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cakes-msg – 2/17/08

 

Period cakes and cake recipes.

 

NOTE: See also the files: Digby-Cakes-art, Digby-Cakes-msg, cak-soteltes-msg, flavord-sugars-msg, marzipan-msg, shortbread-msg, Sugar-Icing-art, sugar-paste-msg, pastries-msg, leavening-msg, Ital-Fnl-Caks-art.

 

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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

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Date: Wed, 3 Nov 2004 16:16:04 EST

From: Etain1263 at aol.com

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] digby cakes

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

 

In a message dated 11/3/2004 3:42:02 PM Eastern Standard Time,

ldh at ece.gatech.edu writes:

> My Digby cakes did not rise (much),

 

There is nothing in them to make them rise.  They are a "shortbread" type of

cookie.  I've made dozens of them...I use them as "prizes" when I do "The Food

Game" at demos.  As for the frosting: use regular sugar.  It gives you the

opportunity to see how nice a sparkle you get when the liquid sinks into the

warm cookie (I just mix sugar and water until I can spoon it on the cookies),

leaving the sugar in a layer on top!   I also point out when I'm doing a demo

that they did not have powdered sugar....it was difficult enough to get that hard loaf grated and pounded into what we call "granulated" as it was!

 

   I use Cariadoc's redaction, also.

 

Etain

 

 

Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 14:01:36 -0500

From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"

      <adamantius.magister at verizon.net>

Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Useful things to do with fruitcake

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

 

Also sprach Micaylah:

> Sherry is also another alcohol to consider. I don't think I would recommend

> actually putting it in the cake as one of the ingreds, but to marinade the

> fruits, and for cheesecloth soaking, it sounds like it would be very good.

> YMMV

>

> Micaylah

 

Okay, so this one uses sack. Close enough, IMO. It also uses only

raisins and currants, but in profusion, and I don't think it suffers

for it.

 

ANOTHER VERY GOOD CAKE

 

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 put 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.

      --The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelm Digby,

Knight, Opened, etc., London, 1669

 

Does anybody besides Andrea MacIntyre remember the 12th Night

subtlety thingy in Nordenhall a few years ago? This was my entry, so

it's conceivable somebody here may remember eating this.

 

Adamantius

 

 

Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 16:54:31 -0600

From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Sweet bread or cake ecipe needed

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

 

To Make a Cake

 

Take half a peck (7 lbs.) of flour, two pound and a half of Currants, 3 or 4

Nutmegs, one pound of Almond paste, 2 pound of Butter, and one pint of

Cream, three teaspoonfuls of Rosewater, three quarters of a pound of Sugar,,

half a pint of Sack, a quarter pint of Yeast, and six Eggs,s make it and

bake it.

 

The Countess of Kent, A True Gentlewoman's Delight, 1653

 

The publication is posthumous, so the recipe is certainly earlier.

 

Bear

 

 

Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 21:09:22 +0200

From: Volker Bach <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cakes

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

 

Am Sonntag, 15. Mai 2005 20:44 schrieb Alexa:

> I have a question in regards to cakes that I thought I

>  would pose to the list.  I know cakes as we know

> them, the texture of birthday cakes you get at the

> bakery, or from a store bought mix  or home made cake

> are not period.  My question is, when abouts did cakes

> w/ the texture of pound cake come into play?  I have

> only found a recipe for 'an excellent cake' and by no

> means was it cake like we know of today, more like a

> cookie type of thing.

 

I think that for cakes of the modern kind to become common, you have to wait

for the advent of sodium bicarbonate and mechanical or electric beaters.

However, there are some period recipes that get you a fairly spongy,  

Soft texture not at all like cookies:

 

Mach ein Teig an mit Milch / Eyern / und schoenem weissen Mehl / thu

ein wenig Bierhefen darein / un mach einen guten Teig / der nicht gar

steiff ist / unnd versaltz jn nicht / setz jn zu der waerm / da§ er fein

auffgehet / ...

 

Make dough with milk, eggs, and good white flour, and add a little brewing

yeast. Do not make it too stiff and do not oversalt it. Leave it to rise in

a warm place ...

 

The recipe goes on to describe making fritters. However, the  

following one says:

 

Nimm ein newen Krug / schmier jn innwendig wol mit zerlassener Butter /

thu einen solchen Teig darein / da§ der Krug halb davon voll wirt / und

wenn er auffgelauffen / da§ er voll ist / so scheubs in heissen Ofen / und

la§ backen / thu jn herau§ /  und la§ jn kalt werden / zerschlag den Krug /

unnd thu die Schifer davon hinweg / unnd gibs fein ganz auff Tisch / so

sihet es wie ein Krug.

