cak-soteltes-msg

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Cake based sotelties. Period and period-like food sculptures made from cake. Decorating cakes.

(Warners are disguised food. Sotelties are sculptures made from edible ingredients but not always intended to be eaten or even safe to eat)

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Stefan at florilegium.org

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From: djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu (Dorothy J Heydt)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: Warners

Date: 10 Jan 1994 19:45:20 GMT

Organization: University of California, Berkeley

Honur Horne-Jaruk <una at bregeuf.stonemarche.org> wrote:

This is about warners (disguised food), as opposed to

sotelties (Sculptures made from edible ingredients, not always

intended to be eaten or even safe to eat.)

[see the file Warners-art -ed.]

And proceeded with a great plenty of excellent advice!

An excellent edible Thing we made a few seasons back was a Mock

Dragon's Tail. This has its origin in Tolkien's _Farmer Giles of

Ham,_ wherein it was a traditional Twelfth Night feast item in

the Little Kingdom until dragon went on the endangered species

list. So the knight who was supposed to have presented the King

with roast dragon's tail would present a marzipan replica instead

with a set speech explaining why it wasn't the real thing.

Ours was made of fruitcake, marzipan, and lemon frosting.

Asher Truefriend and I began by making the cakepans for the fruitcake

out of heavy aluminum foil. They were round and each had a hole in the

center like an angel-cake pan. (we shaped the holes over 1-1/4 inch

dowels.) The pans ranged from about 8" to 3" in diameter, and then

we baked a batch in a plain square cakepan for the little end bits.

The fruitcake batter contained about fifteen pounds of crystallized

fruit, mostly whole, held together with a quadruple recipe of pound

cake batter. We bought huge bagsful of almonds, shelled them,

blanched them, and ground them in a hand grinder because the food

processer couldn't handle them. Asher's arms nearly dropped off.

The ground almonds, plus sugar and orange juice, made several pounds

of marzipan for the dragon scales.

The day of the feast, we transported all the ingredients to the site

and it was about then that we realized the tray we had intended to

use was NOT going to be big enough.

> One critical serving piece needs to be made (Don't think it

>can be bought, sorry!) ahead; the Great Big Tray (GBT). Make it

>slightly narrower than a door... (etc.)

So we borrowed somebody's very large Kite Shield and covered it in

aluminum foil. No drips were involved, so we didn't have to guard

against them.

I made up endless batches of powdered-sugar-and-lemon-juice frosting

which served as the pith inside the dragon's spine and the glue that

held the tail segments together. It also glued the green marzipan

scales to the tail. We heaped roses around it (it _was_ spring).

Five people to carry it. Ooohs and ahs all over the hall. Asher got

a standing ovation. He still says never again.

Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin Dorothy J. Heydt

Mists/Mists/West UC Berkeley

Argent, a cross forme'e sable djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu

Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 02:53:00 -0500 (CDT)

From: Jasper Fieth <cem8780 at omega.uta.edu>

Subject: Re: SC - advise (oop)

Actually, one of the better uses of period/OOP cookery I saw was my wife's

entry into the Barony subtlety contest. The theme was "Lion and Lamb". She

made a buttercake lion with creme lambs around it -- but when you cut

into the lion, there was a cheesecake lamb inside! Needless to say, she

won first prize.

Esko Sola

Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997 14:15:41 -0500

From: "Gedney, Jeff (Xton)" <Gedney at executone.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Alphabet pretzels

on the subject of Maritime sotelties, I made a 2.5 foot x 4 foot

Maritime sotelty for the Dragonship Haven Bizzarre Bazaar III a number

of years ago.

It consisted of a large sheet cake sculpted to resemble a beach (w/ sand

and pebbles of sugar and hard gingerbread crumbles) and a had a 16"

fully rigged gingerbread and candy dragonship (lapstrake construction,

tholeports in the top strake, Oseberg type head and tail, oars trailing

in the water, an articulated steerboard, striped sail w/ brailing and

beitass, and rigging - the underdecks were also documented in

construction, the mast could be unstepped, and there were rocks in the

bilges as ballast!). The Norsemen were leaping out of the boat as it

beached on the shore, and proceeded to sack a small village with

roundhouse ( on fire - orange icing -- and filled with chocolate coins)

and with a "wattle" livestock pen filled with animal cookies.

The shapes of the cookie Vikings and villagers were taken off the

Gotland Friezes ( I no longer have the references )

BTW - I know it was not "period", but what else could I do? I had to

use Fruit roll-ups for the sail, and Licorice ropes for the rigging.

Brandu

Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 15:29:30 EDT

From: DianaFiona at aol.com

Subject: Re: SC - The British Museum Cookbook

uther at lcc.net writes:

Also, we are hosting Crown Tourney in Oct. and I have someone who wants to

do an edible castle for the head table. I would LOVE to hear

suggestions/comments on this. I would appreciate any alternative ideas to

present to this lady. She really wants to make a special contribution

food-wise to Their Majesties feast but she is new at this and I would like

to give her more than one option to try before hand.

I did a castle wedding cake for a friend's period-style wedding. She

wasn't worried about it being a period recipe, she just wanted it in the right

shape (This wasn't at an official event, they held their own just for the

occasion). After a good bit of deliberation, I decided to use my favorite

pound cake recipe. It's a *very* dense, heavy, sturdy cake, that is also

yummy. I experimented with icings, and ended up using a caramel icing recipe

that my Laurel's mother makes. It was tasty, held things together well, and

was a good color. (I *hate* the so-called "buttercream" icings on most wedding

cakes, besides which, this was in the middle of the summer at an un-

airconditioned site. The sugar-and-shortening stuff would have run

everywhere!)

I just did a simple "fort" style castle, both for ease and because the whole

wedding was early period. Just a rectangle, with round towers on the corners.

I did, however, do some detailing in royal icing, of vines and flowers on the

walls and such. I think I put a moat around the outside--it's been a few

years, and my memory is terrible ;-)--with a drawbridge descending from the

gate opening. The towers had crenelations made of sugar cubes (a major pain to

ice, but cute........ :-) ) The interior had "trees" made of parsley--small

bunches, with the stems wrapped in brown thread for the bark. I didn't try to

make any buildings in the center--there wasn't much space, since the cake

needed to be in fairly thick slabs to hold up.

