A far morselletti Romaneschi - To make Roman style morsels

For more information on the role of biscotti in the 16th Century please visit the following: 

Little Morsels or Biscotti from the 16th Century Italy by Lady Helewyse de Birkestad who was the inspiration for my attempt to translate the "Roman Style" Morsels below.

A far morselletti Romaneschi

Ogni tre uova sbattute vogliono una libra di zuccharo di Madera pisto, & un’oncia di cannella fina pista & bene spolverizzata, con un grano di muschio, & far la casa nella farina, mettendovi ogni cosa dentro mescolandosi molto bene con mano farina che si può, facendosi in forma di morselletti, & deono cuocersi al modo delli biscotti, & ravioli con fuoco adagio. Si cuocerebbon meglio quando sfornato il pane si mettesser nel forno, quando saran cotti crepperanno.

To make Roman style morsels

For every three eggs beaten together you want a pound of Madiera sugar ground, and one ounce of finely ground cinnamon powder, with a grain of musk, and make a hole in the flour and put into it every thing, mixing everything very well with floured hands, make them in the form and morsels and put them to cook in the same way as biscotti and ravioli with a slow fire. They cook the best when one has just pulled out the bread from the oven and you put them then in the oven, they are cooked when they burst and crack.

Interpreted Recipe

3 eggs
2 ¾ cup flour
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon or anise seed


Mix all ingredients together and bake 350 degrees until lightly browned.  

These are delicious.  An excellent sweet that gets more flavorful as it sits.  

The Singular Doctrine of ... D. Romoli known as Panonto; in which it is the Scalco office; of the seasoning of every dish, ... of making banquets of all times in princes ..., in the end a short treatise on the health system (reduced by the substance of medicine by R. Gropetio, etc.) ... Again ... reprinted & reprinted, etc By Domenico Romoli 1610

To make a Peasecod Dish, in a Puff Paste, Two Ways, The Accomplisht Cook, Robert May

To Make a Peasecod Dish in Puff Paste, Two Ways

Take a pound of almonds, and a quarter of a pound of sugar, beat the almonds finely to a paste with some rose-water, then beat the sugar amongst them, mingle some sweet butter with it, and make this stuff up in puff paste like peasecods, bake them upon papers, and being baked, ice it with rose-water, butter, and fine sugar.

In this fashion you may make peasecod stuff of preserved quinces, pippins, pears, or preserved plums in puff paste.

For the Almond Filling

1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. rosewater
1/4 cup butter

Mix together all the ingredients , cover and set aside until needed. When ready to cook, place filling into puff paste, shape like a peas cod and bake until browned.

For the Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp. rosewater (or to taste)
1 tbsp. butter
Water

Mix together butter and sugar, add rosewater. Add additional water until you get the desired consistency. Drizzle over peascods or serve on the side.

For the fruit filling:

To make a slic’t Tart of Quinces, Wardens, Pears, Pippins, in slices raw of divers Compounds.The foresaid fruits being finely pared, and slic’t in very thine slices; season them with beaten cinamon, and candied citron minced, candied orange, or both, or raw orange peel, raw lemon peel, fennil-seed, or caraway-seed or without any of these compounds or spices, but the fruits alone one amongst the other; put to ten pippins six quinces, six wardens, eight pears, and two pound of sugar; close it up, bake it; and ice it as the former tarts.

Thus you may also bake it in patty-pan, or dish, with cold butter paste.

For the Fruit Filling

4 apples
3 quinces
3 cooking pears (wardens)
4 pears
2 cups of sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
Opt. Candied citron or orange peel

Peel, core and slice your fruit thinly, mix it with the sugar and spices (note you may want to add a tablespoonful of flour to the mixture to thicken it as it cooks). Arrange the fruit in the pastry and close it. Bake at 375 degrees until fruit is tender and crust is browned. Let cool before serving.

Puff Paste, the Third Way

Break two eggs into three pints of flour, make it with cold water and roul it out pretty thick and square, then take so much butter as paste, lay it in ranks, and divide your butter in five pieces, that you may lay it on at five several times, roul your paste very broad, and stick one part of the butter in little pieces all over your paste, then throw a handful of flour slightly on, fold up your paste and beat it with a rowling-pin, so roul it out again, thus do five times, and make it up.

Puff Paste

6 cups flour
2 eggs
1 pound of butter, frozen
1 tsp.
Ice Water

Put your flour and salt into a bowl, and add eggs, add water until it becomes a dough. Roll your pastry dough out till it is about ¼” thick.

Grate 1 stick of butter and strew it over your dough. Fold the dough into thirds and roll it out again. You will need to work quickly so the dough does not get too warm. Continue to do this until all of the butter has been incorporated into the dough. Being sure to fold it and roll it up at least five times. Refrigerate overnight.

