried it warm, I tried it cold, there wasn't enough
moisture or fat or something to hold it together.  I added an egg (just
going by cookie dough contents), and then a little milk, and it got
moist enough to shape; actually, by then it was a little sticky, so I
flattened them with a glass bottom dipped in sugar -- worked well,
tasted pretty good.  But not the original recipe.

So, am I missing something?  Is the recipe missing something?  Should
it be 2 Tblsp rosewater/orangewater (that sounds like a pretty strong
flavor)?  Does anyone have the (secondary?) sources listed, and/or the
original sources these might have been redacted from?  In general I'm
an okay cook with a recipe to start from, but I'm not experienced
enough redact on my own; could someone please help?

I know cookies as we know them weren't common in period, but I LOVE
them, and I do tons of them at Christmas to send to all my busy
siblings and their kids.  I was kind of hoping for a recipe that I not
only could slip in for them, but take along to events, so I was SO
happy to see something like a period cookie recipe, but I can't get it
to work yet!  If you help me, I'll mail you some at Christmas, I
promise!

- -- Harriet

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 20:41:51 -0600
From: "Brian L. Rygg or Laura Barbee-Rygg" <rygbee at montana.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Shrewsbury Cakes

I have made this exact recipe before with no problem.  Are you using
butter -- 1 stick?  That's what I used.
Raoghnailt
Stan Wyrm, Artemisia

Date: Tue, 17 Aug 1999 23:22:47 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Shrewsbury Cakes

H B wrote:
> This version is adapted from Sallets, Humbles, and Shrewsbury Cakes,
> and Dining With William Shakespeare.
>
> 1/2 cup sugar
> 1/2 cup butter (margarine must taste like butter)
> 1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
> 2 tsp rosewater or orangewater (vanilla works)
> 2 cups sifted unbleached four

Hmmmm. We seem to be mixing and matching here...

Both sources give different redactions for the same primary source
recipe.

One (SH&SC) calls for 1/2 cup (1/4 lb or one stick) plus two Tbs. (1
ounce) butter, softened, and 1/2 cup sugar, plus 2 cups mixed whole
wheat and unbleached white flour and around an ounce of _fairly_
insignificant flavoring liquids, insignificant inasmuch as they don't
drastically affect the moistness of the dough.

The other (DWWS) calls for the same 1/2 cup butter, 1/4 cup sugar, and
_one_ cup unbleached flour, plus the rosewater (1/2 Tbs.), nutmeg (1 1/2
tsp.), etc.

Clearly the second recipe has almost twice as much butter per ounce of
flour, and would make for a somewhat moister, less crumbly cake than the first.

The original recipe is from John Murrell's "A Delightfull daily exercise
for Ladies and Gentlewomen", 1621.

"Take a quart of very fine flower, eight ounces of fine sugar beaten and
cersed, twelve ounces of sweet butter, a Nutmegge grated, two or three
spoonfuls of Damask rose-water, worke all these together with your hands
as hard as you can for the space of half an houre, then roule it in
little round Cakes, about the thickness of three shillings one upon
another, then take a silver Cup or glass some four inches over, and cut
the cakes in them, then strowe some flower upon white papers & lay them
upon them, and bake them in an Oven as hot as for Manchet..."

Followed by a whole lot of instructions on how to bake them without
letting them brown, as they're supposed to be white. I could post the
rest if it were really necessary, but if not...well, you know.

So Murrell calls for approximately 4 cups of flour, one cup of
probably-not-very-white sugar, and 1 1/2 cups butter, plus an unknown
quantity of rosewater (Hillary Spurling has some calculations about the
Jacobean English spoon measure, but I don't recall what conclusion she
reached; see Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book), and a nutmeg.

All in all I'd say the first recipe (SH&SC) is a little closer to
Murrell's, but still a little shy on the butter. You might try Murrell's
proportions (possibly halved), and just add enough rosewater to make a
moist enough dough for your purposes. BTW, Murrell does say to work the
dough for half an hour; while that's less than the instructions for
Prince-Bisket, it probably does build up as much gluten as you're going
to get in this dough, and then obligingly breaks it down again. You may
find that if you work/knead the dough by hand for a long time, the
texture may change, both as the flour absorbs moisture and the gluten
levels change.

Adamantius

Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 06:32:55 +0300
From: Sheina Yeheskal <sheina at barak-online.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Shrewsbury Cakes

I would suspect that your problem is that this looks like the kind of
recipe you really can't measure the water for.
The same is true for pie crust, which I imagine this is susposed to be more
like than what we have today.  The humidity in the air can have a lot to do
with how much water you need to add, as well as how cold it is and how cold
the water is.  I would stay away from the egg, and if it still doesn't look
right try starting with flour, suger, nutmeg - add the oil - and then the
water just as you would for a pie crust.

Incidently I have had things made with rosewater and the flavor is even
more delicate than vanilla.  What you might try is just a little orange
juice (or vanilla) in a glass of water, not straight.

Good luck.  Let me know how it works out

Sheina

Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 18:08:53 -0500
From: "Sharon R. Saroff" <sindara at pobox.com>
Subject: Re: SC - uses for leftover almond crumbs?

At 04:00 PM 8/29/99 -0600, you wrote:
>> I have a recipe for Murachinos, Turkish almond macaroons that uses 3 cups
>> ground almonds, 3 egg whites, 1 1/2 cups sugar (I use 1 cup) and a pinch of
>> salt.  The recipe is out of Sephardic Holiday Cooking by Gilda Angel.  I
>> recently won a dessert competition with these cookies.  They seem to be a 
>> hit.
>>
>> Sindara
>
>Recipe please.
>
>Raoghnailt
>Stan Wyrm, Artemisia
>rygbee at montana.com

The recipe is real simple.  Beat the egg whites, sugar and salt until peaks
are forming and fold into the ground almonds.  Spoon onto greased cookie
sheets press down with fork. Bake at 325 for 10-15 min.  Remove with
spatula to racks and cool for 10 min.

When I made these for the dessert competition I also added a 1/2 teaspoon
each of cinnamon and clove to the recipe.

Another recipe from this book that you might like is Mustacudos which are
Rhodian spicy nut balls for Passover.

Combine 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar 1 tsp cinnamon, and 1/2 tsp ground clove. Add 1
1/2 cups ground walnuts and 2 1/2 cups ground almonds to make a dough. Roll
into 1 inch balls and place on greased cookie sheets.  Bake 350 for 10-12
min or until bottoms are golden.  Cool for 10 minutes to set before
removing to racks.

Both have been a big hit here in Ansteorra whenever I have made them.

Sindara

Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 08:07:59 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - uses for leftover almond crumbs?

"Sharon R. Saroff" wrote:
> The recipe is real simple.  Beat the egg whites, sugar and salt until peaks
> are forming and fold into the ground almonds.  Spoon onto greased cookie
> sheets press down with fork. Bake at 325 for 10-15 min.  Remove with
> spatula to racks and cool for 10 min.

I don't know if this was an issue for you, but it's been my experience
you should start beating the egg whites and salt first, until the
mixture is white and fluffy, before adding your sugar, or it won't form
those peaks...lots of people know this and take it for granted, but if
you've never done it before it could be a problem. That would be a
shame, because these sound lovely.

Adamantius

Date: Mon, 06 Sep 1999 10:03:44 -0400
From: Ian Gourdon <agincort at raex.com>
Subject: SC - Archer Cookies

A small peace offering for you, from the pointless war.
I made the british broadhead in them, to enhance the name: "Excellent Small Cakes (Archer Cookies)3 dozen cookies

Source: Digby and Mistress Peridot

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup currants or raisins
3/4 cup butter
2 1/2 Tbs cream (or more)
2 eggs1 pinch nutmeg
2 tsp sherry

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, nutmeg and currants. Work in the softened butter. When well mixed, add the balance of the liquids and mix in well. The final consistency should be of a thick oatmeal or drop cookie dough. Add water or cream if necessary. Press dough flat into palm sized cakes, about a 1/4 inch thick. Prick with a fork, and bake for 10 minutes. The edges should turn a light brown when done."- --Ian Gourdon of Glen Awe

Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1999 14:07:40 EDT
From: DianaFiona at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Archer Cookies

agincort at raex.com writes:

<<  In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, nutmeg and currants. Work in the softened butter. When well mixed, add the balance of the liquids and mix in well. The final consistency should be of a thick oatmeal or drop cookie dough. Add water or cream if necessary. Press dough flat into palm sized cakes, about a 1/4 inch thick. Prick with a fork, and bake for 10 minutes. The edges should turn a light brown when done."  >>

    If I may offer a slight variant......... *My* favorite way to get this dough moist enough is to add more sherry as the extra liquid. Amazing what it does for the flavor........ ;-) I also tend to mix the sugar for the icing with sherry rather than water. Yummy stuff, if perhaps not *quite* what Digby intended! *grin*                

Ldy Diana

Date: Sat, 6 Nov 1999 20:58:53 -0500
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: SC - Recipe: Bizcochos

This is what I took to the arts exhibition in Marwick.

Bizcocho
Anise Sugar Cookies
16th century Spanish

Source: Diego Granado, Libro del Arte de Cozina, Madrid, 1599
Translation and redaction by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba  (Copyright
1999, Robin Carroll-Mann)

Para hazer bizcocho

Tomar vna dozena de huevos, y los diez sin claras, y batirlos en vn perol a vna
mano. y despues de bien batidos echarles vna libra de açucar bien molido, y
junto con los hueuos batirlo my bien, y echarle vna libra de almidon muy bien
cernido, y vn poco de anis, y sal, y batirlo buen rato, y tener el hornillo de
buen temple, y hazer sus casas de papeles con sus obleas debaxo, y echarlas
alli, y poluorearlas con açucar por encima, y mirarlas de en rato en rato, hasta
que esten hechas, y antes de mirar con vn cuchillo punçandolos, y si sale
mojado no estan cozidos.

To make biscuit

Take a dozen eggs, and ten of them without whites, and beat them in a kettle
with one hand, and after they are well beaten cast in a pound of well ground
sugar, and beat it well together with the eggs, and cast in a pound of very well
sifted starch, and a little anise, and salt, and beat it a good while, and have a little oven, well-tempered, and make your squares of papers with your wafers
underneath, and cast them there; and powder them with sugar on top, and
watch them moment by moment, until they are done, and before watching
them prick them with a knife, and if it comes out wet they are not cooked.

Anise Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
8 egg yolks
1 pound wheat starch (approx. 4 scant cups)
1 pound sugar (approx. 2 cups + 5 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons ground anise seed
1 teaspoon salt
additional sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  Place the eggs and egg yolks in the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat on medium for a minute.  Gradually add the sugar to the
eggs.  Turn the speed to low and gradually add the starch, salt, and anise to
the egg mixture.  Beat on medium for 10 minutes.  You will have a thick, fluffy
batter.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Alternatively, you may lightly
grease the pans or use non-stick pans.  Drop the batter by tablespoons 2
inches apart.  After a moment, they will spread out on the pan, and will spread
further during baking.  Sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Place in preheated oven.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes, until the cookies
are set and a toothpick or knife-blade comes out clean.  The cookies should
not be browned on top; there should be no more than a slight hint of golden
color around the edges.  Remove carefully from the pan with a spatula.
Cookies will be soft when they are first removed and may be prone to
breakage.  They become firmer as they cool.  Cool on  racks.  Store after
cooling in an air-tight container.   Makes approximately 5 dozen 3-inch cookies.

Notes: I found wheat starch at my local Chinese grocery.  If it is not available
in your area, substituting all-purpose flour would probably work.  Another
recipe for bizcocho in the same cookbook calls for either starch or flour.  Egg
quantities were reduced on the assumption that medieval eggs were smaller.  I
tried using parchment paper, but found that cookies were much easier to
remove intact from greased pans.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

Date: Mon, 01 May 2000 11:24:42 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler at chesapeake.net>
Subject: Re: SC - [Fwd: [Shire X] Oh, My, so This is what they eat in CAID . . .   .]

CBlackwill at aol.com wrote:
> If you think this foul, please remember that ambergris was considered a
> "seasoning" in the Middle Ages... Particularly in China
>
> Balthazar of Blackmoor

I also found both ambergris and musk mentioned as ingredients for sweets in period in Europe.  I even tried to find some just to see how it would taste in a recipe that called for it.  I was unsuccessful, and decided simply to omit it, but believe that it probably added a unique taste.  One of these came from the
catalogue for the "Fooles and Fricassees" exhibit at the Folger here in DC.  An
appendix had an early 17th century cookbook by Sarah Longe.  I redacted it and
used it at an Elizabethan feast a couple of weeks ago:

p.  19, Mrs Sarah Longe her Receipt Booke [c. 1610] from Fooles and Fricassees:
Food in Shakespeare's England (Published by the Folger Shakespeare Library,
Washington, DC, 1999)

Take a pound of Almons, blanch them, then beate them in a morter [;] then put in a little rosewater to them, that they may not turn to an Oyle in their beating; when they are beaten very small take them up and put them into a Dish [;] then take half a pound of sugar beaten very small and put to them the whites of 4 Eggs, with a little Quantity of musk, and Ambergrease [;] then beat it altogether a quarter of an hour, then put it upon papers in what fashion you will.  You must be carefull in the making of it, that it be not coloured to[o] much.

Redaction: (makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies)

2 cups blanched almonds
1/2 teaspoon rose water
1 cup sugar
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1.  Grind almonds in a mill or food processor.  Add the rosewater to keep them
from getting oily.
2.  Add sugar, egg whites and almond extract and blend thoroughly in the food
processor.
3.  Put teaspoonfuls of the batter onto a greased cookie sheet.
4.  Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  Be very careful to check the bottoms of the cookies as they tend to get too brown.  The cookies should be VERY lightly
ìcolouredî as the recipe above states.

Notes:
I added almond extract to intensify the almond flavor.  This is a slightly
perfumed taste and would, I believe, approximate the ambergris and/or musk the
recipe called for.  I was unable to locate either of these ingredients.  Also,
I've heard differing opinions on the safety of cooking with these ingredients so
prefer to stay away from them.

People seemed to really like them...they came out as a sort of cross between
meringues and macaroons.

Kiri

Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 21:39:39 -0500
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - hildegard's cookies

At 8:55 PM -0600 6/19/00, Serian wrote:
>um, baking powder?  gee, that's interesting.  I just pulled
>out my Physica and didn't find anything even close to that.
>Good thing the student wants to be anonymous.  They call
>that research?  I mean, the cookies sound pretty good, but

The original is under "Nutmeg" and reads:

"Take some nutmeg and an equal weight of cinnamon and a bit of 
cloves, and pulverise them. Then make small cakes with this and fine 
whole wheat flour and water. Eat them often. ..."

David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/

Date: Mon, 19 Jun 2000 23:45:18 -0500
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - hildegard's cookies

Just for fun, I tried making them:

1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves
1 c flour + 3 T
1/2 c water

I mixed the spices with the flour, stirred in the water, kneaded 
smooth--the final 3T of flour were because it was a bit wet. I then 
divided it into about six portions, flattened one to about 1/8", and 
did the others at various shapes between that and a ball. I cooked it 
at 300 degrees for 30 minutes, turning them over after the first ten 
minutes.

The spice taste was noticeable--and other than that, of course, they 
came out bland. The thinnest one was probably the best. I may see 
what happens if I split some of them and then dry them in a low oven, 
to get something closer to a cracker effect.

Edible, and (according to Hildigard) good for you, but not very tasty.
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/

Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 23:23:11 +0200
From: Thomas Gloning <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: SC - hildegard's cookies

<< It would have been most helpful if they'd given the original... >>

"DE NUCE MUSCATA.
Nux muscata magnum calorem habet et bonum temperamentum in viribus suis.
Et si homo nucem muscatam comedit, cor ejus aperit et sensum ejus
purificat, ac bonum ingenium illi infert. Accipe quocunque nucem
muscatam et aequali pondere cynamomi et modicum gariofiles, id est
nelchin, et haec pulveriza, et tunc eum pulvere isto ac cum simila
farinae et modica aqua tortellos fac, et eos saepe comede, et omnem
amaritudinem cordis et mentis tuae sedat, et cor tuum et obtusos sensus
tuos aperit, et mentem tuam laetam facit, et sensus tuos purificat, ac
omnes nocivos humores in te minuit, et bonum succum sanguini tuo
tribuit, et fortem te facit." (PL I 21)

In addition, here is a period German version from the Codex 6952 of the
French National Library (ed. Melitta Weiss Adamson, in: Sudhoffs Archiv
79/2, 1995, 184; under the heading "contra dolorem capitis"):

"Man sal nemen muscate vnd nelchin das es glich wiege vnd enwenig
Cynamomum vnd puluer das vil symeln meles dar zu vnd als vil wa?ers das
man cleyn kuchlin da von machen moge vnd sal die drucken an dem luffte
das kein wint dar zu gee so er di?e kuchlin dicke i?et dem bekommet sie
vnma?en wol in dem heupte vnd an dem herczen vnd in allem syme libe".

<< I'd say the recipe itself is probably not intended to produce
digestive biscuits but, well, pastilles/pills >>

The use of lat. "tortellos" and germ. "kuchlin" suggests, that indeed
sort of cookies are meant. But certainly, these cookies were made for
their medical properties mentioned in the section.

The medical effects on mind, brain, heart and the whole body are very
impressive, and I wonder, how His Grace feels after having eaten some of
these wonder cookies ...

Have fun, Thomas

Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 22:48:06 +0200
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: SC - sweets to sell with hot drinks - recipes needed

To make fine Cakes. 

Take a quantity of fine wheate Flower, and put it in anearthen pot. Stop it close and set it in an Oven, and bake it as long as you would a Pasty of Venison, andwhen it is baked it will be full of clods. Then searce your flower through a fine sercer. Then take clouted Creame or sweet butter, but Creame is best: then take sugar, cloves, Mace, saffron and yolks of eggs, so much as wil seeme to season your flower. Then put these things into the Creame, temper all together. Then put thereto your flower. So make your cakes. The paste will be very short; therefore  make them very little. Lay paper under them. 

(From The Widowes Treasury by John Partridge, 1585.)       

A searce is a sieve.  The pre-baked flour will be very hard and lumpy; you will need to rub it through a sieve in order to use it.  Clouted creame is fresh unpasteurized cream that has been allowed to sit in an earthenware pan near the hearth overnight.  The cream forms a thick wrinkled yellow crust called clouted or clotted cream.  If you don't have clouted cream, use butter.  

Here is a worked out recipe for you:       

To every 3 cups of sifted baked flour, take the following:
     1 1/2 cups butter       1 cup sugar       1/4 teaspoon clove powder
       1/t teaspoon mace powder       1/2 pinch saffron, crumbled
       3 egg yolks

      Preheat oven to 3508 F.
       In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Add the spices and egg yolks, and beat to mix thoroughly.  Add the flour, and beat until smooth.  Use a non-stick cookie sheet, or line a cookie sheet with baking parchment.  Take the dough, 1 level teaspoonful at a time, and roll into small balls with your hands.  (Resist the temptation to make them larger -- they won't cook in the middle if they're too big.)Flatten the balls slightly, and place them 2 inches apart on the cookie sheet.  Bake for 9 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed and golden around the edges.  Remove from oven and       cool on wire racks.       Makes about 6 dozen cookies. 

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefucindy at thousandeggs.com
Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing
Recipes"
http://www.thousandeggs.com

Date: Fri, 25 Aug 2000 23:35:54 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - interesting URL - food shopping!

> I've found a lovely site that has chestnut flour.
> Any ideas what to do with it?
> 
> www.ethnicgrocer.com
> 
> Diana d'Avignon

There's a northern Italian um, I don't know what to call it... a gateau,
perhaps. A big flat cake, or maybe an enormous cookie, made with
chestnut flour and pignoles. Castignacci? I'll have to take a bit to
look up details.

Adamantius

Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2000 12:35:29 EDT
From: DeSevyngy at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - interesting URL - food shopping!

<< > Diana wrote: 
 > I've found a lovely site that has chestnut flour.
 > Any ideas what to do with it?

 Adamantius responded:
<< There's a northern Italian um, I don't know what to call it... a gateau,
 perhaps. A big flat cake, or maybe an enormous cookie, made with
 chestnut flour and pignoles. Castignacci? I'll have to take a bit to
 look up details.
  >>

 It is, in fact, called Castagnaccio, and resembles the funny cakelike bar 
cookies that my mom was so fond of making when I was a kid.  I found out 
later, she didn't have the patience to spoon out individual cookies and keep 
an eye out the window while I was out inventing tackle-asphault-baseball and 
games of the kind, so all the dough went in a big pan!  

This recipe that I share below is from one of Lorenza de'Medici cookbooks.  
While the printing of this recipe is decidedly OOP, the root recipe is a 
period one.  I do recall several years ago (maybe a decade), seeing this 
recipe in a period source book and recalling that is was pretty much 
identical to the one I had in Lorenza's book.  Unfortunately, this was at a 
time when my only interest in the SCA was fighting, hence, I neglected to 
even write down the name of the source.  Bad Isabeau, no biscuit.  

At any rate, the full recipe and authors comments are below.  I have made 
this recipe several times (every time I have chestnut flour) and it is 
fabulous.  If you plan on serving it at a feast, I strongly suggest that you 
serve it at lunch, freshly out of the oven.  It definately get heavy and a 
bit greasy when let to sit too long.  Also, this recipe for 6 calls for an 
11-in non-springform tart pan, although I now have one especially for this 
cake, I used a glass 9x13in casserole pan for years with no ill effect to the 
texture or baking time of the cake.

Hmm, a dear friend of mine is going to be the chef at our Baronies annual 
winter formal feast next year.  I wonder if I can bribe her into putting this 
cake on the menu?!? <veg>

Isabeau

Castagnaccio
chestnut cake
_________________________________

This is an ancient and very popular cake recipe. Castagnaccio is
often sold in the streets of Florence during autumn and early 
winter.  It is best when freshly made, and should be served warm.
_________________________________

1/4 cup (1oz/30g) raisins
3 cups (12oz/375g) chestnut flour
2 1/2 cups (20 fl oz/600ml) water
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt
1/4 cup (1 1/2oz/45g) pine nuts
2 fresh rosemary sprigs, finely chopped
_________________________________

+ Soak the raisins in water to cover for 1 hour.
+ In a bowl, mix the flour, water, 2 tablespoons olive oil
and the salt to form a creamy dough.
+ Add 3 tablespoons pine nuts and the rosemary.
+ Preheat oven to 450*F (230*C). Pour the remaining oil
into an 11-in (27-cm) tart pan (do not use a pan with 
removable bottom) and add the dough. Do not pour off
excess oil.
+ Drain the raisins. Sprinkle the dough with the raisins
and the remaining pine nuts. Bake for about 20 minutes or
until the surface of the castagnaccio begins to crack.
+ Pour off the excess oil. Remove castagnaccio from
the pan and serve warm.

serves 6
__________________________________

HL Isabeau de Sevyngy
Squired to Sir Sakura kita no Maikeru
Shire of Gryphon's Lair
Artemisia

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 09:51:27 -0000
From: "Nanna Rognvaldardottir" <nanna at idunn.is>
Subject: Re: SC - rosettes? pizelli?

Stefan wrote:
>Ok, newbie cook time. (Or maybe just Texan). What are "rosettes"?
>What is a "pizelli"? Is this last what is mundanely made in the
>pizelle(?) irons that we often use to bake wafers in?

For a photo and recipe of rosettes/struvor, try this link:

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Oaks/7866/scandanavia.html

Scroll down to the third photograph, which shows a selection of cookies. The
strangely shaped ones at the back are rosettes (there are other patterns as
well but this is probably the most common one). Scroll further down to
Fridas struvor for the recipe.

Struvor is the Swedish name for rosettes. And to answer Selene¥s question,
they are medieval - at least, struvor are mentioned in Bishop Brask¥s menu
listings, which date from the first half of the 16th century - can¥t
remember the exact date. I¥m not sure if these struvor were identical to
todays rosettes but I¥ll see if I can find anything more about this.

Nanna

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 14:58:36 US/Eastern
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: Re: SC - rosettes? pizelli?

> Could you give me the citation for the
> book that contains Bishop Brask's menu listings?  I
> suppose that it is too much to hope that it has been
> translated into English?
> 
> Huette

Some of the Bishop's menu listings are online in English at:
http://www.bahnhof.se/~chimbis/tocb/recipes/menus/brask/index.html 

Brighid

Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 19:30:52 EDT
From: ChannonM at aol.com
Subject: SC - A thanks to Bear, Aoife and Bogdan for the Fine Cakes- LONG

This post is to the above persons for developing the recipe for "Fine Cakes". 
I will be incorporating them in the Chaucerian Tavern feast I am doing next 
month. I wanted to post my conclusion of the information they have presented 
me. 
Hauviette

Fine Cakes

I wanted to reproduce a recipe that emulated Chaucers “cookie”  and frequent 
mentions of ‘cakes’, however there are no recipes that originate from the 
period of Chaucers tales to work from. As such, I turned to a later period 
source for a recipe which I have reproduced below.

To make fine cakes 
John Partridge [The widowes Treasure] in Lorna J. Sass's "To the Queen's 
Taste, compliments of Master Bear.
 Take a quantity of fine wheate Flower, and put it in an earthen pot.  Stop 
it close and set it in an Oven, and bake it as long as you would a pasty of 
Venison, and when it baked it will be full of clods.  Then searce your flower 
through a fine sercer.  Then take clouted Creame or sweet butter, but Creame 
is best: then take sugar, cloves,mace, >saffron and yolks of eggs, so much as 
wil seeme to season your flower.
Then put these things into the Creame, temper all together.  Then put thereto 
your flower.  So make your cakes.  The paste will be very short; therefore 
make them very little.  Lay paper under them.