The whole thing rested on a piece of plywood, which was covered with foil and

green icing to resemble grass. I believe there were a few "trees" scattered

around the board as well. The board itself rested on a large wooden serving

platter borrowed from our shire, which had handles that were helpful in moving

the monster. The cake was pinned together with toothpicks as needed, and

skewers in some places. The towers ended up being cut from the regular sheets

of cake in rounds, iced, and skewered in stacks, since I had trouble finding

any molds (Cans, etc.) the right size to bake them in whole.

All in all, it was a lot of fun and a lot of work. Our shire was pretty

tired of that pound cake and icing before it was over, since they got to eat

all the many trial runs I had to do before I found an icing that worked well

enough! ;-) It certainly wasn't the most professional looking version of the

idea that's been done, but it tasted good (one thing I was determined to

accomplish!) and the bride was happy with it. I keep intending to play with

that sort of thing more to get more skilled at it.......... Yet another

project in the queue! ;-)

Ldy Diana

Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 15:20:02 -0500

From: Jim Hawkins <seamus1 at bellsouth.net>

Subject: Re: SC - edible castles

There is a somewhat more modern solution. Using a 10

in, 8 in, and 6 in. pans, you can achieve a look of a

castle by cutting the rounds into hexagons. If she

would like something smaller then you can find what is

called mini-pans that will make either individual

servings or servings up to six or 12. I have done this

before and will help if I can.

Callie

Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 17:19:12 -0800

From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>

Subject: Re: SC - edible castles-LONG

Gwenyth asked:

>Also, we are hosting Crown Tourney in Oct. and I have someone who wants to

>do an edible castle for the head table. I would LOVE to hear

>suggestions/comments on this. I would appreciate any alternative ideas to

>present to this lady. She really wants to make a special contribution

>food-wise to Their Majesties feast but she is new at this and I would like

>to give her more than one option to try before hand.

Here is a recipe for castlettes (little castles) from the 14th c. English

cookbook Forme of Cury, as published in _Curye on Inglysch: English

Culinary Manuscripts of the Fourteenth Century (Including the Forme of

Cury)_, edited by Constance B. Hieatt and Sharon Butler, published for the

Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1985.

Chastletes. Take and make a foyle of gode past with a rollere of a foot

brode, & lynger by cumpas. Make iiii coffuns of the self past vppon the

rollere the gretnesse of the smal of thyn arme of vi ynche dep; make the

gretust in the myddell. Fasten the foile in the mouth vpwarde, & fasten

the othere foure in euery side. Kerue out keyntlich kyernels above, in the

manere of bataillyng, and drye hem harde in an ovene other in the sunne.

In the myddel coffyn do a farse of pork with gode poudour & ayren rawe with

salt, & colour it with saffroun; and so in another creme of almaundes, and

helde it whyght. In another, creme of cowe mylke with ayren; colour it red

with saundres. Therof another maner: fars of fyges, of raysouns, of

apples, of peeres, & holde it broun. Therof another manere: do fars as to

frytours blaunched and colour it grene; put this to the oven & bake it wel,

& serve it forth with ew ardaunt. [end of original; letters not in modern

English replaced by their modern equivalents]

And for those who find Middle English daunting, here is a literal

translation/spelling update on the fly:

Castlettes. Take and make a foil [thin layer] of good dough/pastry with a

roller of a foot broad, & longer by compass. Make 4 coffins [pie

crusts--but note that these have a special shape] of the same pastry upon

the roller the greatness of the small of thine arm of 6 inches deep; make

the greatest in the middle. Fasten the foil in the mouth upward, & fasten

the other four on every side. Carve out carefully kernels above, in the

manner of embattling, and dry them hard in an oven or in the sun. In the

middle coffin do a filling of pork with good [spice] powder & eggs raw with

salt, & colour it with saffron; and so in another cream of almonds, and

hold it white. In another, cream of cow milk with eggs; colour it red with

saunders [ground red sandlewood--period food coloring]. Thereof another

manner: filling of figs, of raisons, of apples, of pears, & hold it brown.

Thereof another manner: do filling as to frytours blaunched [another recipe

out of the same cookbook: see below] and color it green; put this to the

oven & bake it wel, & serve it forth with eau ardant.

I've though about this one, though I haven't made it myself, and I think

what is going on is:

You make five cylinders of pastry. The first is a foot high and more than

a foot around, and the other four are 6" high and as big around as your

forearm. You cut one end of each cylinder embattled (crenelated), like the

top of a castle wall, then arrange these upright on a baking sheet to be

the towers of a castle with the biggest in the middle (the keep) and the

other four around it. You then bake this briefly to harden it. You can't

use a modern short pastry dough for this, by the way; a friend of mine

tried this and even when she baked them on coffee cans most of them fell

apart. You then make five different fillings of five different colors (eggs

and saffron for yellow in the meat filling, white thick almond milk,

custard colored red with saunders, brown of fruit and dried fruit, and

green--probably with parsley juice, although it doesn't say--of ground

blanched almonds with ginger, sugar and salt). The fillings are only

briefly described; you would want to look through Forme of Cury for similar

pie/tart recipes to fill out what the spicing and/or thickening should be

in these (if your friend wants to try this and doesn't have access to this

book, let me know and I can do some digging. Also, we have a fair number

of worked-out pie recipes in the _Miscelany_, which is online.) You put

one filling in each tower and bake. I'm not sure what "serve it forth with

eau ardent" means--are you supposed to serve it flambe'?

Anyway, it is a period recipe for exactly what you want, and it would be

neat to see someone try it.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook

Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1998 14:00:09 +1000 (EST)

From: The Cheshire Cat <sianan at geocities.com>

Subject: SC - castles of cake and other such stuff.

Other memorable illusion foods were for Hrolf's last feast as Baron of

Ynys Fawr there was a man lying on his face made out of cake, iced to look

like it was wearing the barons gamberson and a knife sticking out of the

back with a note. "He who pulls this sword from the bone shall be the true

Baron of Ynys Fawr", and for an Assasin's feast a severed head made from

sugar plate was presented to the Head table complete on the ceremonial

spiked board (One of my wooden sashimi boards with a long nail driven

through the middle. The things we do for our art...*sigh*). The top of

the head was removed and the 'brains' were made of turkish delight.

