[Sca-cooks] Canisiones/Calisones

[Lilinah]

I'm going to bake Canisione/Calisone tonight.

I'm basically using the recipe from Platina:

Book 8: Which They Call Canisiones
When you have rolled out your pastry made of meal with sugar and 
rosewater and formed it like a crust, put into it the same mixture as 
the one I said in the section on marzapan; this time, it should be 
formed like rolls and cooked in the oven as I said before, with a 
gentle flame.

Mazapan recipe
Take almonds that have soaked in fresh water for a day and night and 
when you have cleaned them as carefully as can be, grind them up, 
sprinkling them with fresh water so that they do not make oil. And if 
you want the best, add as much finest sugar as almonds. When all this 
has been well ground and dissolved in rosewater...

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I'm also taking into consideration the recipe in the Neapolitan cookbook:

Good Calisones
Make a filling as is described for the Marzipan Torte, copied among 
Lenten Dishes; make up a dough with sugar and rosewater and spread it 
out as if you intended to make ravioli, and so wrap the mixture in 
this dough, making the Calisoni as large or small as you want.

Marzipan Torte:
Get almonds, soak them a night, skin them so they are quite white, 
grind them thoroughly and add to them the same amount of sugar; to 
make this Torte better, use a pound of the one - that is, of almonds 
- and a pound of fine sugar, either more or less depending on the 
amount you want to make, and add to them an ounce of rosewater; mix 
it all together...

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I'm not making them like the Neapolitan ravioli, but as Platina 
directs, laying the pastry flat, spreading it with almond paste and 
rolling it up. Then it is baked and finally sliced.

However, i'm not much of a baker, so i'm trying to decide what to put 
into the dough.

Platina sez:
"[make] pastry... of meal with sugar and rosewater..." But from what 
i've read of other's attempts, this is too dry and crumbles after 
baking. I think the dough needs to contain some fat so it will not be 
so hard and dry.

The Neapolitan sez:
"...make up a dough with sugar and rosewater..." This is vague enough 
to leave room to add other ingredients. Since this is for making 
"ravioli" might it also contain eggs?

Messisbugo, later in the century, and for a fruit pie, sez:
"First you will make the shell of the pie not too large, with flour 
and butter and a small amount of saffron..."

So i'm throwing myself on the collective wisdom of this list, for 
recommendations on making a dough with sugar and rosewater that will 
be lined with almond paste, rolled up, baked, and sliced - and, i 
hope, not crumble into bits and keep from Thursday night until 
Saturday night...

Again, since i get the Digest, if anyone responds, please also send 
e-mail to me directly:
lilinah (at) earthlink (dot) net

Thanks,
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita