[Sca-cooks] darioles

[phoenissa at netscape.net]

Greetings,
my SCA college group is doing a little demo on campus tomorrow: we're having a picnic in garb, which will hopefully result in getting some new members! :)  We are, of course, all bringing food made from period recipes.  I have a couple of questions regarding the recipe I chose (somewhat randomly) out of the Miscellany:

Darioles
Take cream of almonds, or of cow millk, and eggs, and beat them well together; and make small coffins, and do it therein; and do thereto sugar and good powders, or else take good fat cheese and eggs, and make them of divers colors, green, red, or yellow, and bake them and serve them forth.

1) The modern version says to use 1 1/3 c. milk and cream.  Does that just mean half-and-half?  Could I use all milk or all cream without it being a disaster?

2) Does "good powders" refer to that mix of cinnamon, ginger, pepper, etc. also known as "poudre douce" or something like that?

3) Saunders is the coloring agent suggests for the red tarts.  I don't have any, and don't have time to go shopping for it.  Could I use another ingredient which is more commonly available?  Would it be horribly wrong, for example, to use the juice of a couple strawberries for color?

thanks,

Vittoria


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