Grotesque, but very well done. It recieved the screams of horror that we

were hoping for at any rate. =>

- -Sianan

Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 02:25:19 -0400

From: Ann & Les Shelton <sheltons at conterra.com>

Subject: SC - "No Naked Food" Suprise

Here is the

suprise we pulled last Baronial Birthday which, although risque, lead to

a standing ovation and a mortified recipient.

Grafin Judith von Gruenwald has her Laurel in the "presentation of the

feast." Her mantra is "No Naked Food!" Anyone who works in her kitchen

will hear this repeatedly. Nothing is ever thrown away {ex. carrot

peelings can be garnish for the rice ... picture Julia Child's "Save the

Liver" a dozen times each feast} and nothing ever comes out of her

kitchen without some type of garnish on it. Hence the "No Naked Food"

motto.

We have said for years we need to do something about this and it finally

happened at our Baronial Birthday in April. We had a new person helping

me with the feast when Judith explained her mantra to him. My wife's

eyes lit up and she came over and quietly asked if I could spare her for

a few hours.

She went to a store that offers objects with adult themes, bought

several items, then called my parents and asked if she could come over

there to bake a cake. My ultra-conservative parents, who long ago gave

up trying to understand "that medieval thing you do," became un-indicted

co-conspirators. They baked and frosted a cake of the upper torso of a

lady, complete with 2 chocolate nipples, my dad dyed shredded coconut to

create the appropriate bodily hair and my mom contributed a cinnamon

stick for the navel. They then made a bikini for her with 3 red cabbage

leaves with strands of carrots for the strings and boxed her up.

My lady managed to sneak it to our Baron without Judith noticing. When

we went out to take our post-feast bows, Corwyn called Judith up to his

presence {Corwyn is on this list, so he can correct any errors I'm

making}. He commented on her "No Naked Food!" mantra, which started

people snickering because they knew something was up. He then opened

the box and displayed it to the populace. By now, cameras were out and

Judith was a lovely shade of pink. He then pulled one of the top bikini

leaves off, displaying a chocolate nipple and shouting "NAKED FOOD!!!"

then undressed her completely. Judith's jaw almost hit the floor and

the whole hall was convulsing.

No one could be persuaded to eat any of the cake and it went home with

Judith as a souvenir. Six months later, the words "naked food" are

still enough to bring a healthy glow to her cheeks. I'll be helping her

cook for our Canton's traditional event in November. I wonder if she'll

mention those 3 magic words?

By the way, Corwyn, I'm cooking Baronial Birthday again this coming

year. Be afraid ... be very afraid!

John le Burguillun

Canton of Cyddlain Downs {Columbia, SC}

Barony of Nottinghill Coill {everything west of I-95 in SC}

Kingdom of Atlantia

Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 05:23:30 EDT

From: CorwynWdwd at aol.com

Subject: Re: SC - "No Naked Food" Suprise

sheltons at conterra.com writes:

> He then pulled one of the top bikini leaves off, displaying a chocolate

> nipple and shouting "NAKED FOOD!!!" then undressed her completely.

John, I'm suprised... you KNOW I'd NEVER undress a "Lady" in public

completly..... I meerly flashed a breast (white chocolate) and then ...

well... the grated cocanut... Which proceeded to bring down the house.(This

was nothing if not anatomically correct, It even had a cinnamon stick pushed

in for a cute little "innie") Graffin Judith turned almost beet red as I

remember it...

>By the way, Corwyn, I'm cooking Baronial Birthday again this coming

>year. Be afraid ... be very afraid!

And remember what I say about paybacks John... I don't get even... I get

ahead.

Corwyn Wodewarde

Kingdom of Atlantia

Barony of Nottinghill Coill {everything west of I-95 in SC}

Canton FalconCree {Greenville, SC}

Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 21:37:02 -0400

From: "Alderton, Philippa" <phlip at morganco.net>

Subject: SC - Fw: [Mid] Candy Mold Wanted

Thought this might be of interest to some of our confectioner types.

- -----Original Message-----

From: Patrick Mooney <PatrickMooney at email.msn.com>

To: sca-middle at midrealm.org <sca-middle at midrealm.org>

Date: Tuesday, June 29, 1999 9:14 PM

Subject: Re: [Mid] Candy Mold Wanted

>If you are looking for a particular candy mould or cake pan, you might want

>to look under www.wilton.com

>Ercadh

Phlip

Philippa Farrour

Caer Frig

Southeastern Ohio

Date: Tue, 11 Jan 2000 19:25:47 -0800 (PST)

From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Wanted: Recipe to make 'bricks'

I have been making castle cakes for over twenty years,

but I have never gone the route of making bricks and

mortaring them together. I prefer a solid cake

castle.

I usually use a from-scratch pound cake recipe,

because pound cake is easier to cut and form, and has

less crumbs to contend with. I have used several

different recipes. If you want me to post my favorite

I will, but I don't have it with me, as I am at work.

Let me know.

What I usually do is this:

If the event that I am bringing it to is on a

Saturday, I will bake the pound cake on the preceding

Thursday and frost it on the preceding Friday. I have

never have complaints that the cake is stale, because

pound cake keeps very well and also freezes well.

For the central castle or keep [whatever you are

planning], I bake three 8 1/2 x 11 cake pans that are

exactly the same, with straight-up sides. When I put

the batter in the pans, I build up the sides as high

as they will stay and the middle as low as it will

stay. This keeps the cake from forming too much of a

rounded top which would then have to be cut off in

order to have the layers stack properly. For any

turrets on the central building, I bake some cake into

the flat bottomed ice cream cones. One cone per layer

of cake per turret. If I want a pointy roof on the

turret, I use an upside-down pointed ice cream cones

on top of the flat bottomed stack of ice cream cones.

If I want a pointy roof on the castle, I cut the last

layer of cake to look like a pointy roof.

For the bailly walls, I bake the pound cake in

jelly-roll pans, so the cake is about 1 inch thick

when bakes. For the wall turrets, I use tin cans that

I have saved. Be sure that they are food grade cans

and have no lead solder. I have found that large

sized cans that once contained fruit, or pumpkin or

spaghetti sauce, work really great. For the central

gateway [I forget what it is called], I use a square

6x6 inch loaf pan and cut the entryway out. The walls

are attached to the turrets and gateway with

toothpicks and frosting.

I have used various kinds of stiff frosting. I have

even used the canned kind [but only once in an

emergency!].

