[Sca-cooks] Digby's Small Cakes

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach AEllin Olafs dotter:
>Ah. Any idea how much it might be?

I can't find the Spurling edition of Fettiplace, but that's where it 
would be. Can anybody else find it? I vaguely recall it was about 
three fluid ounces, but I can't say with any degree of certainty 
until I find the book.

>Master Tirloch's article is in the Florifiles, so that was the first 
>I was looking at. And he quotes Master Cariadoc's (who is the one 
>positing Spoonful = 1T.) I'm wondering about a few things, though.
>
>First, where I started. They and everyone else ignore the warming of 
>the dough. Why? Digby makes rather a point of it.

I can't answer that, except to say it seems likely the dough would 
presumably be heavier and a little greasy, rather than simply creamy 
and short, if it's warmed enough for the butter to melt.

>They both use a 350 oven. I always thought of 300-350 as moderate, 
>and 375-425 as "quick" which is what the recipe calls for.

I agree. It may simply be that 350 is a good, generic baking 
temperature, not inclined to cause cakes to burn, nor to leave them 
raw. On the other hand, cookies are sometimes baked at a higher 
temperature, and faster, than other cakes. I'd also use 400 - 425 F., 
especially since Digby seems to be making a crispy version of the 
standard "iced spice cookie".

>  At least, that's how my grandmother did her conversions, when she 
>got a modern gas range... (She'd have been 122 today... she learned 
>to bake with coal. And I have her cookbooks.)
>
>Tirloch reads
>>The Cakes should be about the bigness of a hand breadth and thin; 
>>of the cise of the Sugar Cakes sold at Barnet.
>
>as
>>"handsbreath thickness"
>
>while I read it as the width of a hand, but thinner. (And presumably 
>lumpy with currants... *G*)

Approximately 4" rounds, maybe 1/4" thick. If rolled out, maybe the 
currants would be somewhat flattened.

>Speaking of currants, I'm wondering how the butter is going in after 
>the currants... I'll see. Not melted, that's specified, but you've 
>already warmed the flour and sugar to dry it (I am skipping that 
>step, figuring airtight canisters keep it dry enough, and it is hot 
>here today... not cold, so everything is warm to begin with) so I 
>don't think it's going to cut in well as if one was making pastry, 
>as Cariadoc suggests. I'd cream it, but there are these currants...

Work it in with your hands. If you feel a lump, squish it a little, 
and if you determine it is a currant go on to the next lump. If not, 
obliterate it. Continue until you achieve a two-phase, heterogeneous 
mass of smooth dough variegated with currants.

>I am indebted to Tirloch for the idea that 1 nutmeg would give 2 T 
>of grated spice. I had no idea, and that sounds plausible... I have 
>one of those neat jars with a built in grater, so it will be fresh 
>ground, but I can't tell how much is one nutmeg.

Um. Am I being over-simplistic, if I recommended emptying your 
grinder, putting in a whole nutmeg, and grinding it until it's all 
gone? Unless, of course, you're cutting down the recipe by a third, 
in which case you can grind onto a piece of foil or paper, then use a 
knife to "cut off" the appropriate amount. It was all the rage in the 
80's...

>I think I'm going to get rather different results. I don't know yet 
>if they'll be *good* results... but different...

Well, Digby probably thought they were good.

Adamantius