 

Take a new pot, grease its insides with melted butter, then take of such a

dough (as described in a previous recipe) and fill it half full. When it

has risen to full the pot entirely, place it in a hot oven and bake it.

Then take it out, cool it, and break the pot. Remove the shards and serve,

and it will look like a pot.

(Marx Rumpoldt, late 16th century)

 

Same pattern here, first the fritter, then using the same dough for a  

cake:

 

Nimm ein frischen Kae§ / der uber Nacht gemacht ist / thu schoen wei§

Mehl unnd Eyerdotter darunter / rueres wol durcheinander / mach KŸchel

darau§ / nimm Papier / und bestreichs mit Butter / und leg die KŸchel

darauff nebeneinander / scheubs in einen warmen Ofen / so wirt es fein

aufflauffen / wirt innwendig fein hol wie ein Schwam / richt es in ein

Schuessel an / begeu§ mit frischer Butter / unnd bestraew es mit weissem

Zucker / gibs warm oder kalt auff ein Tisch / beschneidts fein rundt un

duenn / legs auff eine Schuessel / bespreng es mit Rosenwasser / und

bestraew es mit weissem Zucker / so ists gut und wolgeschmack.

 

Take fresh cheese that was made overnight and add fine white flour and egg

yolks and stir it well. Make small cakes, place them on buttered paper, and

place it in a warm oven. Thus they will rise and become as hollow as sponges

inside. Serve them warm or cold in a bowl drizzled with melted butter and

sprinkled with sugar or slice them thin and round, place them in a bowl,

drizzle with rosewater and sprinkle with white sugar. This will be good and

delicious.

 

Du kanst auch wol ein Turten machen von einem solchen Teig / un kanst

es kalt lassen werden / die nennet man Kaese turten / und wenn du es wilt

auff ein Tisch geben / so besprengs mit Rosenwasser / unnd gibs kalt /

bestraew es mit weissem Zucker. Du magsts gantz geben oder zerschneiden.

 

You can also make a tart of this dough that is served cold and called 'Cheese

Tart'. If you want to serve it, drizzle it with rosewater and sprinkle it

with white sugar. Cou can serve it whole or cut it up.

 

 

And then there's this from the Anonymous Venetian. I'm not sure I figured the

intent correctly, but it looks like a second cousin to Rumpoldt's cheese

tart, a century or two early.

 

XL A white and rich "migliaciti" (cake)

If you want to make white cake in the best way that you can for 12 persons. 

Take enough leaven (fermenting bread dough) that is (for) about a bread and a

half, take water that is a little hot and mix it with the leaven so that it

makes strings (breaks up).  Take four fresh, good fat cheeses, ten eggs, two

pounds of fresh lard that has been well rendered with little smoke and well

strained.  And when the leaven is well working put it above flour in

quantities of about a dish (scudella pizola a dish of a specific and constant

size), and put in a a little water, and put in the chopped cheese (one of the

three) and add the eggs that you have.  Make this batter/dough soft and

tender, and put it into a hot but not too hot "testo" (pie dish designed to

cook pies on the fire) which has been well greased.  And scatter above the

two cheeses that you have chopped well, and above it add the hot strained

lard that you have, and put it to cook.  And if you want to make for more

persons or for less take the ingredients in the same way.

 

Giano

 

 

Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 13:05:45 -0700 (PDT)

From: Pat <mordonna22 at yahoo.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cakes

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

 

Volker Bach <carlton_bach at yahoo.de> wrote:

>>>

I think that for cakes of the modern kind to

become copmmobn, you have to wait

for the advent of sodium bicarbonate and

mechanical or electric beaters.

<<<

 

Hmmm, most authentic pound cake recipes do not call for any leavening

other than a strong arm and much beating.  Not so sure my Foster Mother  

in Law, Auntie Ruth ever owned an electric mixer, and her recipe did  

not call for baking soda or baking powder, just a pound of sugar, a  

pound of butter, a dozen eggs, and a pound  of flour, vanilla or lemon

flavoring.  Butter was the preferred fat, but lard would do in a pinch.

However, I've not seen a near period recipe like this.

 

Mordonna

 

Pat Griffin

Lady Anne du Bosc

known as Mordonna the Cook

Shire of Thorngill, Meridies

Mundanely, Millbrook, AL

 

 

Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 23:45:02 +0200

From: Volker Bach <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cakes

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

 

Am Sonntag, 15. Mai 2005 22:05 schrieb Pat:

> Hmmm, most authentic pound cake recipes do not call for any leavening other

> than a strong arm and much beating.  Not so sure my Foster Mother in Law,

> Auntie Ruth ever owned an electric mixer, and her recipe did not call for

> baking soda or baking powder, just a pound of sugar, a pound of butter, a

> dozen eggs, and a pound  of flour, vanilla or lemon flavoring.  Butter was

> the preferred fat, but lard would do in a pinch. However, I've not seen a

> near period recipe like this.