I have used many different kinds of candies to add to

the "ambiance". Chocolate necco wafers make great

shingles. Sugar wafer cookies make great doors and

drawbridges. Any thick, square chocolate candy makes

great crenellations on the walls and turrets. I have

occasionally used squares of Hershey bars for windows.

Because candies come and go in and out of fashion, I

usually cruise the candy section of the market and go

to stores that specialize in selling bulk candy and

then decide what candies or cookies would be

appropriate for what feature.

When all is finished, my castle cake usually fills up

the top of a standard-sized card table, and usually

feeds 100 hungry people.

The last one I did, I did a replica of the Craq'

d'Chevallier. [I am not sure if I spelled this

correctly.] I had several small toy catapaults and

lots of malt balls and let the men "beseige" the

castle.

Huette

Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 17:59:45 -0500 (EST)

From: alysk at ix.netcom.com

Subject: SC - Re: Welcome and Any help for the Irish?

Hauviette wrote:

>And last but not least (and not a period recipe) a Recreation of the Castle

>Carrickfergus in cake and as large as I can muster.

>I am looking for some input and suggestions, especially in the area of

>finding additional research material and recipes for the cake (I hope to find

>something even late period that will work for the building and the icing).

>Any ideas?

Digby, Markham, May and others have closer-to-period cake recipes. However,

I don't recall seeing any information that these were used to make edible

buildings. Icing (sugar and a liquid, usually rosewater) was a late period

addition to marchpanes. A model of St. Paul's Cathedral on a marchpane

was reportedly served to Queen Elizabeth, though the report didn't say what

it was made of. Common modeling foods then were sugarpaste (modern gum paste),

gingerbread and marzipan. Buildings were also constructed out of non-food

items with some parts made of food. I presume you could make part of the

building of wood, cloth or plaster and insert edible parts - a tower filled

with X??X, for example. Open up the top or remove the lid, and there is the

food.

Alys Katharine

Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2000 14:52:13 -0800 (PST)

From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>

Subject: Re: SC - Re: Menu for the Feast of St. Valentine

Hi, I am the source. I wrote about making castle

cakes for the last 25 years in a message I sent last

month. I use pound cake because it is a stonger cake

to work with, doesn't crumb as badly as others do when

cut and is a "periodesque" type cake. But my recipes

and my ideas are not period. They sort of fall into

the idea of spectacle dishes. And castles are period,

so castle cakes are sort of "periodesque".

I use 3 straight sided 9x12 cake pans for the central

castle. I build up the batter on the sides and not in

the center, so that the cake will rise evenly. I use

regular flat bottomed ice cream cones filled with

batter for turrets on the castle and top them with

pointy ice cream cones. I use jelly-roll pans for the

bailey walls and large cans for the bailey towers and

a square loaf pan for the gate house. I fasten

everything together with frosting and toothpicks or

wooden skewers.

I decorate with various candies which are available at

the time of creation. Hershey bar square for window or

arrow slits, some square candy for crenelations. I

use sugar wafer cookies for doors and the drawbridge.

Chocolate necco wafers make perfect roofing.

My time line for this is if I wish to present the cake

on a Saturday, I bake the cake on Thursday and frost

and decorate it on Friday. But pound cake does freeze

well and you can make it anytime if you have the

freezer space and then frost it the day before

presentation.

Usually my castle cakes fill up most of a standard

sized card table and will feed at least 100 people or

more.

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to

ask me.

Huette

Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 08:31:28 EDT

From: Tollhase1 at aol.com

Subject: SC - OT OOP Dragon cake special effects cookbook

Special Effects Cookbook

Michael E. Samonek

Published by Mes / Fx Publishing

PO box 863, Narberth, PA 19072

LCC 92-90755

ISBN 0-9632877-0-2

Green dragon's Breath cake

A sheet cake in the shape of a dragon which actually breathes out huge clouds

of mysterious, safe odorfree, disappearing smoke.

Essentially it a standard sheet cake in which a straw is placed through the

cake where the nostrils would be. Underneath the cake is a small container

that you would put dry ice and water. One must be quick or the fog/smoke

could be gone before you serve the cake. If you have access to a fogger

(theatrical fog machine) it would work much better.

Perhaps for some Midrealm feast I will make one.

Frederich

Date: Mon, 15 May 2000 13:16:07 -0400

From: Richard Keith <keith.78 at osu.edu>

Subject: RE: SC - OT OOP Dragon cake special effects cookbook

>BTW watch the theatrical type fogs. They have a smell to them and I don't

>know how well it would work with food.

Rosco fog juice is pleasant to smell and breeze. Theatre Magic (forget new

name) is also very pleasant. Both are considered non toxic. Neither leave

a residue. So I would not be afraid to use either.

Frederich

Mka Richard Keith, Mansfield Osu Theatre dept.

From: Christina Nevin <cnevin at caci.co.uk>

To: "'SCA Cookslist'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2001 11:40:58 +0100

Subject: [Sca-cooks] Early Pastries WAS 13th century bread

Where can I find some info on early(11-12th cen) on baking-pastries,

specifically subleties?

Finnebhir Moon Dancer of Vanished Woods Shire

Reading the literature of the time, especially the 'romances' is always a

good plan, though somewhat time consuming. Perhaps someone else can

recommend a couple, as it isn't my area of expertise.

The only extant texts near that era are late C.13th - Manuscript Additional

32085, and 1320 to 40 - Manuscript Royal 12.C.xii. Both aka an Anglo-Norman

Culinary Collection, collected in an article:-

"Two Anglo-Norman Culinary Collections Edited from British Library

Manuscripts Additional 32085 & Royal 12.C. xii"

HIEATT, Constance & JONES, Robin F. Speculum Issue 61/4 1986

I had a quick squiz through it and only came up with 3 vaguely related

recipes - Crosterole, and 2 Turk's head recipes (one for Lent), though the

p.878 Turk's head is spot on:

[square brackets = translator's notes]

p.875

14. Crosterole [parti-colored pastry cake]. Here is another dish, called

crosterole. Take best white flour, eggs and saffron, and make pastry,

coloring half of the pastry and leaving the other half white; then roll it

out on a table, until it is as thin as parchment and as round as a cake;

make it in Lent, as well as in other times of the year, using almond milk

[instead of eggs]; fry (the cakes) in oil.

