Medieval and Elizabethan Sweet Dishes.
See also Medieval and Elizabethan savoury dishes1. Medieval Wafers Recipe
Ingredients
450 grams plain all-purpose flour
1 U.S. pint (500 grams) heavy cream
6 large egg yolks, beaten
1/4 - 1/2 cup (60 - 120 grams) rosewater
1 cup (~250 grams) sugar
1/8 teaspoon (~1 ml) ground cinnamon
pinch salt
Directions
1. Sift the flour, cinnamon, and the salt together, set aside.
2. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until light and bright yellow. Add the cream and 1/4 cup (60 grams) rosewater, mix thoroughly. Fold the dry ingredients into the liquid. If the batter is too thick, you can thin it with more rosewater until it is clearly a soft batter but too thick to easily pour - your basic American "cream" cake batter.
3. Heat a pizzelle or other wafer iron for two or three minutes; if it's the kind that you sit on a stove burner, heat each side for two minutes.
4. Brush a little melted butter on the inside of the irons or use a non-stick cooking spray, and spoon an appropriate amount of batter onto the irons.
5. You'll need to experiment to get the exact amount and placement right.
6. My electric non-stick 4-inch pizzelle iron uses a heaping teaspoon of batter (roughly a level dessertspoon for those that use such measures).
7. Bake til golden, and be aware that the wafers will continue to brown a bit after they come out of the irons.
8. Cool on a cake rack until crispy or roll into tubes or cones while hot and flexible.
Makes about three dozen, depending on the size of the iron, and the obvious necessity to hide several that are unevenly browned by immediately eating them.
Un-or-barely-sweetened wafers, such as the cheese wafers mentioned in Le Menagier de Paris, should probably be made with a much softer flour than AP; probably some kind of pastry flour would be the way to get them decently crisp without a lot of sugar. AP tends to be slightly glutinous in this wafer when unsweetened, especially when using dilute or secondary shortening sources like egg yolks and cream. Of course, we can't really be sure how crispy wafers were supposed to get in the middle ages, either.
2. Daryoles Medieval Custard Pie Recipe
This is a medieval egg custard pie with almond milk, saffron, cinnamon, and rosewater. It takes some careful attention, but is worth the time and trouble. This is extremely rich! You will want to serve thin slices, much like a cheesecake.
Ingredients
2 (9”) pie crusts, par-baked and cooled
1 cup unsweetened, plain almond milk
1 cup half-and-half cream
¼ tsp ground saffron
1.tsp ground cinnamon
5 eggs
¾ cup cane sugar
1 tsp honey
1 tsp rose water
½ tsp almond extract
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Blend almond milk and half and half in a saucepan over medium heat until well-combined and warmed through, but do not let it boil.
3. Stir in the saffron and cinnamon, and set aside.
4. Place the eggs and sugar in another saucepan, and mix until well blended. Place the pan over low heat, and gradually stir in the almond milk mixture and honey.
5. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture begins to thicken.
6. When the mixture is thick enough to evenly coat the back of a metal spoon, stir in rose water and almond extract and remove from heat. Pour into the cooled pie shells.
7. Bake for 40 minutes, until the center is set but the top is not browned.
8. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until serving.
3. Cran-Orange Sauce Medieval Gelatin Salad
Ingredients.
2 c. boiling water
1 lg. pkg. cherry Jello
2 jars cranberry-orange relish
1 c. celery, finely chopped
1 c. pecans, finely chopped
1 c. sour cream
Directions.
Mix together and pour it into 9 x 13 inch pan (or can use 2 squares of equal capacity.) Congeal and then spread sour cream on top.
4. Medieval Spiced Nuts.
Ingredients.
1 lb. any combination of walnuts, pecans, almonds, etc. (whole or coarsely chopped
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 egg whites, beaten
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
Directions.
Lightly salt nuts, and bake on a cookie sheet 8 minutes at 350 degrees and cool. Melt butter and fold into a meringue made from the egg whites. Add sugar and cinnamon. Fold all ingredients together and lay out on a cookie sheet and bake 30 minutes at 325 degrees stir every 10 minutes.
NOTE: It is not necessary to bake the nuts first if they are fresh. You may use salted nuts but do not salt the nuts. Store in airtight containers. The nuts will keep for months.
5. Violet Pudding
Ingredients.
450g Violet petals, trimmed and rinsed
350g Almond milk, unstrained
230ml Water
4 tsp Sugar
2 tbsp Rice flour
1/4 tsp Saffron, optional
Directions.
