SC - latkes

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

And it came to pass on 5 Dec 99,, that Gretchen M Beck wrote:

> > Take a pound of sugar, ground and sifted.  Take a white of fresh egg and
> > beat it with a cane, and cast in in the sugar, and knead it very well,
> > and if it should be soft, cast in more sugar, and take a dozen blanched
> > almonds, blanched and pounded, add it all together, and after kneading
> > them take this dough, and make some spirals as you wish, and cook them
> > in an oven with a basin.
> 
> Are you sure the portions are translated properly?

Pretty sure.

"una clara de huevo fresco" -- one white of a fresh egg
'una dozena de almendra blancas" -- a dozen blanched almonds

It is possible that "una libra de azucar" -- one pound of sugar -- is 
somewhat different than our modern 16-ounce pound.  But I have 
successfully redacted other recipes based on the assumption that it is 
about the same, and it *can't* be too different.  We're still talking about 
a lot of sugar in proportion to the other ingredients.  And the recipe says 
to add even more if the dough is too soft!

> If you read this
> without the proportions, the first impression is "oh, this is marzipan
> with enough egg white to let you bake it."

My first impression was "oh, this is a very stiff meringue".

> toodles, margaret 

My offhand guess is that I should whip the eggs to stiff peaks, grind the 
granulated sugar to a slightly finer consistency, and add as much sugar 
as I can and still have a workable dough.  Perhaps "a pound of sugar" is 
an approximation, rather like flour quantities in modern bread recipes.

I am still hoping to hear from those who know more than I about the 
chemistry of eggs and sugar.  Mistress Alys Katharine?  Are you out 
there?  Any other confectioners?


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net
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