Al Servizio Vostro, e del Sogno

Lucrezia

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Lady Lucrezia-Isabella di Freccia | mka Tina Nevin

Thamesreach Shire, The Isles, Drachenwald | London, UK

From: LadyPDC at aol.com

Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 16:54:52 EDT

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Chastletes - help please

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

cnevin at caci.co.uk writes:

> My mental TV screen just isn't getting this one! Here's what I have so far:

> ConI: FoC p.142-3 (|> = thorn)

> "Chastletes. Take and make a foyle of gode past with a rollere of a foot

> brode, & lynger by cumpas. Make iiii coffyns of |>e self past vppn |>e

> rollere |>e gretnesse of |>e smale of |>yn arme of vi ynche dep; make |>e

> gretust in |>e myddell. Fasten |>e foile in |>e mouth vpwarde, & fasten |>e

> ere four in euery side..."

I actually did this for a competition a few years ago (in fact I think the

documentation for it may be in the florigilium).

First thing that you should notice is that the initial Take and make a leaf

of good pastry with a rolling pin, a foot broad and twice as long (?). Does

not specify making a round anything. In fact by specifying that it should be

a foot (12 inches) broad and twice as long it, in fact, is describing a

rectangle. It then goes on to describe the making of 4 "coffins" specifying

that they should be the circumference of the forearm and 6 inches deep.

Think of a rectangular castle with a 6 inch high tower on each corner of the

rectangle.

When I made mine I did in fact make it the size specified, however, since the

recipe seems to assume that the initial paste is used both for the floor and

walls of the castle, I found that the best way to do this was to cut in 6

inches at each corner and turn the walls "up" from the outside. Your corners

are then sealed by attaching them to the towers with flour and water paste

and baking the whole. If you do this then the overall height is no more than

6 inches and the widest horizontal portion is only 12 inches. Most ovens

can handle these proportions (smaller than most Christmas turkeys)

After you bake the pastry castle (BTW I found that using stone ground whole

wheat flour made for a sturdier castle and looked like a stone castle wall

when baked) you can then fill the center and the towers with various foods

(I used hedgehog meatballs in the center and sauces for dipping in two of the

towers with sliced strawberries in the third tower and gosh I don't remember

what in the forth) The castle then becomes an interesting serving dish which

also happens to be edible and quite tasty. This is esp. true if you have

sauces in the towers so that guests can tear off part of the castle wall and

dip it in the sauce. I don't think that my Chastlete lasted more than 15

minutes beyond final judging because a horde of castle eaters descended on it

and ate every crumb. I am planning to repeat it on a greater scale for one

of the courses in a feast I am doing soon, I will plan on doing one

Chastlete per table of 8. Seems like a grand way to present a course. <g>

Lady Constance de la Rose

Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 22:09:04 -0400

From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cake pans

Another solution for a shield cake would be to do

the 24 by 18 or whatever size pan you have.

Once you know the size of the pan, cut a paper pattern

that will fit on the top of the cake. Leave a border

around the edge and do up the design of the birthday

Lord's coat of arms.

Then For the decoration--- either order or visit a store

that sells cake decorating supplies and buy

"Color Flow" Icing mix. You make the color flow

up in the appropriate heraldic colors.

Place the paper pattern under a sheet of plastic, like

transparency grade plastic or clear sheet protectors.

Or use waxed paper. Tape it down so the sheets don't slide.

Then begin by outlining all the design elements in black

color flow using a size 2 or 3 tip. Let that dry. Then you color

flow in the rest of the colors. It's also called run-out work.

If you can take a look at a cake decorating book, it should

show how to do it. Let the design dry on the plastic until hard.

Bake your cake and level it.

Place the cake on a cake board and then decorate

with white frosting for background. Then you carefully peel

the plastic from the back of the color flow design and place the

design on the cake. It's easier than attempting to ice a design

on the actual cake... (unless you are Martha S. or have her staff

of 30 kitchen people to do it for you.) We used to routinely

do very elaborate Celtic Design flat cakes using coloring books

for patterns with color flow fill-in work. 20 years or so ago.

Johnnae llyn Lewis Johnna Holloway

Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 13:14:40 -0500 (CDT)

From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: [Sca-cooks] Cake pans

I have never seen such a shape in a cake pan. Petal pans, square pans,

circle and half-circle, rectangular, giant lips, teddy bears, Blue (of

Blue's Clues), Scooby Doo, a Della Robbia wreath, Barbie, Winnie the Pooh,

Tigger, spheres, footballs, rocking horses, horseshoes, carousel horses,

Xmas trees, guitars, race cars, Power Rangers, Batman, SUVs, 3D steam

engines, etc., etc. But no escutcheon.

There is, however, a Wilton shaped pan in the shape of a castle. You could

do a castle decorated in his colors, which would be pretty nifty, or you

could build a castle of square/rectangular cake and decorate it

accordingly. IIRC it's the Enchanted Castle pan. You want to bake it at a

slightly lower temperature than called for, otherwise your cake will peak

mightily, requiring substantial trimming to sit flat.

Personally, I would either use the castle pan and a separate decorated

sheet cake, or I would build a tiered square cake to look like a

castle. If I was *really* motivated, I'd use gingerbread for the walls and

roof, and marzipan for pennons and banners hanging off the battlements.

Or, just bake two half-sheet cakes and trim the one down for the point of

the escutcheon.

Margaret

On Thu, 18 Oct 2001, Nelson Beth wrote:

> That's pretty much the plan. Even if I can find such

> a pan Morin is talking about "maximum of 80" so I

> figure that there I will be making more than one cake

> anyway. I just think it would be nice to have such a

> shape as this is the 2nd time I've been asked to do

> someone's device and don't think it will be the last.

> Orlaith

> --- Jennifer Whitbeck <jbwhitbeck at yahoo.com> wrote:

> > Can you bake the cake in a rectangular pan and cut it

> > down? That's probably already your fall-back position,

> > though. Good luck!

From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, & experiments

Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 18:45:35 +0000

[the discussion was about finding a heater shaped cake pan to

make a cake]

>That's pretty much the plan. Even if I can find such

>a pan Morin is talking about "maximum of 80" so I

>figure that there I will be making more than one cake

>anyway. I just think it would be nice to have such a

>shape as this is the 2nd time I've been asked to do

>someone's device and don't think it will be the last.

>Orlaith

Oh. I get it now. Duh. Go to the dollar store and get some of those heavy

gauge aluminum flat things they say to put on the bottom of your oven.

