[Sca-cooks] Help!! - Recipe needed for Honey & Saffron Tart!!

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Susan Laing:
>I'm trying to work up a menu costing and my co-cook has nominated to make
>"Doucet Tart" aka Honey & Saffron Tart and I can't find the recipe!!!
>
>Anyone know the source (I'm *told* 14th century) - anyone got the recipe to
>hand??
>
>HELP!!!
>
>Mari
><slightly frazzled down-under>

I think this one is probably the original. (Of course, and
regrettably, the original for a lot of old-timey SCAdians is in
Maxime McKendry's "700 Years of English Cookery"/"The Seven Centuries
Cookbook", which is where the "Honey and Saffron Quiche" name comes
from. Bah! Humbug!)

I think this is the actual source, from MS. Harl. 279 (which is 15th
century), recipe XV in the "Vyaunde Furnez"/"Dyuerse Bake Metis"
section :

"Doucetes -- Take Creme a gode cupfulle & put it on a straynoure;
(th)anne take (y)olkys of Eyroun & put (th)er-to, & a lytel mylke;
(th)en strayne it (th)orw a straynoure into a bolle; (th)en take
Sugre y-now, & put (th)er-to,  or ellys hony forde faute of Sugre,
(th)an coloure it with Safroun; (th)an take (th)in cofyns, & put in
(th)e ovens lere, & lat hem ben hardyd; (th)an take a dysshe
y-fastenyd on (th) pelys ende; & pore (th)in comade in-to (th)e
dyssche, & fro (th)e dyssche in-to (th)e cofyns; & when (th) don
a-ryse wel, take hem out, & serue hem forth."

In other words:

Doucettes [Little Sweets?] -- Take a good cupful of cream and put it
through a strainer, then take yolks of eggs and add them to it, and a
little milk, then strain it into a bowl. Then take enough sugar, and
add it, or honey in default of sugar, then color it with saffron;
then take your coffins/crusts, and put them in the oven empty, and
let them harden, then take a dish fastened to the end of your peel
[using the peel to make a really long-handled ladle, so you can fill
the coffins without removing them from the oven], and pour your
filling into the dish, and from the dish into the coffins, and when
they rise well, take them out, and serve them forth.

I figure for each tart, you'd want about 2 1/2 cups (20 ounces/~600
ml) milk and cream, mixed, depending on how rich you want it (I think
I'd just use commercial half-and-half in this case), with eight egg
yolks or four whole eggs (again, depending on how rich you want it,
with about half a cup of sugar or honey (or to taste), plus your
saffron, and I would add a pinch of gratuitous salt, myself (these
scribal errors can work both ways!)

FWIW, the McKendry adaptation of this same recipe calls for 2 cups of
cream, half a cup of milk, 3 whole eggs plus 2 yolks, and half a cup
of honey or sugar. Plus the saffron, etc.

My version is more yolky, but otherwise pretty much the same.

Adamantius (hmmm... gai dan tart from Chinatown)