SC - cantnip

[Decker, Terry D.]

Greetings Magdalena,
I think you have done a better job with this recipe than I have. You are 
quite right about the sugar needing to be on the outside.  What was I 
thinking?

Thanks too, for your comments about rosewater.  It totally escaped me that 
rosewater in the middle ages would have no standard mix ratio or at least not 
the mix ratio of today.  I only thought of that little blue bottle of 
rosewater in my cupboard and how strong it it!
Phillipa
 
>>>The recipe said...
 
 >make this almond dough 
 >longish with your hands, strew white sugar onto it on the upper and the 
lower
 
 >side, so that nothing sticks to your hands. And when you have made it 
 >longish, form small pretzels from it,
 
 ...which indicates to me that you should start forming a roll, then use the
 sugar on the outside to keep it from sticking to your hands while you work it
 into a pretzel.  If you did add confectioners sugar to the mix, wouldn't it
 change the consistancy, since confectioners sugar includes cornstarch?
 
 Also, I agree about watering down the rose water.  Can anybody critique my 
assumption
 here?  I am guessing that they wouldn't neccisarily mention adding water 
because
 they weren't working with the high-concentration, standardized grocery-store
 stuff that we get.  Any given batch of rose water could have a different 
concentration,
 so wouldn't they water it down, or increase or decrease the amount used, to
 be appropriate to the recipe?  Off the top of my head (which, admittedly, is
 a bit small), I can't remember any instances of a recipe calling for both 
water
 and rose water.  Would they assume that rose water is simply rose-flavored 
water,
 and not the concentrated extract that we get?
 
 Just some thoughts :)
 
 Magdalena
 Who just found an Indian grocery and bakery in an alley two blocks from work.
  This is dangerous.
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