Scribe in the shape, get out your shears and cut out about two and a half

inches out away from your scribe mark and bend up the sides, tuck over the

top ends a bit with some plyers for a little extra studyness. I used to use

these things all the time to make molds.

Olwen

Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 14:42:19 -0500 (CDT)

From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, & experiments

On Thu, 18 Oct 2001, Olwen the Odd wrote:

> >That's pretty much the plan. Even if I can find such

> >a pan Morin is talking about "maximum of 80" so I

> >figure that there I will be making more than one cake

> >anyway. I just think it would be nice to have such a

> >shape as this is the 2nd time I've been asked to do

> >someone's device and don't think it will be the last.

> >

> >Orlaith

> Oh. I get it now. Duh. Go to the dollar store and get some of those heavy

> gauge aluminum flat things they say to put on the bottom of your oven.

> Scribe in the shape, get out your shears and cut out about two and a half

> inches out away from your scribe mark and bend up the sides, tuck over the

> top ends a bit with some plyers for a little extra studyness. I used to use

> these things all the time to make molds.

> Olwen

Not knowing exactly what sort of aluminum thing she's talking about, it

would probably work although you would need to seal the seams

somehow. Foil is the fastest but least permanent way, welding the most

permanent but you have to find someone who does aluminum welding.

You can make temporary cake pans out of heavy cardboard covered with

aluminum foil, but it's not something you'd want to use for really large

or very deep cakes. Or at least I wouldn't--my capacity for making a mess

in the kitchen, especially the oven, is legendary. ;-)

Margaret

From: "chirhart_1" <chirhart_1 at netzero.net>

To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, & experiments

Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 16:40:09 -0400

Olwen is talking about heavy duty oven liner.(made to catch

spills) Which is heavier then reg. aluminum foil it will hold the shape you

want.

chirhart

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 07:40:03 -0400

From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler at chesapeake.net>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cake pans

My usual way of building a cake "castle" (and I've done a couple of them as

wedding cakes!) is to use a rectangular pan for the central keep of the

castle, with four small round pans for the towers. Then I cut out a chunk on

each corner of the rectangle to allow me to fit the towers in to the keep,

using honey as glue. The cake itself is my version of Digby's "Another Fine

Cake". I then either use marzipan to cover the castle or, in one case, used

royal frosting. I colored the castle grey and used some lovely white

iridescent flakes to provide the highlights that stone would have...or, in one

case, the snow on the castle...for a winter wedding. The whole thing turned

out pretty well. You could do something like that, and fly flags, probably of

cloth unless you can figure out some way to do them in marzipan, with the

gentle's arms on them from the parapets of the towers.

Kiri

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 07:50:00 -0500 (CDT)

From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cake pans

Hey! Color flow is *not* always easier.

If you're going to use color flow, you might want to put sugar cubes

underneath it to support it and keep it off the icing. Depending on the

weather conditions and how long it's going to sit there, the moisture in

the icing can cause the color flow, which, after all, is basically royal

icing, to melt.

If you don't want to bother with color flow, and are still wondering how

to get that design on your cake, keep reading.

You know those tubes of cake decorating gel you can buy at the grocery

store? Well, if you take your design and draw it on parchment or wax

paper, then trace it FROM THE BACK with the gel, then lay the paper

gel-side down on the frosted cake, and smooth gently with your hand, then

peel the paper carefully off, you have a nice outline of your chosen

design on your cake that you can then fill in with colored icing. This

method works best when you've smoothed your cake frosting as much as

possible and let it dry a bit so it doesn't stick to the paper when you

transfer the design.

Lastly, if you are going to be using a lot of red or other dark colors,

you might want to start with chocolate icing and color it that way as the

large quantity of color needed for white icing to be that dark can give a

bitter taste. If you are using only a little, you can always use the

pre-packaged tubes of colored icing. Yes, it's a cheat. But a tube of

icing costs about the same as a new jar of color, and you'll use up rather

a lot of it if you are trying for dark colors.

Margaret

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 09:38:20 -0400

From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cake pans

We always did the color flow work a couple ofweeks or ten days in advance. So it was dry!Then it was put on the morning of the eventor the afternoon of the event even. The cake could bebaked and iced in advance. Bring some extra frostingpastry bag and tubes along to quick repair a crack, shouldone happen. They have a mosaic quality if done right.

One thing to remember is if you are using the commercialcake mixes for the cake, you have to add some extra flourto compensate for the extra moisture factors. These modern pudding in the cakesdon't bake up and hold up in thick layers without theextra tablespoons plus of flour. See the instructions forbaking wedding cakes on the websites.

Johnna

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 10:56:10 -0500 (CDT)

From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>

To: SCA-Cooks maillist <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cake icing

On Fri, 19 Oct 2001, Mark.S Harris wrote:

> Amanda said:

> > It's actually really easy to do a heater: make a sheet cake in whatever

> > size you want and then trim two corners at the narrow end to shape.

> > Pre-shaped pans tend to be pretty small. Just remember to apply a crumb

> > coat of icing, especially to the cut edges, so crumbs don't smear into your

> > finished product.

> I've done little cake decorating, so some of this is unclear to me.

> What do you mean by a "crumb coat of icing"? Is this applied

> differently than the background icing? Or do you just mean to apply

> a sacrificial layer of icing that will be under the real layer of

> icing? If so, is it a thinner mixture or applied thinner than the

> final coat?

It is indeed a sacrificial layer. Chilling the cake helps, too, but

basically what you are doing is sealing the cake so you don't get crumbs

in your pretty icing. It does help to thin the icing out a bit--it doesn't

have to be pretty, it just has to do its job. You can also use something

like apricot preserves--boil and strain them, then brush them over the

cooled cake.

> Stefan li Rous

Margaret

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 11:55:20 -0700 (PDT)

From: Nikki McGeary <draculachanter at yahoo.com>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: [Sca-cooks] re: cake pans

>You know those tubes of cake decorating gel you can buy at the grocery

>store? Well, if you take your design and draw it on parchment or wax

>paper, then trace it FROM THE BACK with the gel, then lay the paper

>gel-side down on the frosted cake, and smooth gently with your hand,

>then peel the paper carefully off, you have a nice outline

>of your chosen design on your cake

That sounds like an interesting idea, but, and nooffense intended, I see many potential problems with that method. That gel is a bit runny, plus it smears easily. If you do your design on paper and try to aim it at the cake, one false move will ruin the top of your cake.

