SC - Recipe: Bizcochos

[Deborah Schumacher]

Hello All!
Well i went ahead and tried this tonight accord to Lady Brighid's recipe
with flour though instead of using  wheat starch. I have to say i find the
cookies very yummy., They are a little sweet and just a taste of anise.

Defiantly a winner :-)
Thanks Lady Brighid for sharing with us.

Zoe

- -----Original Message-----
From: owner-sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG
[mailto:owner-sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG]On Behalf Of Robin Carroll-Mann
Sent: Saturday, November 06, 1999 6:59 PM
To: sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG
Subject: SC - Recipe: Bizcochos


This is what I took to the arts exhibition in Marwick.


Bizcocho
Anise Sugar Cookies
16th century Spanish

Source: Diego Granado, Libro del Arte de Cozina, Madrid, 1599
Translation and redaction by Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba  (Copyright
1999, Robin Carroll-Mann)

Para hazer bizcocho

Tomar vna dozena de huevos, y los diez sin claras, y batirlos en vn perol a
vna
mano. y despues de bien batidos echarles vna libra de açucar bien molido, y
junto con los hueuos batirlo my bien, y echarle vna libra de almidon muy
bien
cernido, y vn poco de anis, y sal, y batirlo buen rato, y tener el hornillo
de
buen temple, y hazer sus casas de papeles con sus obleas debaxo, y echarlas
alli, y poluorearlas con açucar por encima, y mirarlas de en rato en rato,
hasta
que esten hechas, y antes de mirar con vn cuchillo punçandolos, y si sale
mojado no estan cozidos.


To make biscuit

Take a dozen eggs, and ten of them without whites, and beat them in a kettle
with one hand, and after they are well beaten cast in a pound of well ground
sugar, and beat it well together with the eggs, and cast in a pound of very
well
sifted starch, and a little anise, and salt, and beat it a good while, and
have a
little oven, well-tempered, and make your squares of papers with your wafers
underneath, and cast them there; and powder them with sugar on top, and
watch them moment by moment, until they are done, and before watching
them prick them with a knife, and if it comes out wet they are not cooked.


Anise Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
2 large eggs
8 egg yolks
1 pound wheat starch (approx. 4 scant cups)
1 pound sugar (approx. 2 cups + 5 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons ground anise seed
1 teaspoon salt
additional sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 325º F.  Place the eggs and egg yolks in the bowl of an
electric mixer.  Beat on medium for a minute.  Gradually add the sugar to
the
eggs.  Turn the speed to low and gradually add the starch, salt, and anise
to
the egg mixture.  Beat on medium for 10 minutes.  You will have a thick,
fluffy
batter.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Alternatively, you may lightly
grease the pans or use non-stick pans.  Drop the batter by tablespoons 2
inches apart.  After a moment, they will spread out on the pan, and will
spread
further during baking.  Sprinkle lightly with sugar.

Place in preheated oven.  Bake for approximately 10 minutes, until the
cookies
are set and a toothpick or knife-blade comes out clean.  The cookies should
not be browned on top; there should be no more than a slight hint of golden
color around the edges.  Remove carefully from the pan with a spatula.
Cookies will be soft when they are first removed and may be prone to
breakage.  They become firmer as they cool.  Cool on  racks.  Store after
cooling in an air-tight container.   Makes approximately 5 dozen 3-inch
cookies.

Notes: I found wheat starch at my local Chinese grocery.  If it is not
available
in your area, substituting all-purpose flour would probably work.  Another
recipe for bizcocho in the same cookbook calls for either starch or flour.
Egg
quantities were reduced on the assumption that medieval eggs were smaller.
I
tried using parchment paper, but found that cookies were much easier to
remove intact from greased pans.
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net
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