This recipe and it's development must be credited to three individuals who 
are members of the SCA. First is Master Bear, who's expertise as a 
professional baker is invaluable and he has laid out the basic ground work 
for the recipe and also explains it's rational. Secondly, is Dame Aoife who 
is a consumate SCA cook whose experience with dairy seems unmatched in my 
opinion. Finally , there is Lord Bogdan who is also an excellent SCA cook who 
constantly looks for challenges to his knowledge and skill. It is essentially 
his recipe that I am working from. I do not pretend to have developed this 
recipe on my own although the thorough instructions of the original leave 
little to be confused.  I have chosen to use butter instead of clotted cream 
as I see my Taverness having access to sweet butter and I wished to keep the 
recipe simplified.

Hauviette’s Fine Cakes Recipe
3 cups roasted, sifted  flour (roast 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven)
1 cup sweet butter (1/2 lb)
2 cups granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground  mace

Cream butter and sugar. Add spices and egg yolks, blend. Add flour 1/2 cup at 
a time. 
Scoop dough in a 1 tsp size spoon and pop out onto parchment paper. Using a 
small glass or rolling pin, press the balls of dough into a small cookie.
Bake at 350 degrees 15 minutes.
Makes about 80

Bear’s Recipe 
2  cups of pastry flour roasted in a covered casserole and sifted fine . 
1/2 cup butter at room temperature into which is creamed 1 cup sugar mixed 
with 1/2 teaspoon each of cloves and mace (did not use saffron, having none 
on hand.) Add 1 egg yolk to thecreamed mixture and blended it in. 
Stir in 1 1/2 cups offlour 1/2 cup at a time.
Roll the dough into balls about 1 1/2 inch in diameter and flatten them onto 
an ungreased baking sheet
into a 2 1/2 inch diameter circle about 1/2 inch high.  I baked them at
350 degrees F for about 25 minutes.  This recipe made 9 cakes.
The results were approximately 6 inch diameter spiced sugar cookies with
a texture similar to a Sandy.
The cakes were slightly overcooked.  I'll bake them for 20 minutes nextbatch.

Lord Bogdan de la Brasov's Recipe for Fine Cakes

Bake about 3 cups of flour. 
Sift it and use Bears spice ratio (2cups spice mixture to one cup Clotted 
Cream.  The clotted cream can be as thick as butter, especially if you cool 
it after removing it from the rest of the cream)
Cook these for about 12 minutes (at 350), laid out on parchment
Makes 60/batch.

Dame Aoife’s Clotted Cream Recipe
You need either 1 1/2 quarts of Day old from-the-Jersey-Cow (ie: high
cream content) Milk in a sauce pan, or you need a pint of heavy cream and
a quart of whole milk, mixed together briefly in a sauce pan (this works
btter if they are not perfectly fresh). Heat at the lowest possible burner
setting, NEVER letting it boil or even simmer. You may wish to turn it off
and on if your lowest heat is too high. It will develop a wrinkled, yellow
skin on top.  This could take a hour or more. The skin is good. Leave the
skin alone and heat without stirring. When the skin is pronouncedly
wrinkled and thick, remove the cream/milk from the burner. Let cool
several hours or overnight, very loosely covered if at all. With a spoon,
carefully remove the cream from the surface of the milk, and drain if
needed. The lumps of cream are called clotted cream. If you manage to get
the skin off in one piece, you have cabbage cream (it resembles a wrinkled
cabbage leaf). Yield: a scant pint of clotted cream, and a quart of milk
suitable for cooking purposes.

Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2001 17:19:27 +0200
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] online glossary

>  I'd have to see what comes between "To make Prince-bisket
>bread..." and "... then put it into your coffins of plate..." to be
>certain.

To make Prince-bisket bread.

Take a pound of very fine Flower, as much Sugar thorowly searced, one ounce
of Anniseeds cleane pickt, take eight Egges, and a spoonfull of Muskadine,
and beat all into batter as thick as for Fritters: beat it thus in a Bowle
one houre: then put it into your coffins of plate, or frames of wood, and
set it in an Oven, and let it remaine there one houre: you may slice some
of them when they bee a day old, and dry them againe upon a hurdle of
Wicker: you may also take one of your leaves, and wash it over with the
yolke of an Egge beaten with a little Rose-water, and while it is greene,
cast Biskets and Carrowaies on it, and a little white Candy, and it will
shew as if it did haile on it: then spot it with gold, and give it to whom
you please.

Cindy

Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 07:42:52 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Digby's Cakes

Glenda Robinson wrote:
> I also find that I can't quite get the amount of currants in, but only bya
> couple of handsfull. Did you prick the biscuits as per the recipe, as that
> makes the dough rise a lot more, and the finished biscuits can hold more
> currants.
>
> I translate 'ice' in a different sense to our modern icing, by dusting them
> with sugar. I haven't found (or know anyone that has) any references to what
> they actually meant by icing, which doesn't help any of us :-(

In general, the icing is a glazing of sugar reheated in the oven to fuse
it. This can be done by either dusting the cake with a thickish layer of
finely-beaten sugar, or in other cases by spreading a sort of paste
(kind of a super-saturated, uncooked syrup) of sugar and water,
rosewater  or other perfume-ey distilled water, on the cake when it is
very nearly done. Then you put the cake back in the oven until the icing
melts and covers the cake with a thin, crunchy (at least when cool)
layer of candy.

I think the problem with researching this topic is that instructions for
icing a cake tend to be within a cake recipe, while there are few, or
perhap no, recipes specifically for icing a cake, at least in the
sources I've looked at.

Adamantius

Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 08:21:53 -0600
From: Mem Morman <mem.morman at oracle.com>
Organization: Oracle Corporation
To: "SCA-Cooks at Ansteorra.ORG" <SCA-Cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] excellent small cakes

This is the recipe that I use for Excellent Small Cakes.  It was
redacted long, long ago by Mistress Johanna von Griffenhurst (the 13th
Laurel...).  When I bring these to events, people's usual reaction is
"OOHHHH!  Chocolate chip cookies!"  and then they take a bite...

Excellent Small Cakes

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 1/8 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
6 tablespoons whipping cream
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 cups unbleached flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
5 ounces of currants

Mix all ingredients well into a stiff dough and cook 12-15 minutes in a
325 degree oven until slightly brown on the bottom.

The original recipe is from Sir Kenelme Digbie's The Closet Opened
printed in 1669 by Digbie's nephew and including his uncle's store of
recipes used at the court of James I.

Excellent Small Cakes

Take three pound of very find flower well dryed by the fire, and put to
it a pound and a half of loaf Sugar sifted in a very fine sieve and
dryed;  Three pounds of Currnats well washed and dryed in a cloth and
set by the fire;  When you flower is well mixed with the Sugar and
Currants, you must put in it a pound and a half of unmelted butter, ten
spoonfuls of Cream, with the yolks of three new-laid Eggs beat with it,
one Nutmeg; and if you please, three spoonfuls of Sack.  When you have
wrought your paste well, you must put it in a cloth, and set it in a
dish before the fire, til it be through warm.  Then make then up in
little cakes, and prick them full of holes; you muct bake them in a
wuick oven unclosed.  Afterwards Ice them over with Sugar.  The Cakes
should be about the bigness of a hand-breadth and thin:  of the cise of
the Sugar Cakes sold at Barnet.

Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2003 23:30:16 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] hello there
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

> While it is probable that cookies were not done much in period (too 
> small and individual of an item),
>
> Samrah

If you take a look in the Florilegium (www.florilegium.org), you should find
a discussion of "fine cakes" with a recipe from John Partridge's The Widowes
Treasure (1585).  It is fairly obviously a cookie recipe, individually baked
on parchment.  The word cookie derives from the Dutch for "small cake"
around the end of period.

Being small and indivdualized are not criteria for exclusion for
preparation.  That is why cooks were hired,  The primary reason cookies
don't appear until around the 16th Century is most likely that sugar was not
available in quantity until then.  Expansion into the New World expanded the
available European sugar crop and cut into the Arab sugar monopoly 
reducing prices.

Bear

Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2003 01:30:27 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookies was hello there
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

And in period German cookery, specifically Sabina
Welserin, we have documentation for rosettes and
for lebkuchen.

Huette

Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 17:43:25 -0400
From: margali <mtraber251 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OT:  milled pinks
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

as phlip said, several interesting bits of conversation fluttered past me 
both ways=) [See spices-msg file for discussion on “milled pinks” – Stefan]

Use a dash of cloves...:
Brunsli
Ingredients
   2 egg whites
   50g(1 3/4 oz) cocoa
   a little cinnamon
   250g(8 3/4 oz) milled almonds
   250g(8 3/4 oz) powdered sugar
   a little milled pinks
   2 tablespoons vanilla
   2 tablespoons "Kirsch"
   50g(1 3/4 oz) sugar for topping

Put almonds in bowl, sieve in the powdered sugar, stir in cocoa, 
cinnamon, vanilla and Kirsch. Beat egg whites until stiff, fold egg 
whites into almond mixture till firm. Wrap the dough into saran wrap and 
put it into to the fridge for 1 h.