To Make a Made Dish of Curds, The Accomplisht Cook, Robert May

To Make a Made Dish of Curds

Take some tender curds, wring the whey from them very well, then put to them two raw eggs, currans, sweet butter, rose-water, cinamon, sugar, and mingle all together, then make a fine paste with flour, yolks of egs, rose-water, & other water, sugar, saffron, and butter, wrought up cold, bake it either in this paste or in puff-paste, being baked ice it with rose-water, sugar, and butter.

Interpreted Recipe

1 cup cream
1 ½ cups cottage cheese or fresh made cheese
2 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp. rosewater
1 tbsp. lemon juice
¼ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
2 tbsp. currants

Beat eggs, sugar, rosewater, lemon juice, spices, salt and cream together in a bowl. Add cheese and currants and pour into your puff pastry shell. Bake 350 degrees until cooked through, and serve.

Baronial 12th Night - Fig, Walnut and Candied Ginger Fruit Paste

Fig, Walnut and Candied Ginger (a rift of Rapeye--I claim cooks perogative)

Updated 6/15/2022 to include two steps I forgot!

I took several liberties with this recipe in order to accommodate allergies. First, the fruit was not cooked in wine, secondly I did not use pine nuts, apples were substituted for currants in order to get pectin and make the paste set up, and lastly, I added candied ginger in place of the other spices. It is in fact almost a completely different recipe then the original, but the method is the same.

Ingredients  (Serves 24)

4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tbsp. lemon juice
3 cups sugar
1 1/2-2 cups finely chopped dried figs
2-3 tbsp. candied ginger sliced into small slivers
1 cup toasted walnuts

OPT: Cinnamon Stick

Directions

1. Place cored apples and figs into a pot and add water. Bring to a boil and cook until the fruit is very tender and starting to fall apart. 

2.  Place your fruit into a food processor and process until it forms a very smooth puree. Do not strain your fruit. 

3. Return fruit puree to the pan and add lemon juice, optional cinnamon and sugar and heat on low until the sugar has melted. 

4. Once sugar has melted into the fruit puree, increase heat to medium, and stir constantly until mixture becomes extremely fragrant, darker and thickens enough that a spoon pulled through the fruit leaves a furrow behind. 

5.  Remove from heat and add candied ginger and toasted walnuts. Stir until thoroughly mixed. 

6. Pour your paste into a lightly oiled mold, or onto a lightly oiled parchment lined cookie sheet and leave in a warm oven overnight. Alternatively, you could pour your paste into a cupcake or muffin pan. 

7. Unmold before serving. 

 

Fig. Walnut and Candied Ginger Fruit Paste in the pan 

Baronial 12th Night - Coriander Flavored Marzipan -A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1621

Coriander Flavored Marzipan -A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen, 1621

To Make Callishones - Take halfe a pound of Marchpane paste, a thimble-full of coriander seeds beaten to a powder, with a graine of Muske, beat all to a perfect paste, print it and drie it.

Recipe

10 ounces almond paste

1 1/2 tsp. ground coriander

up to 1/2 cup confectioner sugar

1 tsp. rosewater

This works best if the almond paste is cold, so I put mine in the refrigerator overnight. I grated it into a bowl and added 1/2 tsp. ground coriander to the grated paste. I then added the remainder of the coriander to the sugar, and put a small handful of it onto a piece of wax paper. I took 1/3 of my almond paste and pressed it on both sides into the sugar/coriander mixture. I rolled it out to approximately 1/4" thick and cut it out with cookie cutters. I got about 80 pieces of candy from this.

To finish, I mixed gold luster dust with ground coriander and painted the edges of the callishones with rosewater before running the edges through the coriander/luster dust mix, before setting it out to dry.

To make the almond paste I used a mix of equal parts almond flour to confectioner sugar and then add 1-2 tsp. almond extract, a tsp. of orange flower or rose-water plus an egg white. I know, I should be worried about salmonella, but these were super fresh eggs purchased at the market that morning.

Baronial 12th Night - Marchpane A Book of Cookrye, 1591

Marchpane, Gingerbread, Coriander Flavored Marzipan (Callishones) decorated

with White Coriander Comfits

How to make a good Marchpane. - First take a pound of long smal almonds and blanch them in cold water, and dry them as drye as you can, then grinde them small, and put no licour to them but as you must needs to keepe them from oyling, and that licour that you put in must be rosewater, in manner as you shall think good, but wet your Pestel therin, when ye have beaten them fine, take halfe a pound of Sugar and more, and see that it be beaten small in pouder, it must be fine sugar, then put it to your Almonds and beate them altogither, when they be beaten, take your wafers and cut them compasse round, and of the bignes you will have your Marchpaine, and then as soone as you can after the tempering of your stuffe, let it be put in your paste, and strike it abroad with a flat stick as even as you can, and pinch the very stuffe as it were an edge set upon, and then put a paper under it, and set it upon a faire boord, and lay lattin Basin over it the bottome upwarde, and then lay burning coles upon the bottom of the basin. To see how it baketh, if it happen to bren too fast in some place, folde papers as broad as the place is & lay it upon that place, and thus with attending ye shal bake it a little more then a quarter of an houre, and when it is wel baked, put on your gold and biskets, and stick in Comfits, and so you shall make a good Marchpaine. Or ever that you bake it you must cast on it fine Sugar and Rosewater that will make it look like Ice.

