[Sca-cooks] Sugar Plate

[Elise Fleming]

Ld. Nichola wrote:
>Finally I need a recipe for Sugar Plate.
 
If you haven't worked with sugar plate (sugar paste, gum paste) before, why
not practice by using the modern version which is gum paste?  You can get
the materials for gum paste at any cake decorating supply store.  You can
even buy it pre-made and ready to work, although some folk don't like that
form as well as adding water to a mix, or combining several things
(powdered sugar, gum, glucose) together.

Now, I am assuming that you mean the white, moldable stuff that's like
play-dough.  The early "sugar plate" was a boiled-sugar syrup poured out to
form plates (Forme of Curye).  Stefan's Florilegium should have a number of
articles (and at least one recipe??) for period sugar plate/sugar paste. 
If you want to play with the period stuff, you need to get some gum
tragacanth.  Get the powdered stuff.  It's quite expensive, although you'd
probably only get a few ounces rather than a pound ($30+).  The modern gum
paste is more forgiving and easier to work with than the period version.

Alys Katharine