Spread sugar onto a board, roll dough flat (1cm/0.4 in), cut out stars 
(4cm/1.6 in O) lay them on a tray that has been lined with paper, leave 
for 4 h.

Heat the oven to approx. 200?C (390?F) and bake the cookies 6 to 8 
minutes. The cookies should still be a little humid inside. When cool, 
paint water on the top and bestrew with sugar.

Date: Tue, 18 May 2004 15:28:34 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler1 at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Meringues?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

I used a similar one from "Fooles and Fricasses" which was published by
the Folger Shakespeare Library...I'm including a copy of it below,
along with my redaction.  In this one, the almonds work as  binder as
the flour did in the one Adamantius cited.  I've done this a number of
times and have always received great comments about them!

p.       19, Mrs Sarah Longe her Receipt Booke [c. 1610] from Fooles and
Fricassees:  Food in Shakespeare's Englan (Published by the Folger
Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, 1999)

  Take a pound of Almons, blanch them, then beate them in a morter [;]
then put in a little rosewater to them, that they may not turn to an
Oyle in their beating; when they are beaten vry small take them up and
put them into a Dish [;] then take half a pound of sugar beaten very
small and put to them the whites of 4 Eggs, with a little Quantity of
musk, and Ambergrease [;] then beat it altogether a quarter of an hour,
then put it upon ppers in what fashion you will.  You must be careful
in the making of it, that it be not coloured to[o] much.

Redaction--Minowara Kiritsubo  (makes about 4 1/2 dozen cookies)

2 cups blanched almonds
1/2 teaspoon rose water
1 cup sugar
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1.     Grind almonds in a mill or food processor.  Add the rosewater to
keep them from getting oily.
2.     Add sugar, egg whites and almond extract and blend thoroughly in
the food processor.
3.     Put teaspoonfuls of the batter on a greased cookie sheet.
4.     Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  Be very careful to check the bottoms of the cookies as they tend to get too brown.  The cookies should be VERY lightly "coloured" as the recipe above states.

  Notes:

I added almond extract to intensify the almond flavor.  This is a
slightly perfumed taste and would, I believe, approximate the ambergris
and/or musk the recipe called for.  I was unable to locate either of
these ingredients.  Also, I've heard differing opinions on the safety of
cooking with these ingredients so prefer to stay away from them.

Kiri

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
> I think La Chapelle (I'm working off the top of my head here, be
> warned) is "officially" credited with their invention in the early
> 18th century (IOW, it's probably culinary fakelore like the "official"
> inventions of potato chips and Lobster Newburgh), but Elinor
> Fettiplace has a similar recipe for white bisket bread in the early
> 17th century.
>
> The primary difference between white bisket bread and meringue is the
> inclusion of a very small amount of wheat flour (think if it as a
> stabilizer) to the egg whites and sugar in the bisket bread, which,
> IIRC, also contains anise seeds.
>
> Adamantius

Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 11:37:38 -0700
From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookies at Gulf Wars
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Sharon Gordon wrote:
> On one of the kingdom lists there was a passing reference to a cookie at
> Gulf Wars that was from a mold and had an impression of a fool and a nun.
> Anyone know more about these or the mold?  Anyone get a photo?
>
> Sharon
> gordonse at one.net

Look on this page under "Old Fool."  Is this it?
http://www.godecookery.com/cookies/designs.html

Selene C.

Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 19:02:32 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Period-appropriate cookies and cookie-like
	substances....
To: mooncat at in-tch.com, Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Well, there always is Lebkuchen, which is now a Christmas cookie, but 
it doesn't have to be.

< snip - See Lebkuchen-msg for these recipes. Stefan >

And here is something that almost sounds like a marzipan sandwich 
cookie:

143 An almond tart

Take a pound of almonds for an abundant meal, pound them small, pound rose water with it, so that it does not become oily, and when they are small, then mix one or two egg whites with them. Put them in a bowl, mix them with the egg whites until they become like a thick pudding, and put some sugar therein until it becomes very sweet. Take wafers, take rose water and stick the wafers together. Spread the almond paste as smoothly as possible on it, stick another wafer on top, make a thin yellow batter and draw each side through it, then they look as if they are golden. Fry them in fat or bake them in a tart pan.

Master Huen has documentation that springerle cookies are period.  I have not seen it or his recipes, but it doesn't surprise me.

Huette

Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2005 13:40:53 -0400
From: Robin <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [jenne at fiedlerfamily.net: Re: [Sca-cooks] advice on
	freezing]
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise wrote:
> I'm exhausted. We faked Brighid's Anise Cookie recipe with wheat flour
> rather than starch, and they came out good, so I'm afraid that is what
> we will be doing with the other batches.

I believe I mention in my redaction that I consider flour an acceptable
substitution.  There is not a significant difference in the texture of
the finished product.  Also, there are other bizcocho recipes that call
for flour.
--  
Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
Robin Carroll-Mann *** rcmann4 at earthlink.net

Date: Sun, 21 Jun 2009 09:31:18 -0700
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Al-Warraq and Khushkananaj
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I've finally gotten around to starting to go through al-Warraq. One 
of my standard things for a long time has been Khushkananaj from 
al-Baghdadi's recipe, so I was interested to see several different 
versions in al-Warraq, one of which provides tentative answers to 
some of my puzzles about the familiar recipe and another of which 
provides a puzzle of its own.

The recipe I use tells you to combine specified amounts of flour and 
sesame oil, then leave it to rise. If that's all you combine, it will 
be a long wait. I eventually concluded, after consulting Charles 
Perry on the arabic translated as "rise," that the author took it for 
granted that the reader would realize you needed water and yeast, so 
I do it with water and sourdough. The al-Warraq recipe that's closest 
to the one I do indeed uses water and yeast.

Al-baghdadi uses ground almonds and scented sugar for the filling. 
Not knowing what "scented sugar" was, I used sugar with some rose 
water. Al-warraq doesn't refer to scented sugar--but does use rose 
water. Plus camphor and musk, which I'm not sure where I can get in 
edible forms.

On the other hand ...  . He seems to be making them as crescent 
shaped filled cookies, while I make them as a sort of long roll to be 
sliced up. And he says to grind the almonds finally, whereas I grind 
them pretty coarsely.

His first Khushkananaj recipe ("exotic") is quite different. You 
combine specified amounts of semolina, sugar, and (not very  much) 
sesame oil, knead them like bread, then crush them together in a 
mortar. You then fill up a very small bowl with the result, pressing 
it in, invert it, repeat ... and bake the resulting cookies.

The problem is that, with the specified quantities (3 ratls sugar, 1 
1/2 ratls semolina, 1/4 ratl oil) what you end up with is a lot 
closer to flour than to dough, so it doesn't really knead, and it's 
hard to get it to stay together through the forming process and 
thereafter. It occurred to me that perhaps here, again, water had 
been omitted as obviously implied by knead. So I made a quarter 
batch, divided it in two, and added 2 T of water to one of them.

The result was indeed more like a dough and much easier to mold. But 
when I put it into the oven, it melted. The half without water 
didn't--it was a bit tricky because it was so crumbly, but once baked 
the cookies pretty much held together. So it looks as though my usual 
policy of reading a recipe as literally as I can was, in this case, 
correct.

It did occur to me that the translator gave 1/4 ratl of sesame oil as 
a 1/2 cup, which assumes a density about that of water. Checking, the 
density of oil is about .9 g/cc, so that would imply about a 10% 
increase in volume/weight relative to water. I doubt that's enough to 
make the combination much easier to work with. Perhaps next time I'll 
weigh everything.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com

Date: Mon, 24 Aug 2009 22:46:06 -0700
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Ka'ak recipes

Ka'ak are a middle eastern cookie/cracker, usually but not always 
ring shaped; a number of different versions are still made. I've now 
tried two period recipes, one from al-Warraq and one that Charles 
Perry sent me from Wusla (13th c.).

The al-Warraq one makes a square biscuit, rather bland but not bad. 
There's only one problem. It's flavored with saffron, which I don't 
like, it has quantities, and following the quantities makes something 
I have no desire to eat. It turned out better the first time I made 
it, when we happened to be out of saffron.

The Wusla version makes something rather like a pie crust 
cookie--almond oil (a lot of it) and semolina and not much else (some 
milk and sourdough). Part of the reason it turned out badly was 
probably the age of the almond oil I happened to have, but my guess 
is that using fresh almond oil would only change it from bad tasting 
to blah. I'll try the experiment, but am not very optimistic

Does anyone have any other period ka-ak recipes I could try?

