SC - Missing SCA-Cooks-Digest

[Varju@aol.com]

Hello Folks!

I'm working on a soteltie for a wedding in a few weeks, and am redacting a
recipe from Curye on Inglysch, the Goud Kokery section, rec'ts 18, 19
(sloane ms 468, 121).

Here's the gist of the recipe directs us to do is this (sorry not to quote
the originals, but I have a mad, wild 3-year old running around and time is
short):

For to make gygngerbred
Rec't 18: Boil half a quart of honey till is as thick as wax. Pour the honey
in a pan that has been wetted with water. Add 1 lb. ginger, 1/4 ounce of
pepper, and let cool.  Then follows complex directions for, basically,
making honey taffy.

To make gyggerbrede
Rec't 19 : Boil honey on the stove to clarify it. Grate "fine paynemayn or
wastrel brede" and put it into the boiling honey. Stir quickly to combine,
and remove from heat. Add ginger, long pepper, saunders, and shape/mix with
your hands. Put into a flat pan, (shape to fit), and strew on sugar, and
insert cloves (mysterious mention of putting the cloves near the"egg" at
this point) if you wish.

Now, here's my difficulty:

I want to use more of the latter recipe, than the former. However, it occurs
to me that this is more related to making candy than to making baked
goods.I'm a little weak in the confectionary dept.  I am going to use this
as a base for Marzipan decorations (St. George and the Dargon), and my
results so far have yielded something that is a little too squishy to hold
any significant weight.

It has occured to me that there are three problems here: A) The bread crumbs
are not dry enough,  B) The honey should be cooked to a  "ball" or"crack"
stage before the breadcrumbs are added C) The spices are too strong, if used
as in rec't 18. I can fix the spice issue on my own, but I have a limites
supply of honey, so I'd like to get some advice before proceeding.

Has anyone made this recipe before (or something similar), and if so, what
success did you have?

Your help is greatly appreciated.


Aoife


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