In a saucepan, bring water to a boil then add the violet petals, return to the boil, and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Drain the petals, press out as much water as possible then minch the petals finely and mash into a paste.
In a saucepan over medium heat bring the almond milk to the boil over medium heat. Then reduce heat to a simmer and, stirring constantly, cook for two minutes. Stir in the mashed petals at this point then add the rice flour a little at a time. Once all the rice flour has been incorporated add the sugar and the saffron.
Continue to simmer and stir for five minutes then serve.
6. Sambocade
(Elderflower Cheesecake)
Ingredients.
1 22cm Pastry case
675g Cottage cheese
70g Sugar
3 Egg whites
2 tbsp Dried Elderfowers
1 tbsp Rosewater
Directions.
Whisk the egg whites to the soft peak stage. Mix the cottage cheese, sugar, elderflowers and rosewater and blend thoroughly. Fold the whisked egg whites into the cheese mixture and pour the mixture into the pastry case. Place in an oven pre-heated to 190°C and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until filling has set and the crust is a golden brown.
Allow to cool before serving.
7. Russhewses of Fruyt (Fruit Patties)
Ingredients:
150g dried figs, chopped
130g seedless raisins
2 medium apples, peeled and cored
2 medium pears, peeled and cored
230ml white wine
6 tsp gode powdor
1 egg
200g white flour
Directions.
After chopping, soak the figs and raisins in the wine for at least two hours. At this time drain the fruit from the wine, add the apples and pears and mash to a coarse paste (or use a food processor to purée). Add the remaining ingredients and mix well (if the mixture is a little too thick add some of the soaking wine).
Heat some butter in a pan and drop about a tablespoon-full of the fruit mixture into the pan. Fry until golden brown on each side and serve dusted with coarse brown sugar.
8. Hastletes of Fruyt (Roast Fruit)
Ingredients:
6 fresh figs, quartered
100g raisins
60g whole, pitted, dates
100g blanched almonds
2 tbsp olive oil
Directions.
Place all the ingredients in a roasting pan. Drizzle the olive oil over the figs then place in an oven pre-heated to 160°C. Leave for about 4 minutes, until the almonds have coloured then turn everything over and cook for a further 4 minutes. Serve warm as a snack.
9. Medieval Gyngerbrede (Medieval Gingerbread)
Ingredients:
900ml Honey
450g Breadcrumbs
1 tbsp Ginger
1 tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground white pepper
Pinch saffron
Whole cloves
Directions.
Bring the honey to the boil and skim off any scum. Keeping the saucepan over very low heat, stir in the breadcrumbs and spices. When the mixture is a thick, well-blended, mass (add more breadcrumbs if necessary), remove from heat and allow to cool slightly .
Place on a flat surface and press firmly into an evenly shaped square or rectangle, about 0.6cm thick. Allow to cool, cut into small squares to serve.
Garnish each square by sticking a whole clove in the top centre.
Add a few drops of red food colouring when adding the spices, 'if thou wolt haue it Red'.
10. Medieval Simnel Cake
Ingredients
2 pie crusts
100g ground almonds
80g currants
80g raisins
60g mixed candied peel
80g semi-dried figs, finely chopped
80g dates, finely chopped
80g stoned prunes, chopped
50g chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
50ml honey
pinch of saffron
2 tbsp boiling water
4 tbsp honey
1 egg white
Directions:
You need a lot of pastry here as the Simnel cake needs to be a self-supporting cube. Basically you're building the cake rather like the battlements of a castle. Begin by rolling your pastry some 2cm thick. Cut 6 squares about 8cm per side from the pastry. Place one of the squares on the bottom of a well-greased baking tray. Arrange four squares around the sides of the base square so that you have a lidless cube. Pinch the sides bottoms, and insides together so the cube stays up (you may need some support, create ropes of pastry and use these to support the base of your cube).
Prepare the fruit by mixing together with the walnuts and spices in a bowl add the 50ml honey and the ground almonds and mix with the fruit. Use the fruit to fill the pastry cube (add more if you don't have enough). The fruit should come to the top of the cube. Take your final square of pasty and pierce several times with a sharp knife. Place this on top of the pie and crimp the edges to join properly.
Make a glaze by dissolving the saffron in the boiling water. Add this to the honey to soften it then beat-in the egg white. You should have a yellow liquid which you can use to glaze the entire pie. Carefully place the pie in an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 30 minutes or until the pastry is coloured and quite hard.