On the other hand, I made the broth of chickpeas from al-Warraq for 
dinner tonight and it was pretty good. Also very easy.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com

Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:18:32 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Ka'ak recipes

There seem to be recipes for ka'ak in this medical treatise/ book titled

 A treatise on the Canon of medicine of Avicenna.

Author: 	Avicenna (Avicenna is 980-1037)
 O Cameron Gruner
Publisher: 	London, Luzac, 1930.
Cover title in Arabic. Translated from the Arabic, Al-qanum fi 't-tibb,
book 1.
Description: 	vii, 612 p. ill.
Responsibility: incorporating a translation of the first book, by O.
Cameron Gruner.

There's also a 1984 reprint.
Publisher: Birmingham, Ala. : The Classics of Medicine Library, 1984.

There seem to be other versions, but I can't tell what they contain.
They can be found in a number of libraries so loaning in a copy 
shouldn't be hard.

Johnnae

David Friedman wrote:
<<< Ka'ak are a middle eastern cookie/cracker, usually but not always ring 
shaped; a number of different versions are still made. I've now tried 
two period recipes, one from al-Warraq and one that Charles Perry sent 
me from Wusla (13th c.). snipped
Does anyone have any other period ka-ak recipes I could try? >>>

Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:58:49 -0700
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Ka-ak four, Cariadoc zero

After about four tries, I'm giving up on the Ka-ak recipe from Wusla; 
the best I can manage turns out as a somewhat greasy and rather bland 
pie crust cookie. For anyone else interested, here's the recipe:

"Ka'k which used to be made by al-Hafiziyya, the servant girl of 
al-Malik al-'Adil the Great [Saladin's brother]. Take samid, sprinkle 
it with hot water in the evening and leave it without moistening 
further. In the morning, knead it with sweet almond oil, fresh milk 
and leaven, for every pound of flour half a pound of almond oil. Make 
into thin ka'ks [referring to the shape] and bake, and it comes out 
well. With all this, if you want, you can make kulaija (Persian 
kuleicheh); it enters in its chapter."

In his email to me, Charles Perry added:

"The recipe that follows this, for a tandoor bread, says to add the 
same flavorings (abazir, which properly means spices, though no 
spices were called for) as in the preceding recipe."
-- 
David/Cariadoc
www.daviddfriedman.com

Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2010 19:58:41 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Macarons

I turned up some mentions to the sweet biscuits in EEBO-TCP.

Tomkis, Thomas. Albumazar. A comedy presented before the Kings  
Maiestie at Cambridge, the ninth of March. 1614. By the Gentlemen of  
Trinitie Colledge.

ALB.
And heare you sir:
If you chance meet with boxes of white Comfites,
Marchpane, dry sucket, Macarouns and diet-bread,
'Twill helpe on well.
RON.
To furnish out our banquet.

***
Markham, Gervase, 1568?-1637. Countrey contentments, or The English  
husvvife. 1623

To make Iumbals more fine and curious then the for|mer, and neerer to  
the taste of the Macaroone; take a  pound of sugar beate it fine; then  
take as much fine wheat flower and mixe them together, then take two  
whites and one yelke of an egge, halfe a quarter of a pound of blaun| 
ched Almonds; then beat them very fine altogether with halfe a dish of  
sweet butter, and a spoonefull of rosewa|ter, and so worke it with a  
little Creame till it come to a very stiffe past, then roule them  
forth as you please: And hereto you shall also if you please adde a  
few dried Ani|seedes finely rubbed and strewed into the past.
***
Phillips, Edward, 1630-1696? The new world of English words, 1658

Macarons, (Ital.) lumps of boiled paste, strewed over with sugar or  
spice, a dish much used by the Italians; but here they are commonly  
compounded of Almonds, Sugar, Rose-water, and Musk.
***

N. H., Dunton, John, 1659-1733. The ladies dictionary, being a general  
entertainment of the fair-sex a work never attempted before in  
English. 1694

Macarons
(Fr.) little Fri|rer-like Buns, or thick Lozenges compounded of Sugar,  
Almonds, Rose-water, and Musk, pounded together and baked wich a  
gentle fire.
Also the Italian Macaroni, lumps or gobbers of boiled paste, served up  
in butter, and strewed over with Spice, and grated cheese; a common  
dish in Italy.

OED says:

 A small sweet cake or biscuit consisting chiefly of ground almonds  
(or coconut), egg white, and sugar. Also: the mixture used for baking  
this.

1611 R. COTGRAVE Dict. French & Eng. Tongues, Macarons, Macarons;  
little Fritter-like Bunnes, or thicke Losenges, compounded of Sugar,  
Almonds, Rosewater, and Muske.
  1615 G. MARKHAM Countrey Contentm. (1668) II. ii. 98 To make  
Jumbals more fine and curious..and nearer to the taste of the Macaroon.

  1630 J. TAYLOR Great Eater of Kent in Wks. I. 146/1 Whether it  
bee..Fritter, or Flapiacke, or Posset, Galley-Mawfrey, Mackeroone,  
Kickshaw, or Tantablin.
  1672 N. GREW Anat. Veg. i. 3 The inner Coat [of the bean]..so far  
shrinking up, as to seem only the roughness of the outer, somewhat  
resembling Wafers under Maquaroons.
  1688 R. HOLME Acad. Armory III. 83/2 Mackrooms, a kind of roul of  
sweet Bread.

Do as Bear says and skip the Catherine de Medici references.

Johnna

<<< On Jul 18, 2010, at 4:57 PM, Terry Decker wrote:snipped
Linguistically, macaron does tie to the Italian, maccaroni, meaning  
dumpling and the English macaroon derives from the French, so there  
may be something to the connection with Catherine.  However, I would  
expect this to be later than the 1533 date most of the tales tout.

There is an English reference to macaroons at the end of the 16th  
Century (I'll have to dig for the source) and there is a reference  
from one of Markham's texts in 1611.

Bear >>>

<<< We are trying to find some additional period information on macarons - the
almond cookies from France.  All we seem to be able to determine is that
Catherine de Medici brought them with her.
If anyone has anything more informative we'd be grateful.
Shoshana >>>

Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:07:14 +0930
From: drakey at internode.on.net
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>,	"Terry
	Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Macarons

Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book (1604 I think...) has a recipe for 
them also... 

Drakey. 

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:59:51 +0000
From: Gretchen Beck <cmupythia at cmu.edu>
To: Euriol of Lothian <euriol at yahoo.com>, Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

<<< I have a lady in my shire who is interested in learning of any evidence in the use of cookie cutters within our time period. 

Euriol >>>

For the term, the OED s.v  cookie cutter says the usage is American, and dates their first quote in 1860.

Not to say they weren't used earlier, but not with that name. I have some lovely gingerbread molds; perhaps gingerbread molds and wafer irons is the place to start.

toodles, margaret

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:22:04 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

Leave out cookie and OED goes back much farther

OED. Cutter-- meaning

"That which cuts; an implement or tool for cutting; the cutting part of
a machine, etc.

Used in a number of specific applications in various trades, and in
numerous combinations, as"

*1631* /Star Chamb. Cases/ (Camden) 84 He provided rules and cutters for making of farthings.

If farthings here is the cake, then that's a cutter for cutting cakes.

They did have pastry cutters - little circles or a wheel that cuts. See
Scappi's illustrations.

Johnnae

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:30:40 -0500
From: Elise Fleming <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
To: sca-cooks <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

John Murrell, "A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen", 1617, 
mentions instruments of tin several times. In recipe #77 ("To make 
Snakes, Snailes, Frogs, Roses, Cheries, &c") he writes regarding sugar 
plate/paste, "...then you must cut the leaues single with an instrument 
of tynne made for the same purpose, & then fasten one leafe vpon 
another, as in the last receipt was shewed...".

In #78 ("To make Shooes, Slippers, Keyes, Kniues, Gloues, &c.") he says,
"All these and such like things, you may make of Sugar plate paste, cut
them with your knife, but fashion & finish them only with your hand and
pincers, but it you want handiness, or have no leisure, then you must
haue mouldes of tynne, and having fitted your paste, cut it with the
mouldes, drie them leysurely, &c."

I think there is an additional reference to shapes of tin, but it isn't
to hand right now. BEWARE!! The references are all to using these with
sugar paste! "Cookies" as we use the term, are not mentioned. Round,
flattish "cakes" (which we'd call cookies today), are cut out using a
glass. References to cutting out round "cookies" using a glass are in
Murrell and later cookery books. They aren't shaped as we form them
into stars, animals, etc., today.

Alys K.
-- 
Elise Fleming
alysk at ix.netcom.com
alyskatharine at gmail.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8311418 at N08/sets/

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:34:58 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>,
	SCA_Subtleties at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Cutters

From my files from 2007

The reference and book are in EEBO.

