[Sca-cooks] cakes

[Terry Decker]

A two penny loaf is a loaf that can be purchased for two pence.  Under the 
Assize of Bread, the weight of the loaf varied by the market price of the 
grain and the quality of the flour.  For example, in 1329 a two penny loaf 
of white bread would have been 7 pounds 10 ounces a voirdupois.  It would 
have been somewhat less in the latter half of the 17th Century when Evelyn 
was cooking.

Puddings can be boiled, steamed or baked.  Most of the ones I've encountered 
that are close to Elizabethean call for a pudding cloth and boiling.  This 
recipe, however, is over fifty years later and consideration must be given 
to how much the French culinary traditions influenced Evelyn.

Bear

> I too, would be interested in seeing your redaction, although I think I've 
> figured most of it out, with the exception of just how big, and of what, 
> is a 'two-penny' loaf. (Take a topeny#loafe...). I've also got no idea how 
> long to bake it, but I imagine there are similar modern recipes. I thought 
> puddings were usually boiled, though.
>
> Stefan