 

You mean the ones that get their leavening by beating, beating, beating....?

That is exactly my point - the method is so time-consuming and tiring that it

must have been limited to exceptional occasions, or the tables of people who

didn't have to do it themselves.

 

BTW. I have traced the beaten-egg cake to the late 16th century, but it is

used for rusks.

 

Marx Rumpoldt:

 

Nimm wei§ von Eyern / und nim eyn schoenen neuwen Hafen darzu / und

schoen wei§ Mehl / mach ein Teig in denm Hafen ab / und schlag jn wol mit

einem hoelzern Loeffel / nimm Ani§ und Coriander darunter / machs mit

weissem Zucker wol sue§ / geu§ ein wenig Rosenwasser darunter / unnd ein

wenig Saltz / du kanst auch wol ein Eydotter oder zween / die frisch seyn /

darunter nemmen. Nimm ein Oblat / der fein breit und laenglicht ist / thu

den Teig aus dem Hafen darauff mit einem hoeltzern Loeffel / scheubs

geschwindt in einen Ofen / da§ der Teig nich voneinander fleu§t / so wird

er fein in die hoeh aufflauffen / wenns gebacken ist / so thu es herau§ /

und la§ ein weil uberschlagen / schneidts nach der laeng etwan eins halben

Fingers dick / legs widerumb auff ein saubers Papier / oder auff ein Oblat

/ und scheubs wider in Ofen / der uberschlagen ist / kehrs offt umb auff

beyden seiten / da§ fein au§trucknet / so werden sie gut unnd muerb. Unnd

man nennets Piscoten von lauter Eyerwei§.

 

Take the whites of eggs into a nice new pot, add good white flour and make

a dough in the pot. Beat it vigorously with a wooden spoon. Add anise and

coriander, sweeten it well with ground sugar, and add a little rosewater

and salt. You can also add an egg yolk or two if they are fresh. Take a

long and wide wafer and put the dough from the pot onto it with a wooden

spoon. Put it into the oven quickly so that it does not flow off the wafer,

then it will rise up nicely. When it is baked, take it out and let it

/uberschlagen/ (?) a while, then cut it lengthwise, about half a finger

thick, place it on clean paper or a wafer again and put it into an oven

that is /uberschlagen/ (?) and turn them over often. Thus they will become

good and crumbly. These are called rusks of pure egg whites.

 

Franz de Rontzier

 

Ri§mehl unnd zerstossen Kanarienzucker vermischt man mit Rosenwasser und

Eyerdottern / schlegts zwey stundt zusamen so wirdt es gelb / darnach wei§ /

bšget einen bogen Papir ein / gibts darauff un machts im Ofen gahr / wenn es

beginnt trucken zu werden sol mans in kleine stŸcke schneiden unnd leggens

auff Papir eine ganze nacht in den Ofen und lests langsamb trucken das es

nicht braun werde /so kan mans wol ein halb Jahr wahren / wenn mans thun wil

mag mans mit Zucker bestrewen wen mans zerschneidet

 

Rice flour and canary sugar are mixed with rosewater and egg yolks and beaten

for two hours. First, the mixture turns yellow, then white. Bend a sheet of

paper, pour it into there and bake it in the oven. Once it starts to become

dry, cut it up into small pieces and slowly dry them in the oven on paper for

an entire night at a low temperature, so they do not turn brown. You can keep

these half a year, and if you want you can sprinkle them with sugar when you

cut them up.

 

I haven't seen it used in cakes before the 18th century, but my knowledge of

17th century cooking is very patchy indeed..

 

Giano

 

 

Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 17:39:00 -0500

From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cakes

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

 

According to the OED, pound cake is a cake containing one pound each of the

principle ingredients with the first reference in a work by Thackery in

1841.

 

A cake in period would have been a round, flattened loaf like a galette.

 

Bear

 

> I have a question in regards to cakes that I thought I

> would pose to the list.  I know cakes as we know

> them, the texture of birthday cakes you get at the

> bakery, or from a store bought mix  or home made cake

> are not period.  My question is, when abouts did cakes

> w/ the texture of pound cake come into play?  I have

> only found a recipe for 'an excellent cake' and by no

> means was it cake like we know of today, more like a

> cookie type of thing.