More from what Countess Alys mentioned:

Murrell, John, 17th cent.
/A daily exercise for ladies and gentlewomen

To Make Snakes, Snailes,Frogs, Roses, Cherries, &c.
77
eventually after telling one how to use moulds on what would be page F3r
it reads
"but if you will make Roses you must make them of Sugar plate paste
(mentioned in the fourescore and one receipt) rowled verie thin, & then
you must cut the leaves single with an instrument of tynne made for the
same purpose, & then fasten one leafe upon another, as in the last receipt
was shewed, and stick them on the top of a birchen-twig, pilde
and dipt in the fat, and they will be white Roses, but you may colour
them as is else-where shewed. In like manner, you may make Burrage,
Cowslips, Primroses, stock Gilliflowers, Marigoldes, &C. keepe them  
drie.

To make Shooes, Slippers, Keyes, Knives, Gloves, &c.
78
All these and such like things, you may make of Sugar plate paste, cut them
with your knife, but fashion & finish them only with your hand and pincers, but
if you want handines, or have no leisure, then you must have mouldes of tynne,
and having fitted your paste, cut it with the mouldes, drie them leysurely, &c.

I suspect that this was part of the SCA Cooks List archives at one time.

Johnnae

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:47:04 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Euriol of Lothian" <euriol at yahoo.com>,	"Cooks within the SCA"
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

Cookie cutters, per se, are, to my knowledge, a modern (post-1600) invention 
used to expedite making large batches.  Cookie molds on the otherhand trace 
back to small shaped cakes in various Greek and roman religious festivals. 
Toussaint-Samat in A History of Food discusses the cakes, but not 
necessarily how they were produced.  Similar molds have been used to 
decorated various types of bread in period including Hosts and gingerbread. 
IIRC, springerle are from just within period and would represent a form we 
would consider a molded cookie, while other late period recipes for small or 
fine cakes are drop cookies.  Jumbles are an earlier cookie variant and a 
case can be made for cookie-like breads spreading out from Persia as the 
Islamic Expansion spread sugar cane making sugar more available.

The term cookie derives from the Dutch "koekje" meaning small cake.  The 
Dutch word appears to have been imported into Middle Scots, which would 
place the transfer between 1450 and 1700.

Here is an article that places cut cookies as early as 1747 (Hannah Glasse) 
using a glass or a teacup as a cutter: 
http://www.journalofantiques.com/hearthdec.htm .  I have a recipe somewhere 
in my collection that purports to be from 1812 where the cookies are cut 
with a knife.  And there is an inventory from roughly around the Civil War 
(U.S.) that lists a set of cookie cutters.

One might take a look in The Oxford Companion to Food for more cookie 
information.

Bear

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:52:37 -0500
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcarrollmann at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

Some years ago, I did a German feast for a coronation.  One of the
recipes was for a kind of cookie.  It was essentially pie dough cut
into shapes and sprinkled with sugar, then baked.  I remember the
recipe specifying that the cakes could be cut like eagles or hearts or
whatever one pleased.  I don't think the "how" of cutting the shapes
was mentioned in the recipe; I used modern cookie cutters, for
convenience.

No clue as to the source, except that it was pre-1600, German, and had
been translated into English.

Brighid ni Chiarain

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:30:32 -0800 (PST)
From: wheezul at canby.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

I'm so glad someone asked this question because I worked on translating an
intriguing recipe that *may* have a mention to an iron cutter.  I'm also
wondering if this could be an early form of banket or a variant.  I'd love
to hear what you think.  At any rate they sound delicious...

This is from Phillipine Welser's cookbook.  The variant spellings were a
real challenge for non-native me, but I think I have mostly captured the
sense.

die hiepsen stritzala
zu bachen von mandel

nim ain fier dung mandel machst du by 12
stritzla las yber nach jm frischen waser ligen
dar nach schelsch vnd reybs wie zu aim martza ban
dau nit gar so vil zucker dar al als des mandels
is vnd reyb mit rose waser ab aufs driknes
dar nach mach schrytzala als lang du wilt mach
dar nach ain dayglin nim dar zu ain guotts mel
das besten vnd dau zucker ain rosen waser
vnd ain wenig ain frisch erlasen schmeltzlin
dar ein vnd mach ain dayglin dar au? vnd
walagla bledlas aufs aler dinest vnd schlag
die obgemeltten stritzala dar ein vnd netz ain
wenig mit aim rosen waser am ayrt da du
den dayg dar von schneytz vnd walgla? din
so is es recht dar nach so nim ain eysalin vnd
zwicks aufs schenst wie du wilt dar nach nim
das bladt aus der dortten pfanen vnd yber
ses mit zucker vnnd leg die strytszlin dar auf
vnnd bachs gech her ab vnd gib jm vnden
wenig glaudt vnd oben gar fyl danst nit
zu fil nemen las also vn geforlich ain fierdel
stundt bachen dar nach sych dar zu wans
oben aufkloben sendt so sentz recht wo [so]
dencks [decks] wider zu

Lovely Strizel
to bake from almonds

take a vierdung (a measure ? quartlike?) of almonds [to] make by it 12
strizels let them lay overnight in fresh water
then peel them and grate [grind] as for a marzipan
put not quite so much sugar as there almonds
are and rub [grind] up with rosewater until dry
then make tubes as long as you want to make
then a dough take for it a good flour
the best and put sugar a rose water
and a bit of freshly made schmaltz
therein and make a dough there out of it and
roll sheets of all thinnest and cover
the prepared strizel therein and moisten
a bit with rosewater on the edges there you
from the dough cut and roll thin
so it is correct then so take an iron form and
pinch off nicely as you want then take
the plate out of the tart pan and over
set it with sugar, and lay the strizel there on
and bake up here tawny and give to it under
little coal and over quite a bit you can not
too much take let thus approximately a quarter
hour bake then look thereto when
the top does stick together  so it is right so [or?]
cover it back up

Some definitions from ?Zur Sprache in Kochb?chern des sp?ten Mittelalters
und der fr?hen Neuzeit ? ein fachkundliches W?rterbuch?:

Eisen(lein) ? aus Eisen geschmiedetes Ger?t f?r die K?che, auch oft
pr?chtig geschnittene Waffeleisen
[a wrought iron implement for the kitchen, also often a finely engraved
waffleiron]

Strizel ? Stollen, oft auch Butter-o. Hefenzopf, bisweilen als Ostergeb?ck.
[Stollen [lit. tunnels] often of butter or yeast braids, sometimes as an
Easter pastry]

Katherine

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:46:42 -0500
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcarrollmann at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

I found the recipe I was referring to.  It's from Gwen Cat's
translation of Rumpolt, in the chapter on Turten (tarts)

"46. Take a dough/ of a type you make Turten from/ roll it out nice
and thin/ and cut an eagle or a heart out/ brush it with rosewater/
and sprinkle it with crushed white sugar/ push into the oven/ and bake
it/ and stay with it/ till it is baked/ because it burns quickly/ give
it cold to the table/

http://clem.mscd.edu/~grasse/GK_turten1.htm

It doesn't say anything about how the shapes are cut.  I used modern
cookie cutters.  It also doesn't specify size.  For all I know, these
are platter-sized "cookies" meant to serve a whole table.

Brighid ni Chiarain

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:39:15 -0500
From: Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

Rumpolt has recipes that call for a brass "model" 
or pattern, that you dip into batter and fry.  My 
mother in law used to make cookies like that 
every Christmas.

Gebackens 5. Mach ein Teig mit Wein vnd Eiern an/ 
oder mit lauter Milch. Sto? den Messing Model in 
heisse Butter/ da? er warm wirt/ truckne jhn wol 
ab/ sto? das Eisen in Teig/ da? er nicht vber das 
Eisen gehet/ halts gegen dem Feuwer/ da? fein 
trucken wirt an dem Eisen/ vnd wenns trucken ist/ 
so sto? flugs in heisse Butter/ so wirt der Teig 
vom Eisen lassen/ backs geschwindt au?/ legs auff 
ein Bret oder Sib.

5. Make a dough with wine and eggs/ or with clean 
milk. Push the brass mold (pattern) in hot 
butter/ so it becomes warm/ dry it well/ push the 
iron in the dough/ that it does not go over the 
iron/ hold against the fire/ that it will dry 
nicely on the iron/ and when dry, then push 
quickly in hot butter/ like this will the dough 
leave from the iron/ fry quickly/ lay on a clean 
board or sieve.

There are also recipes that call for a R?dtlein 
or little wheel to cut dough, like a pastry 
cutter.  It could be used for simple shapes for 
cookies or cakes.

Ranvaig

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:34:00 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

<<< Eisen(lein) - aus Eisen geschmiedetes Ger?t f?r die K?che, auch oft
pr?chtig geschnittene Waffeleisen
[a wrought iron implement for the kitchen, also often a finely engraved
waffleiron]

Katherine >>>

Eisen is the generic term for iron and can cover ore, ingot, swords, 
daggers, horseshoes, branding irons, flat irons, etc.  The diminutive form 
and the described use suggests that this is a crimper or a dough (bench) 
knife.  I've actually used a dough knife crimping and cutting stollen 
braids.

