[Sca-cooks] Reasons why period cakes aren't modern cakes

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

On 10/3/13 5:39 PM, lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
>> To me another significant difference is the lack of chemical leavening. There was what is now 
>> called Baker's Ammonia (Ammonium Carbonate), but that only works in fairly thin things - 
>> cookies, wafers, etc. (& it still is used in some northern European baking). There are late 
>> period cakes leavened with yeast, but they will have a VERY different texture than a modern 
>> chemically leavened cake. The things often called "cakes" in late period cookbooks are close to 
>> what we call "cookies".

David Friedman queried:
> Are you saying that Ammonium carbonate was used as a chemical leavening 
> in SCA period? I wasn't aware of it.

Maybe i am misremembering, but ISTR hartshorn used as a leavening in late period and it is ammonium carbonate.

Urtatim (that's oor-tah-TEEM!)