I would use fondant to cover the cake. It's a nice smooth, non-tacky surface, perfect for decorating. Get some baker's parchment and draw your design. After the fondant has set (about an hour should be sufficient), place your parchment (or other thin paper) over the cake and use a cleaned straight pin to poke holes along the drawn lines, through the paper into the surface of the fondant. When you remove the paper (you may want to secure it with stationary pins, so it doesn't move on you), your design will look like connect-the-dots and will be very easy to follow, and there will be no evidence of what you've done in the finished product. One thing -- I recommend not doing the pinpricking for very small, intricate designs, because the pattern gets lost when you look at it. Instead, mark (through the paper) where the intricacies will be, and do an outline. Then you'll be able to eyeball the design from your source.

Heloise

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 16:48:06 -0500

From: Rob Downie <rdownie at icenter.net>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cake icing

For mundane cakes, I usually use a piping bag with a wide flat tip to apply the

icing without liberating a lot of crumbs. You then smooth it it out with a

decorating comb or spatula and voila' - no crumbs!

Faerisa

"Pixel, Goddess and Queen" wrote:

<snip>

> I've done little cake decorating, so some of this is unclear to me.

> What do you mean by a "crumb coat of icing"?

It is indeed a sacrificial layer. Chilling the cake helps, too, but basically what you are doing is sealing the cake so you don't get crumbs your pretty icing.<snip>

Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 09:20:12 -0500

From: Amanda Whiteley <siancr at shaw.ca>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] re: gel transfer

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

For those who want to try gel transfer: If the stuff in the grocery store

is too runny, pick up a tub of decorating gel at your local cake decorating

supplies store. It's considerably stiffer. If it's *too* stiff, just add a

touch of glycerine to smooth it out. I prefer this stuff for the gel

transfer technique and have never had a problem with it. Just tint it in a

colour that contrasts with your icing. Remember to work quickly. I find

that I get the best transfer by tracing over the design with a toothpick

once I've laid the parchment or wax paper on the cake. Peel paper up

*slowly* afterward.

If the worst happens and you happen to place the design incorrectly or drop

the paper before it's positioned (been there, done that...), just go away,

pour yourself a stiff whisky to drink while the gel dries a bit. Come back

in an hour or so and carefully pick off the gel with a tooth pick. It

should come up fairly easily (not in a humid kitchen, though). Smooth as

necessary and try again.

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 13:51:20 -0500 (CDT)

From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] re: gel transfer

What Sian said. I'm just too lazy to bother with the tub gel, usually. I

have found that the gel in teeny tubes behaves better if you chill

it--that may be why some people think it's runny. Hot kitchens.

And Sian has wonderful words of advice for anybody contemplating cake

decorating. Remember--unless the ceiling falls in on it, whatever mistake

or otherwise horrible thing happens to your cake, it can be fixed. Really

and truly.

Margaret

Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 13:56:35 -0500 (CDT)

From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cake icing

On Fri, 19 Oct 2001, Rob Downie wrote:

> For mundane cakes, I usually use a piping bag with a wide flat tip to apply the

> icing without liberating a lot of crumbs. You then smooth it it out with a

> decorating comb or spatula and voila' - no crumbs!

> Faerisa

Wilton sells what they call an icing tip, which is a huge wide tip that is

flat on one side and a comb on the other, although I've never managed to

ice a cake successfully with the comb where I didn't have to do

touch-up. You have to buy one of the large decorating bags (16", I

think) and it will become a dedicated icing bag, as no other tip they make

is that large. I use one when looks count. If I'm just applying frosting

for the middle layer or something like that, I don't bother.

Margaret

From: "Siegfried Heydrich" <baronsig at peganet.com>

To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] any suggestions for soltie?

Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 22:57:43 -0500

There's a company that sells a kit for Canon printers to print food

grade ink onto a sheet of icing. If you have a graphic, it can print it with

near photographic quality on various sized sheets. You lay it on the cake,

and Voila!

They'll also print sheets for you, an 8x10 was $22 or so. I've always

thought a picture of the Prince & Princess taken the day of their

investiture would make an awesome caketop, with suitable ruffles &

flourishes, of course . . . Or perhaps a page from the Book of Kells . . .

Sieggy

Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2003 16:27:20 -0400

From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] Dome Cake Pan Source

To: "mk-cooks at midrealm.org" <mk-cooks at midrealm.org>,

"sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

From time to time some of the SCA culinary lists have discussed how to

make domed cakes and this always promotes a number of suggestions and

hints. With this in mind, last night I came across an inexpensive source

for a new cake pan to do these in.

It's in the latest Betty Crocker catalog. It's called Dome Cake Pan.

Item number 2181. It costs $18.74 with BC points.

www.bettycrocker.com

The Betty Crocker Catalog is worth looking at for its selection of a

number of useful items. This latest one has a bundt cake keeper. They

often run close out sales on things like tablecloths and linens too.

Johnnae llyn Lewis

From: "Siegfried Heydrich" <baronsig at peganet.com>

To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] any suggestions for soltie?

Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 22:57:43 -0500

There's a company that sells a kit for Canon printers to print food

grade ink onto a sheet of icing. If you have a graphic, it can print it with

near photographic quality on various sized sheets. You lay it on the cake,

and Voila!

They'll also print sheets for you, an 8x10 was $22 or so. I've always

thought a picture of the Prince & Princess taken the day of their

investiture would make an awesome caketop, with suitable ruffles &

flourishes, of course . . . Or perhaps a page from the Book of Kells . . .

Sieggy

Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2005 08:27:19 -0500

From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Embroidery/cooking Laurels

To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Stefan responded to Mistress Maire:

> Sooo.... Have you figured out how to do edible embroidery? :-)

Well, I'm not Maire, but I did a blackwork and cross stitch embroidery cake

for a SCAdian needleworker's wedding anniversary. I copied an Elizabethan

blackwork design for the border and found a cross stitch pattern for an owl

(of significance for her) for the center. It's at

http://home.netcom.com/~alysk/photos-medievalcakes.html should you want to

see it. So, Stefan, some of us have done edible embroidery! <g>

Alys Katharine

Elise Fleming

alysk at ix.netcom.com

http://home.netcom.com/~alysk/

Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 17:02:31 -0400

From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"

<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] back to food by request

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On May 31, 2006, at 4:49 PM, Martha Oser wrote:

> I'm looking for a period cake recipe that includes almonds, honey, flour,

> butter and eggs. The modern recipe that's inspiring me also has sour cream

> in it (period?) and baking soda (not period, right?).