>

> Alexa

 

 

Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 21:38:33 -0400

From: "Ron Carnegie" <r.carnegie at verizon.net>

Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] cakes

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

 

> According to the OED, pound cake is a cake containing one pound each of the

> principle ingredients with the first reference in a work by Thackery in

> 1841.

>

> A cake in period would have been a round, flattened loaf like a  

> galette.

>

> Bear

 

     This just sounded wrong, so I pulled out one of my 18th century

cookbooks.  Just the first one I grabbed, which happened to be Hannah

Glasse, THE ART OF COOKERY MADE PLAIN AND EASY.  This book, on page 309, has

a receipt for pound cake.  Most of the ingredients are in the quantity of a

pound.  This is the revised version of 1796 Though the forward says that

only the soap and beer receipts were added to the previous 1745 edition.  I

have no idea when pound cakes first appear, and would not be surprised if

they are not period to the SCA, but they do predate Thackery and 1841.

 

Ranald de Balinhard

 

 

Date: Sun, 15 May 2005 22:58:36 -0400

From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"

      <adamantius.magister at verizon.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cakes

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

 

Also sprach Terry Decker:

> The Oxford English Dictionary lists uses of a word or phrase.  Does

> the recipe specifically use the term pound cake?  If so, write the

> OED staff and let them know.  They'll probably add it to the usage

> list in the next edition.

 

It is called a pound cake, and uses a pound each of flour, butter,

and sugar, with twelve egg yolks and six whites (which may or may not

equal a pound, depending on egg size). It also allows for optional

caraway seeds. It's a little different in technique from the modern

cream cake version, and I get the impression this makes a pretty

dense cake (it's one of those "beaten for an hour" cakes), but it's

pretty recognizable as pound cake.

 

Adamantius

 

> Bear

>

>>    This just sounded wrong, so I pulled out one of my 18th century

>> cookbooks.  Just the first one I grabbed, which happened to be Hannah

>> Glasse, THE ART OF COOKERY MADE PLAIN AND EASY. This book, on page 309, has

>> a receipt for pound cake.  Most of the ingredients are in the quantity of a

>> pound.  This is the revised version of 1796 Though the forward says that

>> only the soap and beer receipts were added to the previous 1745 edition. I

>> have no idea when pound cakes first appear, and would not be surprised if

>> they are not period to the SCA, but they do predate Thackery and 1841.

>>

>> Ranald de Balinhard

 

 

Date: Tue, 17 May 2005 08:49:39 -0400

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

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] cakes

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

 

There's a pound cake recipe (actually it calls for 2 pounds each of

butter, flour, sugar, plus eggs, rosewater, and 2 pounds of currants)

in Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery. The manuscripts that

make up the book are dated as Tudor-Jacobean or roughly 1580-1625

by the editor Karen Hess. These are baked in buttered pans, but the size

is not stated. See recipe S 149, pages 314-315.

 

Johnnae llyn Lewis

 

 

Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 09:42:54 -0600

From: Mary Morman <mem at rialto.org>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] cakes on a griddle

To: SCA-Cooks <SCA-Cooks at ansteorra.org>

 

someone wrote:

Every cook in Wales has their own (and best!) version of "welsh cakes".

If you look at the recipes....these are Digby's fine cakes flattened out

and cooked on a griddle!  I've often wondered if I could get away with

"baking" them on a griddle at demo's where we do open fire pit cooking.

Does anyone have any documentation for medieval cooking of cakes on a

griddle???

 

I've made Digby cakes for many years, but recently when I was at the

Tudor Kitchen at the Weald and Downlands Open Air Museum near Chichester

the cook was making Digby Cakes on a griddle over an open fire.  It made

a really excellent demo and a very tasty treat.  We chatted about the

recipe and the source.  She didn't have a specific source for making

them on a griddle, but had just never considered any other method.

 

elaina

 

 

Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:20:08 -0400

From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler1 at comcast.net>

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

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

 

Urtatim mentioned:

<<< 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. >>>

 

I have made this cake several times (the one from Digby) and it came out

beautifully...resembled a spice cake more than anything else.  I

actually used it as the base for sotelties...I've made a dragon (used a

food-safe stainless steel wire as an armature...covered it with

marzipan), a map of Atlantia (same idea, only without the armature), and

a castle.  Didn't have any of those lovely cake pans at the time, so

built my own out of a square sheet pan, and four small springform pans

for the towers.

 

But the cake was delicious...and the ale barm worked nicely as a raising

agent.

