what's Divinity? Margaret/Emma > Jennifer Carlson wrote: > > > Stefan asked:> What is this "divinity-like candy from Nostradamus"? Is > it actually a > period recipe? > > This is seriously good stuff: > > > How to Make a Confection From Pine-nut Kernels > Take as many well-cleaned and carefully shelled pine-nut kernels as you > will, dry them or toast them a little. Or take them whole with their > skins and shells and put them in a basket. Hang this over the hearth > near the fire and leave it there for three days. Thus the heat from the > fire will slowly penetrate them and dry them. Then take them out and > lean them thoroughly. Next take two and a half pounds of nuts, being > careful to keep them close at hand. Then take some of the most > beautiful and best Madeira sugar, dissolve sufficient of it in > rose-water and boil it until it attains the consistency of a jelly. If > it is winter or a time when there is a lot of moisture in the air, boil > it a bit longer, but if it is summer, then let it just simmer. This is > when it does not boil over or bubble when it boils, which is a sign that > the moisture had been evaporated; but to be brief, when it has boiled to > the consistency of a jelly, as I have said, take the preserving pan off > the fire and put it somewhere where the liquid can dry off and become > firm. Then give it a good stir with a piece of wood and beat it > continuously until it turns white. When it begins to cool down a > little, add the white of a whole or half an egg and beat well again. > Next place it over the coals, in order to allow the moisture form the > egg-white to stiffen, and when you see that it is properly white and > like the first lot you boiled, take the dried, well-cleaned pine-nut > kernels and put them into the sugar. Stir them with the wood so that > they are thoroughly mixed with the sugar – this should still be done > over the coal fire, so that the mixture does not cool too quickly. Then > take a wide wooden knife, like the ones used by shoemakers, and cut the > mixture into pieces, each weighing about an ounce and a half, but not > more than two, which would not be good, and spread them carefully on to > some paper until they have properly cooled, at which stage put a little > gold leaf on to them and your confection is ready. If, however, it is > not possible to obtain pine-nut kernels anywhere, use peeled almonds > instead, dividing them either into two parts or three and mixing them > with the sugar to make this confection. And if there are too few > pine-nut kernels, you can replace them with pieces of almonds, for the > latter are not dissimilar to the former in taste and potency. You can > also use fennel which is flowering or in seed, which is kept in houses > and used during the wine harvest. When your sugar has almost completely > boiled and is hot and white with everything mixed in it or scattered > over it, it looks like manna or snow and is so beautiful and lovely. > > Source: The Elixirs of Nostradamus: Nostradamus’ Original Recipes for > Elixirs, Scented Water, Beauty Potions and Sweetmeats. Knut Boeser, > editor. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., 1994 > > > You can see that this recipe differs from modern divinity in that you > introduce the egg whites into the beaten syrup rather than the other way > around. My results with this method have been a white, smooth, pourable > paste that sets up but does not stiffen – you cannot make balls of it > off a teaspoon as you do with divinity. Since Nostradamus's > instructions are to cut it into pieces rather than making it into balls > or little cakes, it likely did not stiffen enough to do so. > > > To make it, I use a basic divinity recipe, substituting one tablespoon > of rosewater for every teaspoon of vanilla, and pine nuts or almonds for > the usual pecans. The confection tastes much the same as divinity - > allowing for the difference in flavorings, of course. > > There are three ways of making it: > > 1. Use marshamallow crème (aka marshmallow fluff) to make divinity, with > the substitutions listed above. You can get a recipe on the Kraft foods > website. > > 2. Use your favorite divinity recipe, with the substitutions listed > above. > > 3. To make it in something closer to the original fashion, start with a > basic divinity recipe. Beat the egg whites with a fork to break up them > up and set aside before making the syrup. Once you hit the firm ball > stage, set the syrup aside to cool for ten minutes, then beat until it > fills with enough bubbles that you can no longer see the bottom of the > pan. Stir a spoonful or two of hot syrup into the whites and beat > briefly to temper them before adding them to the syrup. This step is > imperative: otherwise, you get egg drop syrup. > > Continue to beat until the mixture begins to swell a bit and just begins > to lose some of its gloss (about 5-10 minutes). Pour it out onto a > Silpat or sheet of wax paper into a rectangle roughly 9 by 13 inches. > After it cools, cut it with the edge of a wooden spatula. You can roll > the cut edges in powdered sugar if they’re still sticky. > > > In servicio, > > > Talana > > > _________________________________________________________________ > It’s the same Hotmail®. If by “same” you mean up to 70% faster. > http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_hotmail_acq_broad > 1_122008 > _______________________________________________ > Sca-cooks mailing list > Sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org > http://lists.ansteorra.org/listinfo.cgi/sca-cooks-ansteorra.org