How to make a good Marchpane. - First take a pound of long small almonds and blanch them in cold water, and dry them as dry as you can, then grind them small, and put no liquor to them but as you must needs to keep them from getting oily, and that liquor that you put in must be rosewater, in manner as you shall think good, but wet your pestle therein. When ye have beaten them fine, take half a pound of sugar and more, and see that it be beaten small in powder, it must be fine sugar. Then put it to your Almonds and beat them all together, when they be beaten, take your wafers and cut them round with a compass, the size of your marchpane. As soon as you can after the tempering of your (marchpane) stuff, let it be put in your paste, and strike it abroad with a flat stick as even as you can, and pinch the very stuff as it were an edge set upon, and then put a paper under it, and set it upon a fair board, and lay lattin Basin over it the bottom upwards. Lay burning coals over the basin. To see how it bakes, if it happen to brown too fast in some places, fold papers as broad as the place is & lay it upon that place. And thus with attending you shall bake it a little more than a quarter of an hour, and when it is well baked, put on your gold and biskets, and stick in comfits, and so you shall make a good marchpane. Or ever that you bake it you must cast on it fine sugar and rosewater that will make it look like Ice.

Marchpane

2cups almond flour
1cup confectioners' sugar
1 - 2 tbsp. Rosewater or water, or juice of choice

To Make the Icine

Confectioner sugar
Rose water

I made the Marchpanes over three separate days, and each day, the amount of liquid needed to make the dough varied between 1 and 2 tbsp. To begin, you will want to sift the almond flour and the sugar together, and then you add enough liquid that a stiff dough is formed. I used a spring form tart pan to press the dough into. I then removed the dough from the bottom pan and placed it onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Place the dough into the oven set to your lowest setting. The goal is to dry and bake the dough but not brown it (as you can see I had some difficulty on a few of these keeping them from browning...they were delicious despite being brown). This took about 15 minutes in my oven. I chose not to decorate the marchpanes, but the time to add decorations is when they come out of the oven and before you ice them.

To make the icing, add rosewater to confectioner sugar and pour over your marchpane. Allow icing to dry before serving. Note--these store well.

12th Night Feast - Gyngerbrede Harl. MS 279, 1430 - Gingerbread

Marchpane, Gingerbread, Coriander Flavored Marzipan (Callishones) decorated
with White Coriander Comfits

iiij - Gyngerbrede. Take a quart of hony, and sethe it, and skeme it clene; take Safroun, pouder Pepir, and throw ther-on; take gratyd Brede, and make it so chargeaunt (Note: stiff) that it wol be y-lechyd; then take pouder Canelle, and straw ther-on y-now; then make yt square, lyke as thou wolt leche yt; take when thou lechyst hyt, an caste Box leves a-bouyn, y-stykyd ther-on, on clowys. And 3if thou wolt haue it Red, coloure it with Saunderys y-now.

4. Gingerbread - Take a quart of honey and cook it, and skim it clean; take saffron, powder pepper and throw there-on; take grated bread, and make it so stiff that it will be sliced; then take powder cinnamon, and strew there-on enough; then make it square, like as you will slice it; take when you slice it, and cast box-leaves above, stick there-on cloves. And if you will have it red, color it with saunders enough.

Gingerbread

1 pound honey (I use raw honey)
1 pound bread crumbs
2 tsp. pepper ** see below
1 tbsp. cinnamon
Opt. 1 tbsp. ginger, 1 tsp. grains of paradise, ½ tsp. white pepper

Bring honey to boil and skim off the scum that rises.\, once the honey is cleaned remove from heat. Add spices to bread crumbs and mix well (you don't want clumps of spice), mix honey and spiced bread crumbs together, shape, and allow to cool. Once mixture is cool it can be sliced. I prefer to shape the gingerbread into bite sized balls.

**I like to use this mix for pepper which is my version of powder forte)

1 tbsp. mixed peppers (black, long pepper, grains of paradise and cubebs)
1/2 tsp. each nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger
1/4 tsp. clove

Baronial 12th Night - To make white leach of creame - A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen (1602) and Jellied Ypocras

To make white leach of creame - A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen (1602) - To make white leach of creame. TAke a pint of sweete creame, and sixe spoone-fuls of Rose water, and two graines of Muske, two drops of oyle of Mace, or one piece of large Mace, and so let it boyle with foure ounces of Isin-glasse: then let it run downe through a gelly bagge, when it is cold, slice it like brawne, and so serue it out: this is the best way to make leach.

