SC - Cookie cutter cookie dough....

[Philip & Susan Troy]

LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> 
> Are you then suggesting that 'rose colored sugar' is similar to frosting? If
> you are then I would like to see any other 'proof'. There is no argument from
> me as to whether sugar was sprinkled onto things or even whether it was
> occasionally tinted. That is still a far cry from 'frosting'.

I'm not suggesting, but stating overtly, that some sugar was colored,
and conceivably could have been used, if not likely was, as a decorative
coating for small cakes. My own preference for a conservative
interpretation for a period small cake recipe would be to avoid coating
them with purple pictures of fleur-de-lys, but that wasn't what was
asked for. Add to that the fact that even colored royal icing (which was
specifically mentioned) is a pretty far cry from what most people think
of as "frosting". 
> 
> BTW, by the 1600's sugar had fallen considerable in price. and if I am not
> mistaken Le Manegier was written well before the earliest possible dates for
> SOME of the recipes that appear in EP's tome. By what thread do you assume
> that mention of rose sugar could signify use of frosting. This is not a rebuff
> but rather a serious attempt to comprehend the thought processes behind this
> rather big assumption.

That's an excellent question. Not having made that assumption, though, I
can't answer it. Yes, sugar appears to have been, for most Europeans
throughout most of our period, an expensive pharmaceutical substance,
and yes, it began to drop in price once supplies could be had from
Cyprus and, later, the Americas. Sugar is documentable as being
sometimes used in reasonable quantity from about the late 15th century.
Further, we have established the use of rose-colored sugar in medieval
Europe. (That is assuming, of course, that the term 'rose-colored' is
not a translator's error denoting caramelized or "red" sugar, as in
confits, etc.)

What I suggested was only that if one had some rose-colored sugar, it's
quite possible it could have been used in the way Markham suggested at
the turn of the 17th century, things like oven technology and baking
methods not having changed much in the interim between the late 14th
century and Markham's day. It wasn't my intention to suggest purple
frosting on sugar cookies (which, frosted or no, would not be high on my
list of likely-to-find artifacts) was a common medieval food, but the
question I responded to wasn't expressed in those terms.     

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com
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