[Sca-cooks] back to food by request
Johnna Holloway
johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu
Fri Jun 2 04:52:09 PDT 2006
There's a copy of my yeasted Great Cake recipe at
http://home.comcast.net/~iasmin/mkcc/MKCCfiles/AlasdairGuinevreLunch.html
<http://home.comcast.net/%7Eiasmin/mkcc/MKCCfiles/AlasdairGuinevreLunch.html>
I adapted it for a Jacobean dessert banquet for the Ladies of the Rose
event in June 2002.
My notes say: " This is one of four recipes for ale barm or yeast
leavened cakes found
in 'A Booke of Sweetmeats', which is the second manuscripts of the two
Tudor-Jacobean
manuscripts that make up Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery.
Sir Kenelme Digbie or Digby in his The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby,
Opened had a similar recipe for "An Excellent Cake" in his collection.
Other cakes of the same type include Gervase Markham's Banbury Cake and
one entitled
"To Make a Good Cake" from The Gentlewoman's Cabinet Unlocked
of the 1590’s. Rebecca Price in her culinary manuscript included recipes
for "rich" and "not rich" cakes, "good" and "very good" cakes, and
lastly a recipe for "A very good, and a Rich Cake, often made by me."
Elizabeth David would remark that over the centuries every village and
town in the British Isles would develop its own
specialty yeast bread or cake. The recipes mentioned here form the
background of those cakes or breads."
It contains flour, eggs, spices, ale barm (made from 1 bottle of Sam
Adams' Summer Ale) and 1 tablespoon yeast, 1 cup butter, currants,
sugar, salt.
You could substitute some of the currants for almonds or use this recipe
as a guide to create an almond yeasted cake from the other cake recipes
that show up in
the 17th century.
<>Hope this helps.
Johnnae
Martha Oser wrote:
>All righty, here's a question I've been wanting to ask...
>I'm looking for a period cake recipe that includes almonds, honey, flour,
>butter and eggs. The modern recipe that's inspiring me also has sour cream
>in it (period?) and baking soda (not period, right?).
>Anyone have anything that will fit the bill?
>Many thanks,
>
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