A White Leach

1 pint half and half
3/8 of a cup rosewater
1 drop musk flavoring
2 tsp. ground mace
2 packages unflavored gelatine

Bloom the gelatine in the rosewater. Put half and half and mace into a pan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for approximately five minutes, stirring constantly so that half and half does not burn. Add gelatin and stir until it is fully dissolved. Strain mixture into your mold or on a cookie sheet and place in refridgerator to cool for several hours.

To serve, cut into small squares or unmold.


Jellied Ypocras

I cannot take credit for the Jellied Ypocras. The recipe was came from Eulalia Hath A Blogge; Eulalia Piebakere's SCA projects and adventures in medieval reenactment.

Here is my recipe based on her interpretation:

Jellied Ypocras

3 cups red wine (I used Welch's Sangria flavored juice instead)
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
5 cloves
5 peppercorns
1 large piece of mace
½ nutmeg
½ stick of cinnamon
4 packets unflavored gelatine

Pour the wine into a pot and add sugar and spices, bring to a boil. Bloom the gelatine in the water. Boil the wine and sugar for five minutes. Strain the wine into a bowl and add the gelatine until completely dissolved. Place and fridge and leave until the jelly has set completely.

To serve, cut into small squares or diamonds and pile lightly onto a serving dish.

Trayne Roste-Harleian MS 4016 ~1450 - Mock Entrails

Trayne Roste-Harleian MS 4016 ~1450

Trayne roste. [supplied by ed.] *. [Douce MS.] ¶ Take Dates and figges, and kutte hem in a peny brede; And þen̄ take grete reysons and blanched almondes, and prik hem thorgh with a nedel into a threde of a mannys lengtℏ, and one of one frute and a-noþer of a-noþer frute; and þen̄ bynde the threde with the frute A-bought a rownde spete, endelonge þe spete, in maner of an hasselet; And then̄ take a quarte of wyne or Ale, and fyne floure,*. [D. MS.; sugur, Harl. ] And make batur thereof, and cast thereto pouder ginger, sugur, & saffron̄,*. [Douce MS. ] pouder of Clowes, salt; And make þe batur not fully rennyng, and noþer stonding, but in þe mene, that hit may cleue, and than rost the*. ["than rost the": D. MS.; that rost, Harl. ] treyne abougℏt the fire in þe spete; And þen̄ cast the batur on̄ the treyne as he turnetℏ abought [supplied by ed.] the fire, so longe til þe frute be hidde in the batur; as þou castest þe batur there-on, hold a vesseƚƚ vndere-nethe, for*. [against, to stop. ] spilling of þe batur/ And whan hit is y-rosted weƚƚ, hit wol seme a hasselet; And then̄ take hit vppe fro þe spit al hole, And kut hit in faire peces of a Span̄ lengtℏ, And serue [supplied by ed.] *. [Douce MS. ] of hit a pece or two in a dissℏ al hote.


Trayne Roste [Supplied by ed.]( [Douce MS.] Take dates and figs, and cut them in a penny bread; and then take great raisins and blaunched almonds, and prick them through with a needle into a thread of a man's length, and one of fruit and a nother of another fruit; and then bind the thread with the fruit about a round spit, along the spit, in manner of an hasselet; and then take a quarte of wine or ale, and fine flour, and make batter thereof, and caste thereto powder ginger, sugar and saffron, powder of cloves, salt; and make the batter not fully running and not standing, but in the mean (middle) that it may cleve, and then rost the treyne abought the fire in the spit; and then cast the batter on the treyne as he turns about the fire, so long till the fruit be hidden in the batter; as you cast the batter thereon hold a vessel underneath for spilling of the batter, and when it is roasted well, hit will seem a hasselet; and then take it up from the spit al whole, and cut it in fair pieces of a span length, and serve of it a piece or two in a dish all hot.


Trayne Roste

4 pieces heavy string 18" long
1/4 cup sliced almonds, soaked in warm water
18 dried figs, halved
6 oz dates, halved
1/2 cup raisins
4 ounces apricots cut in halves
4 ounces of prunes cut in halves
1 1/2 cups oil
7 oz beer (I used seltzer water)
1 1/3 cups flour
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 ground ginger
dash of salt

Using a sharp needle, thread the dried fruits and nuts onto the strings. Alternate the fruits and nuts to achieve an uneven appearance. Set aside. Beat together beer, flour, salt and spices. Dip the strings of fruit and nuts in the batter to coat. Fry in oil over high heat one at a time. Fry until golden and drain.~ Renfrow, Cindy; Take a Thousand Eggs or More