Bear

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:50:39 -0500
From: Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com>
To: "Cat ." <tgrcat2001 at yahoo.com>,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Cookie cutters

<<< 46. Take a dough/ of a type you make Turten 
from/ roll it out nice and thin/ and cut an 
eagle or a heart out/ brush it with rosewater/ 
and sprinkle it with crushed white sugar/ push 
into the oven/ and bake it/ and stay with it/ 
till it is baked/ because it burns quickly/ give 
it cold to the table/ >>>

Just before that is a recipe that says to cut it 
round, like an eagle or a heart.  (This one is my 
translation).

Turten 43. Nim~ ein Turten Teig/ treib jn d?nn 
au?/ vnd beschneidt jhn fein rundt/ wie ein Adler 
oder wie ein Hertz/ mach ein Kr?ntzlein rundt 
herumb/ scheubs in Ofen vnd backs/ thu es wider 
herau?/ vnd nim~ gebratene Epffel/ die durch ein 
H?rin Tuch gestrichen/ vnd fein mit Zimmet vnd 
Zucker angemacht seyn/ streichs vber den gebacken 
Teig/ bestr?w es mit kleinem Confect/ vnd gibs 
zum Obst kalt auff ein Tisch.

Take a tart dough/ drive it out thin/ and cut it 
nicely round/ like an eagle or like a heart/ make 
a little wreath around it/ shove it in the oven 
and bake it/ take it out again/ and take roasted 
apples/ that have been strained through a hair 
cloth/ and are mixed nicely with cinnamon and 
sugar/ spread over the baked dough/ sprinkle with 
small comfits/ and give it for the fruit (course) 
cold on a table.

Ranvaig

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:05:26 -0800 (PST)
From: wheezul at canby.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

I wonder if this is what Rumpolt had in mind:
http://www.bildindex.de/bilder/mi02323c03a.jpg

Katherine

<<< Rumpolt has recipes that call for a brass "model"
or pattern, that you dip into batter and fry.  My
mother in law used to make cookies like that
every Christmas.

Gebackens 5. Mach ein Teig mit Wein vnd Eiern an/
oder mit lauter Milch. Sto? den Messing Model in
heisse Butter/ da? er warm wirt/ truckne jhn wol
ab/ sto? das Eisen in Teig/ da? er nicht vber das
Eisen gehet/ halts gegen dem Feuwer/ da? fein
trucken wirt an dem Eisen/ vnd wenns trucken ist/
so sto? flugs in heisse Butter/ so wirt der Teig
vom Eisen lassen/ backs geschwindt au?/ legs auff
ein Bret oder Sib.

5. Make a dough with wine and eggs/ or with clean
milk. Push the brass mold (pattern) in hot
butter/ so it becomes warm/ dry it well/ push the
iron in the dough/ that it does not go over the
iron/ hold against the fire/ that it will dry
nicely on the iron/ and when dry, then push
quickly in hot butter/ like this will the dough
leave from the iron/ fry quickly/ lay on a clean
board or sieve.

There are also recipes that call for a R?dtlein
or little wheel to cut dough, like a pastry
cutter.  It could be used for simple shapes for
cookies or cakes.

Ranvaig >>>

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:48:28 -0500
From: Sharon Palmer <ranvaig at columbus.rr.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

<<< I wonder if this is what Rumpolt had in mind:
http://www.bildindex.de/bilder/mi02323c03a.jpg >>>

I assume so.  Where did you find that picture?

The ones my MIL made were like this.
http://baking.about.com/od/cookies/ss/rosettes_6.htm

Ranvaig

<<< On http://www.bildindex.de
in the gesamt index field type waffeleisen and you'll see more waffle irons. >>>

Thanks, on the bottom one, the rose, you can see the hole in the 
middle where the handle was fastened.  On the modern sets I've seen, 
there is one handle and interchangeable molds.

Ranvaig

Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:43:25 -0800 (PST)
From: wheezul at canby.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

<<< Thanks, on the bottom one, the rose, you can see the hole in the
middle where the handle was fastened.  On the modern sets I've seen,
there is one handle and interchangeable molds.

Ranvaig >>>

Wecker and Rontzier also have rosette type recipe and Rontzier has
what I think is a timbale type variation.  We tried experimenting with
these and discovered that the common cast aluminum varieties need to be
seasoned much like cast iron for them to release the rosette.

Katherine

Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:52:22 -0600
From: Ursula Georges <ursula at tutelaries.net>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

Euriol of Lothian<euriol at yahoo.com>  wrote:
<<< I have a lady in my shire who is interested in learning of any evidence in the use of cookie cutters within our time period. >>>

There's a recipe for "rampaunt perre" in Form of Cury (collected in 
Pleyn Delit) which involves rampant lion shapes made out of dough.  It 
doesn't say how to make the shapes.  The one time I tried it, I cut bear shapes out of pie crust with a paper pattern and a knife.  (The bears matched my heraldry.)

Ursula Georgii filia.

Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:15:59 -0600
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Cutters

What you're describing is a baker's masterwork, the kind of thing a 
journeyman does to be elevated to master.  Flat pieces are shaped and carved 
with a knife.  Three dimensional pieces are formed from dough and baked as a 
standing loaf (say a shock of wheat) or are baked as components and 
assembled (say a gingerbread house).  At least one masterwork (after period) 
I have seen described was an entire village of houses and people.

Bear

<<< There's a recipe for "rampaunt perre" in Form of Cury (collected in Pleyn 
Delit) which involves rampant lion shapes made out of dough.  It doesn't 
say how to make the shapes.  The one time I tried it, I cut bear shapes 
out of pie crust with a paper pattern and a knife.  (The bears matched my 
heraldry.)

Ursula Georgii filia. >>>

Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2012 00:58:31 -0700
From: David Friedman <ddfr at daviddfriedman.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks]  More al-Warraq

I think I already mentioned the recipe that turned out, the first time I 
did it, as a sort of sugar cookie. The ingredients are sugar, semolina, 
a little sesame oil and, in my interpretation, a little water--the 
recipe says to knead it like dough, and without the water that seems 
almost impossible.

Here's the recipe:

*A Recipe for exotic Khushkananaj Wathiqi by Abu Samin:*

Grind 3 ratls refined sugar and sift it in a fine mesh sieve. Add 1 ? 
ratls fine samidh flour. Mix them well. Att ? ratl sesame oil and knead 
mixture the way you usually do with flour dough.

Put the mixture in a mortar and pound it to crush ingredients into each 
other and help them bind

Take a small bowl, the smallest you have, or anything similar in shape 
such as wooden or brass huqqa (bowl) with a rounded base and a wide rim. 
Stuff the bowl tightly with some of the sugar flour mixture and turn 
over on to a khiwan (wide low table). Do this with the rest of the mixture.

Prepare a large level pan with low sides and arrange the moded pieces, 
leaving a space between them.

Lower the pan into a slow burning tannur. Let cookies bake until they 
are golden brown. Take the pan out and take the cookies out of the pan 
with a thin spatula. You carefully slide the spatula underneath each 
cookie and transfer it to a clean platter. Arrange the pieces in one 
layer, God willing.

The first time I did it, I ended up with flat cookies. They tasted 
pretty good, but I couldn't see why the recipe would have the elaborate 
procedure to make hemispheres of dough if they were supposed to flatten.

The second time I made three changes. The first was to grind the 
granulated sugar in a spice grinder, making it much finer--I thought 
that might fit the "sift it in a fine mesh sieve," and would change 
texture. The second was to add only half as much water as before. The 
third was to bake it at 350 instead of 300.

That time it worked--the cookies came out roughly hemispherical. Which 
of the changes was responsible I don't know. The one remaining problem 
is that, although they are good when made, a day later they are very hard.

But still tasty.
-- 
David Friedman
www.daviddfriedman.com
http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/

Date: Sun, 29 Sep 2013 09:20:23 -0400
From: "Cash,  John Joseph" <jcash at indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: [SCA-AS] medieval cookies
To: Arts and Sciences in the SCA <artssciences at lists.gallowglass.org>,
	Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>

I found a recipe in a Renaissance cook book for "Oblates." Oblates are 
round thin wheat wafers. When blessed, they're used in church as 
communion wafers; but unblessed, they got a lot of use in recipes.

So: Make up a dough from wheat flour and oil, and bake up a bunch of 
oblates. They should be thin, round and easy to cut after baking. Then, 
make a fruit spread out of half-dried fruit, figs in particular. Take 
an oblate, spread one side with the fruit spread, and put another oblate

-- modern equivalent is: Fig Newtons.

-- Johannes von Narrenstein

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	cookies-msg	Page  of