[Sca-cooks] SCA 50th Anniversary Challenge

[Stefan li Rous]

Adamantius suggested:

<<< How about 50 sweets from several groups and cultures combined? Let's
see... we got:

Anise Confits
Caraway confits
Ginger confits
Cinnamon Confits
Almond Dragees (basically almond confits)
Hazelnut Dragees >>>

I don't think you should get to count these six as six different  
items out of the fifty. These are really all variations on the same  
item. The procedure doesn't differ that much between them. The whole  
idea is to learn some new things.

<<< Payn Ragoun (honey and pignole "fudge")
Penydes (pulled sugar hard candies)>>>

We've discussed pulled sugar here before, but I thought the  
discussion had been inconclusive on whether pulled sugar was done in  
period. Are you basing this on a period recipe?

<<< Marzipan
Festicade (I think that's what it's called, basically pistachio
marzipan)
Sweet wafers (I like Markham's recipe with sugar, rosewater, eggs and
cream)
Quince paste
Apricot paste
Cherry paste >>>

Again, the fruit pastes aren't that different from each other.

<<< Candied roses
Candied violets
Candied orange peel
Candied lemon peel >>>

These are all pretty similar, although I guess there is a bit more  
difference between the candied flowers and the candied peels.

<<<White bisket bread (see Fettiplace; basically anise meringues)
Bizcochos (several types; do some or all)
Carrot "fudge" (Brighid could presumably help with this one) >>>

Carrot "fudge"?

<<< That's 21 or more right there off the top of my head, >>>

I think anyone on this list should be capable of coming up with 50  
more disparate items that will stretch their abilities more.

As far as sweets and pastries go, here are a few others from the  
Florilegium:

14C-Sweets-art    (17K)  9/14/00    "Sweets and Treats of the 14C"
                                        by Lady Hauviette d'Anjou.
3-Span-Sweets-art (13K)  4/26/01    Three Spanish sweet dishes from  
de Nola by
                                        Vicente.
Bakng-w-Sugar-art (76K) 10/21/06    "Baking with Sugar in Renaissance  
Germany"
                                        by Lord Giano Balestriere.
bread-pudding-msg (10K) 12/11/06    Period bread pudding.
Digby-Cakes-msg   (18K)  3/ 7/08    Making cakes using Sir Digby's  
'Excellent
                                        Small Cakes' recipe.
Cft-Banquets-art  (46K)  6/ 2/07    "Confections and the Banquet" by  
Alys
                                        Katharine, O.L., O.P.
   (I think there may be close to 50 items listed in this article alone)
gingerbread-msg   (48K)  6/15/04    Medieval gingerbread. Recipes.
Great-Cake-art     (8K)  6/ 1/08    "A Great Cake from the Rose  
Tourney" by
                                        Johnnae llyn Lewis.
hais-msg            (18K)  1/11/06    A medieval, Middle East sweet  
made of dates,
                                        bread crumbs, ground nuts,  
and sugar.
lebkuchen-msg     (42K) 11/17/07    Period lebkuchen cookies. Recipes.
mamouls-msg       (20K)  1/ 9/02    A Middle Eastern date/nut/dried  
fruit filled
                                        cookie embossed with patterns.
marshmallows-msg  (20K)  3/ 8/07    The original marshmallow treats,  
made from
                                        the Marsh Mallow plant.
Manus-Christi-art (18K) 12/ 7/05    "References for the Manus Christi
                                        confection" by Johnnae llyn  
Lewis.
pastries-msg     (200K)  5/ 4/08    Medieval pastries. Recipes.
pastry-logs-msg   (30K) 11/19/05    'jelly-roll' pastries made of a  
flat dough
                                        spread with filling and then  
rolled up.
Shortbread-art     (6K)  6/ 1/08    "Shortbread" by Johnnae llyn  
Lewis, CE.
Rosquillas-msg    (15K)  6/20/01    Spanish pastry of biscotti-like  
rings.
suckets-msg        (7K)  4/ 1/02    Spices, fruit or fruit peel in a  
sugar syrup

How about 50 different warners or sotelties? Lots of variety there  
and lots of different skills to use.
Warners-art       (32K)  6/29/98    An article on disguised food.
                                        by Alizaunde, Demoiselle de  
Bregeuf.
   (there may be close to 50 different suggestions in this file, alone)

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****