SC - Pastry Castles!

[Jessica Tiffin]

Greetings, the List.

There was a discussion a couple of weeks back about recipes in Taillevent
and Form of Curye for a subtlety with a pasty castle filled with various
fillings.  I had a go at an extrapolation from this idea at our last event,
which was a farewell for our Seneschal - I did a single pastry castle and
filled it with Apple Moyse (which was also on the list a few weeks back,
courtesy of Sianan) topped with biscuits (Hugh Platt's Iumbolls, from the
Miscellany, and darned nice too!).  I alternated the Shire device with the
Seneschal's personal device on toothpick  flags along the pasty battlements
- - the effect was rather fun.

The major problem I had, though, was in the texture of the pastry.  It was
basically just a paste of flour and water, but there was no way I could get
it into a cylinder while it was still raw - it was too soft, and would not
stand up at all.  I didn't have anything of the right size to use as a
"roller", as the Form of Curye recipe specified; I ended up parcooking the
pastry  flat on a baking tray, and then bending it into shape when it had
hardened slightly - not ideal, as it then tended to crack, and it was very
difficult to join the cylinder (more toothpicks...)

Does anyone have any ideas on making a more robust pastry, or cunning plans
for shaping the stuff raw?  I'd like to try this again, it was fun to do and
went down well with the Shire

any comments appreciated,

Melisant

Melisant de Huguenin
Minister of Arts and Sciences, Shire of Adamastor, Drachenwald
Sable, three owls, wings elevated, argent, each maintaining a willow slip vert.
Jessica Tiffin * melisant at iafrica.com

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