> Anyone have anything that will fit the bill?

> -Helena

Hmmm. That combination in a cake? Maybe something Islamic...

But Kenelm Digby has this one, which sort of comes close to what

you're talking about:

> Take four quarts of fine flower, two pound and half of butter,

> three quarters of a pound of Sugar, four Nutmegs; a little Mace; a

> pound of Almonds finely beaten, half a pint of Sack, a pint of good

> Ale-yest, a pint of boiled Cream, twelve yolks, and four whites of

> Eggs; four pound of Currants. When you have wrought all these into

> a very fine past, let it be kept warm before the fire half an hour,

> before you set it into the oven. If you please, you may out into

> it, two pound of Raisins of the Sun stoned and quartered. Let your

> oven be of a temperate heat, and let your Cake stand therein two

> hours and a half, before you Ice it; and afterwards only to harden

> the Ice. The Ice for this Cake is made thus: Take the whites of

> three new laid Eggs, and three quarters of a pound of fine Sugar

> finely beaten; beat it well together with the whites of the Eggs,

> and ice the Cake. If you please you may add a little Musk or

> Ambergreece.

I believe the other day I mentioned having made a cake subtlety in

the shape of a ship. This was the cake recipe. IIRC, I used Digby's

original quantities. The only difference was that I covered it with a

thin layer of marzipan before decorating it.

Adamantius

Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2006 08:58:13 -0500

From: "Jeff Gedney" <gedney1 at iconn.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Word usage was Re: remove vs course

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> heh heh...I remember 'The Bizarre Bazaar' from somewhere years ago

> (maybe Dragon magazine)...now it's all other the 'net referring to

> everything from fetishes to anime to charity auctions.

Twenty ago this month, Dragonship Haven in the East Kingdom

(New Haven, Connecticut area) held an event called

"Bizarre Bazaar", which was dedicated to the "arte of shopping".

It was a lot of fun.

I am not certain if that is the origin of the phrase, but it was

the first use of it that I recall.

I made a nice cake for it.

A fully Rigged Dragonship (Sails were fruit leather) with "Vikings"

sacking a villiage with a round house.

The ship was constructed to the lines of the Oseberg wreck, and

Rigged according to reconstructions of that ship. (documetation

was available, but nobody cared much then.) The "vikings" were

cookies cut out to silluettes taken from various Friezes in

Gotland (also documented).

The livestock were simply animal shaped cookie cutters.

the ship, masts, roundhouse, fences, people, and beach rocks were

made of (non-period) ginbgerbread, the shore, hills and ocean were

chocolate cake and various icings. The flames on the roundhhouse

were provided by a votive candle and orange piped icing.

I had a picture, but it was lost to flooding.

vivd memory:

Inside the roundhouse were chocolate coins which the King proceded

to distribute as "largesse"...

with ballistic force...

until someone made him stop.

( There was at least one bloody nose, If I am not mistaken.

Apparently he was trying to get largesse to the back of the hall,

but as the ceiling was not high, he figured he just had to throw

harder for a flatter trajectory. He could throw very hard.)

Capt Elias

Dragonship Haven, East

(Stratford, CT, USA)

Apprentice in the House of Silverwing

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 20:51:01 -0400

From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roses was Late SCA-Period Sweets?

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Theme wise

there's this book Sugar Roses for Cakes

by Peck, Tombi; Dunn, Alan; Warren, Tony

which contains virtually every kind of rose decoration that can be

applied to a cake, as well as sugar roses in bouquets, sprays, posies,

and for table arrangements. Sugar Roses for Cakes includes templates and

features collections of all different kinds of roses: wild, climber,

rambling, traditional varieties and the various modern roses, from full

blown modern blooms to delicate, five-petal wild roses.

Actually my cake is based on the ale barm cake in MWBooke of Cookery.

There are a number of these great cakes that can be found.

My article on sugar icing on MK Cooks and in the Florilegium

goes into icing.

Johnnae

lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:

> There's a recipe in Digby for a barm raised spice cake -

> and Johnnae has actually cooked it - that could work in the bundt

> pan. And it could be coated with a "period" icing recipe -snipped

> I want the food to be from "SCA-period" recipes - yes, i am using the

> word in its general sense - i'm aiming for theme, not a specific

> culture and/or date.

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 18:13:36 -0700

From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at jeffnet.org>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roses was Late SCA-Period Sweets?

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> Hmm, if these are modern frosting type roses, i don't think i'd have

> the skill, and i'm trying to make things mostly historical.. but i

> could make them of colored marzipan. I'll see if the library has it...

Countess Morwyn of Wye did the food for my Vigil last weekend (elevation is

in Dec.), and she made roses out of dried apricots, split and shaved into

petals. Leaves were pistachio marzipan. They were gorgeous, and, uh,

certainly fit with my preferred color scheme... ;-)

'Lainie

Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:25:04 -0500 (CDT)

From: Cat Dancer <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roses was Late SCA-Period Sweets?

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

>> Theme wise

>> there's this book Sugar Roses for Cakes

>> by Peck, Tombi; Dunn, Alan; Warren, Tony

>> which contains virtually every kind of rose decoration that can be

>> applied to a cake, as well as sugar roses in bouquets, sprays,

>> posies, and for table arrangements. Sugar Roses for Cakes includes

>> templates and features collections of all different kinds of roses:

>> wild, climber, rambling, traditional varieties and the various

>> modern roses, from full blown modern blooms to delicate, five-petal

>> wild roses.

> Hmm, if these are modern frosting type roses, i don't think i'd have

> the skill, and i'm trying to make things mostly historical.. but i

> could make them of colored marzipan. I'll see if the library has it...

Actually, it's about making sugarpaste or gumpaste flowers. (I have other

books about sugar flowers by Tombi Peck) I can say with full conviction

that it takes practice to achieve the level of realism in the book. Lots

of practice, depending on how good you are with your hands. Also the

techniques are mostly modern, but you could probably use them as a

jumping-off point for making your own sugarpaste or marzipan roses.

It's the sort of work I'd love to devote my life to, if there were a good

way to do it.

Margaret FitzWilliam