[Sca-cooks] A question for Bear on Breads

[Terry Decker]

To my knowledge,  cheese was not used in bread.  Fruits were sometimes used
in special festive breads which were made with fine flour and probably
enriched with milk or fats.  The precise ingredients and ratios are unknown
because there are no recipes although there are some incomplete descriptions
and mention of them in some of the baking regulations.

Sabina Welser has a recipe for krapfen (turnovers) which have cheese
filling.  But, that isn't a bread, and they are definitely meant for festive
occasions (Shrove Tuesday).  One should also take into account, the Welser
were among the richest people in Europe in the 16th Century.

Period bread recipes seem to use less liquor than modern recipes, but the
period flour probably wasn't as dry as modern flour.  The ratios of liquid
to solid are within the ranges found in modern recipes, but there aren't
enough medieval bread recipes to make that observation statisically
accurate.  So while fancy breads may have used more liquor, it was likely
less than is found in the modern equivalent.  Also, adding  fats such as
milk, butter and eggs reduces the need for additional water.