 

Kiri

 

 

Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2006 15:43:54 -0400

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

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Seeking Simple Spiced Cakes

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

 

Not sure that it is possible. A lot of the in period "cakes"

are yeast risen cakes with spices that resemble spiced breads.

You also get fine cakes or small cakes.

 

There's a pound cake recipe (actually it calls for 2 pounds each of

butter, flour, sugar, plus eggs, rosewater, and 2 pounds of currants)

in Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery. The manuscripts that

make up the book are dated as Tudor-Jacobean or roughly 1580-1625

by the editor Karen Hess. These are baked in buttered pans, but the size

is not stated. See recipe S 149, pages 314-315.

You might be able to add spices to that.

 

Johnnae_

 

_wildecelery at aol.com wrote:

>  My husband's B-day is saturday and there's a demo/event at the  

> local college group...Normally I make him a yellow cake with  

> cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg mixed in. i then top this with  

> sliced apples boiled in cider...like a very chunky hommemade  

> applesauce...  I'd like to do a period version of the cake for the  

> event...any suggestions?

>  -Ardenia

 

 

Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 09:41:32 +1300

From: Adele de Maisieres <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Seeking Simple Spiced Cakes

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

 

Johnna Holloway wrote:

 

> Not sure that it is possible. A lot of the in period "cakes"

> are yeast risen cakes with spices that resemble spiced breads.

> You also get fine cakes or small cakes.

> There's a pound cake recipe (actually it calls for 2 pounds each of

> butter, flour, sugar, plus eggs, rosewater, and 2 pounds of currants)

> in Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery. The manuscripts that

> make up the book are dated as Tudor-Jacobean or roughly 1580-1625

> by the editor Karen Hess. These are baked in buttered pans, but the  

> size is not stated.

 

I think I've made this accidentally, because a perioid cake was needed

at an event on short notice and the ingredients on hand for a spiced and

currant-filled pound cake were available.

 

A one-pound cake fills a bundt pan, so I'm guessing a two pound cake

with two pounds of currants would do two deep tube pans or four loaves.

Mmmm... pound cake.  It helps if you have a heavy-duty electric mixer if

you want to do this in any quantity bugger than the one-pound version,

by the way.

--

Adele de Maisieres

 

 

Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 19:41:50 -0500

From: "Elaine Koogler" <kiridono at gmail.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Random food-related questions....

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

 

Yup...that's the one.  Here's my version of it.  To be honest, it's been a

while since I made this, but it turned out pretty well.  I used it as a base

for marzipan sotolties...and once as a wedding cake.  So I've never made the

icing described in the recipe.

 

Enjoy!

 

Kiri

 

4 Cups flour

3/4 pound butter

1 1/4 pounds currants

1 Tablespoon cloves, mace, nutmeg

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon saffron

1/4 cup dry sack

1/2 cup ale barm

ICING MIXTURE

2 Tablespoons rosewater

1 each egg white

sugar to taste

 

1.    Mix spices with flour, reserving a small amount to flour currants.

 

2.    Add melted butter, barm and rosewater.

 

3.    Four currants with reserved flour/spice mixture and fold into  

dough.

 

4.    Turn into a greased cake pan and bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour, 30

minutes or until done through the middle.

 

Yield: 1 cake

 

Notes: To a peck of fine flour, take 6 pounds of fresh butter, which must be

tenderly melted, ten pounds of Currants, of Cloves and mace, half an ounce each, an ounce of Cinnamon, half an ounce of Nutmegs, four ounces of Sugar, one pint of Sack, mixed with a quart at least of thick barm of Ale (as soon as it is settled, to have the thick fall to the bottom, which will be when it is about two days old) half a pint of Rosewater, half a quarter of an ounce of Saffron.

then make your paste, strewing the spices, finely beaten upon the flower; Then put the melted butter (but even just melted) to it; then the barm, and other  liquors; and put it into the oven well heated presently. For better baking of it, put it in a hoop and let it stand in the oven one hour and a half.  You Ice the Cake with the whites of two Eggs, a small qauanty of Rosewater and some Sugar.

 

Cuisine: Period English

 

Categories: Period desserts

 

Source: The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Opened--redacted by E. Koogler

Copyright: 1997, Totnes, Devon, Great Britain

 

 

Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2006 22:21:58 -0600

From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Random food-related questions....

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

 

On 11/14/06, Sue Clemenger <mooncat at in-tch.com> wrote:

> Would a sherry do if I can't find sack?

> --Maire

 

Most of the sack I've been able to find these days is sherry.  The  term as

used in the 16th and 17th Centuries however covers almost any light, dry,

fortified wine produced in Spain or the Canary Islands.

 

Bear

 

<the end>



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