Take the cake out of the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray. When cool enough to handle slide a sharp-bladed knife under the cake (use a filleting knife) and carefully transfer to a serving plate.
11. Tourteletes in fryture
(Honey-basted Fig Pastries)
Ingredients:
200g Figs
7 strands Saffron
2 tsp Powder fort
250g Pastry dough
200ml Oil
100ml Honey
beaten egg
Directions:
Dice the figs as finely as possible and mix them with the saffron and powder fort. Roll out the pastry and cut into medium-sized circles. Add a spoonful of pastry in the centre of one pastry circle, wet the outside with beaten egg and place a second pastry circle on top. Crimp the edges together and pierce the upper surface with a fork. Continue until all the figs mixture is used up. Fry the pies in hot oil until lightly browned and crispy then remove from the heat and drain on kitchen paper.
Meanwhile heat the honey in a saucepan and brush onto top of the pies. The pies can be eaten either hot or cold.
12. Bannock
Ingredients:
225g whole wheat bread flour
110g self-raising flour
120g rolled oats
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp melted butter
180ml buttermilk or water
Directions:
Add all the dry ingredients to a bowl and stir together. Add the melted butter, and half the water or buttermilk and stir. Now add the remaining liquid a little at a time until the flour comes together into a stiff dough. Pat into a rough circle and either bake on a greased baking sheet in an oven pre-heated to 200°C for about 25 minutes until well browned. Alternatively place in a dry frying pan on medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes per side. Allow to cool a little, cut into segments and serve.
These days Bannock is a traditional food used by campers and hikers and is fruit is often incorporated into the mixture (about 70g or fruit in this mixture is good). You can use dried fruit such as raisins or currants and fresh fruit such as cranberries or blackcurrants.
13. Sugar Cakes
To make Sugar Cakes
Take a pound of fine Sugar beaten and searced, with four Ounces of the finest Flour, put to it one pound of Butter well washed with Rose-water, and work them well together, then take the Yolks of four Eggs, and beat them with four Spoonfuls of Rosewater, in which hath been steeped two or three days before Nutmeg and Cinamon, then put thereto so much Cream as will make it knead to a stiff Paste, rowl it into thin Cakes, and prick them, and lay them on Plates, and bake them; you shall not need to butter your Plates, for they will slip off of themselves, when they are cold
14. Shrewsbury Cakes
To make Shrewsbury Cakes
Take four pounds of Flour, two pounds of Butter, one pound and an half of fine Sugar, four Eggs, a little beaten Cinamon, a little Rosewater, make a hole in the Flour, and put the Eggs into it when they are beaten, then mix the Butter, Sugar, Cinamon, and Rosewater together, and then mix them with the Eggs and Flour, then make them into thin round Cakes, and put them into an Oven after the Houshold Bread is drawn; this quantity will make three dozen of Cakes
15. Marchpane
To make Marchpane
Take two Pounds of Jordan Almonds, blanch and beat them in a Mortar with Rosewater, then take one Pound and half of Sugar finely searced, when the Almonds are beaten to a fine Paste with the Sugar, then, take it out of the Mortar, and mould it with searced Sugar, and let it stand one hour to cool, then roll it as thin as you would do for a Tart, and cut it round by the Plate, then set an edge about it, and pinch it, then set it on a bottom of Wafers, and bake it a little, then Ice it with Rosewater and Sugar, and the White of an Egg beaten together, and put it into the Oven again, and when you see the Ice rise white and high, take it out, and set up a long piece of Marchpane first baked in the middle of the Marchpane, stick it with several sorts of Comfits, then lay on Leaf-gold with a Feather and the White of an Egg beaten
16. Fine Jumbals
Ingredients.
Half a cup of sugar
2 egg whites
1 egg yolk
Half a cup of shifted flour
4 tablespoons of butter, melted and cooled to warm
1 and half teaspoons of rose water
Three quarters of a cup of blanched almonds, coarsely ground
1 - 2 teaspoons of anise or coriander seeds
Directions.
1) Whip sugar and egg whites with electric or hand beater for about 2 minutes or until the mixture is the consistency of heavy cream.
2) Add egg yolk, flour, butter and rose water. Blend thoroughly
3) Stir in the Almonds
4) Drop batter from a teaspoon onto a well greased floured cookie sheet. Leave at least 1 and half inches between the jumbals.
5) Sprinkle tops of teh jumbals with anise or coriander seeds
6) Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes or until the jumbals are golden brown around the edges.
7) Remove jumbals from the baking sheet immediately and place them on the rack to cool.
Yields 20 Jumbals
17. Fine cakes
Ingredients.
6 ounces of butter (1 and half sticks) at room temperature
Half a cup of sugar
1 egg yolk - beaten
1 and three quarter cups of sifted flour
Half a teaspoon of mace
A Pinch of ground saffron
Egg white
Directions.
1) in a bowl cream the butter. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy.
2) Add the egg yolk and beat until thoroughly blended
3) In another bowl combine sifted flour and spices stirring to distribute evenly.
4) Sift dry ingredients into a bowl containing butter and sugar mixture. Combine by stirring with your hands.
5) Press mixture into a 9 inch square baking pan.
6) Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until the cake feels firm when pressed lightly in the center.
8) Cut into squares while the cake is still hot.
9) Cool in pan on wire rack.
Yields 25 small cakes
18. Apple and Orange pie
Ingredients.
9 inch unbaked pie pastry shell and lid
5 medium juice oranges
3 cups of water
1 cup of honey
Juice of a small Lemon
4 medium apples, peeled, cored and sliced.
Half a cup of brown sugar
Eighth teaspoon of salt
A generous quarter of a teaspoon of Cinnamon
Eighth of a teaspoon of powered Ginger
2 tablespoons of confectioners sugar dissolved in 1 tablespoon of rose water
Directions.
1) Bake pie shell at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Let cool
2) Slice oranges as thinly as possible, discarding seeds.
3) Combine water, honey, and Lemon juice in a large saucepan. Bring to the boil. Add Orange slices. Cover, reduce heat and simmer about 2 hours or until peel is limp and easily chewed.
4) Drain Orange slices and set aside.
5) In a bowl combine the brown sugar, salt and spices. Add apple slices and toss until evenly coated.
6) Place a layer of apple slices in a pie shell, then a layer of Orange slices. Repeat with remaining fruit.
7) Place pastry lid over filling. Crimp edges and slash lid in a few places to allow steam to escape.
8) Paint lid with Rose water icing.
9) Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Serves 8
19. Pear pie
Ingredients.
10 inch unbaked pie pastry shell and lid
Quarter of a cup of white wine
2 tablespoons of sugar
Eighth of a teaspoons cloves
Quarter of a teaspoon of Cinnamon
3 large Anjou pears, peeled, halved and cored
1 tablespoon or Rose water
1 teaspoon of melted butter
1 additional teaspoon of Rose water
1 - 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
Directions.
1) Bake pie shell at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 5 minutes allow to cool.
2) In a heavy enameled saucepan, combine wine, sugar, cloves and Cinnamon. Bring to the boil
3) Add pear halves. Cover and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes or until fruit is firm but easily pierced with a fork.
4) Drain fruit, reserving the wine syrup. Set the fruit aside.
5) Add 1 tablespoon of rose water to wine syrup and stir. Boil briskly for around 5 minutes or until syrup is reduced to about quarter of a cup. Allow to cool.
6) Toss the pear halves in syrup to coat
7) Set pear halves flat side down in pie shell with narrow ends towards the center. Brush any excess syrup on top.
8) Drape pastry lid over fruit and crimp edge.
9) Combine melted butter and additional rose water. Brush lid with this mixture and sprinkle top with brown sugar. Slash lid in a few places to allow steam to escape.
10) Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until lid is golden.
11) Serve warm.
20. Almond Tart
Ingredients.
8 inch unbaked pie pastry shell
1 and half cups of blanched Almonds, coarsely ground
1 and half cups of cream
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of sugar
4 teaspoons of Rose water
Topping:Strawberry or Cherry preserve
Directions.
1) Bake pie shell at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Allow to cool
2) Combine remaining ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Boil gently about 10 minutes stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of pudding.
3) Pour filling in to the pie shell.
4) Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until top is golden.
5) Cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
6) Just before serving spread a thin layer of preserve on top
21. A Tarte of Strawberries
Take and strain them with the yolks of four eggs, and a little white bread grated, then season it up with sugar and sweet butter and so bake it.
Ingredients.
2 c strawberries
4 egg yolks
1/2 c bread crumbs
1/3 c sugar
4 T butter
8" pie shell (see recipe above)
Directions.
Force strawberries through a strainer or run through a blender, then mix with everything else (the butter should be melted). Bake crust for 10 minutes, then put filling into the crust and bake at 375deg. for 20 minutes.