🌸 Suger Plate - Medieval Sugar Candy with Flowers

Originally published 5/10/2015 - Updated 5/27/2026

Sugar plate looks simple at first glance: sugar, rosewater, a little water, and flowers. In practice, it is a small master class in medieval sugarwork. It asks the cook to understand heat, texture, timing, humidity, and the mysterious moment when syrup becomes candy.

When I first made this recipe, I worked from the version in Pleyn Delit. I originally associated it with Harleian MS. 279, but while revisiting the recipe for this update I traced the attribution more carefully. In the second edition of Pleyn Delit, the recipe is identified as GK13, which points to Goud Kokery, recipe 13, preserved in Harleian MS. 2378 and printed in Curye on Inglysch.

That discovery changed the way I read the recipe. The original Middle English text does not describe a modern hard candy in thermometer language. Instead, it tells the cook to test the sugar between the fingers, remove it from the fire, stir it, work it, and make the “plate.” That suggests a softer, worked confection may be closer to the historical method, though the hard-crack version is still beautiful for feast display.

Violet petals preserved in sugar plate. The clearer amber candy was cooked to hard crack; the paler version was cooked lower and beaten.

What Is Sugar Plate?

Sugar plate is a medieval confection made by cooking clarified sugar, flavoring it, and forming it into a sheet or slab. The word “plate” here does not mean a dinner plate. It means a flat piece, layer, or formed sheet of sugar.

This is different from sugar paste. Sugar paste is usually a kneadable mixture used for molded or sculpted sugarwork, often involving a binder such as gum tragacanth. Sugar plate, by contrast, begins as cooked sugar and is poured or worked into a flat confection.

In a medieval feast setting, sugar plate belonged to the same elegant world as comfits, preserved fruits, marchpane, wafers, and subtlety work. It was sweet, scented, decorative, and expensive enough to make a statement. A small dish of rose-scented sugar with flowers would have been both dessert and table ornament.

The Source Trail: From Pleyn Delit Back to Goud Kokery

This recipe began for me with Pleyn Delit, but the revised edition gives the source as GK13. That abbreviation refers to Goud Kokery, one of the Middle English recipe collections included in Curye on Inglysch. The printed source identifies the recipe as Suger plate, from Harleian MS. 2378.

Finding the original mattered because it changed how I interpreted the cooking process. The modern recipe gives a practical adaptation, but the Middle English instructions are more revealing about texture and technique.

Original source: Suger plate, GK13, from Goud Kokery in Curye on Inglysch, Harleian MS. 2378.

Modern interpretation: The Pleyn Delit version used for my original kitchen testing.

You can explore the digitized source here: Curye on Inglysch, page 152, “Suger Plate” .

What the Original Recipe Tells Us

The original recipe gives several clues that are important for a modern cook:

• It begins with clarified sugar.
• The sugar is tested between the fingers, not with a thermometer.
• The cook is told to avoid letting it become too stiff.
• The sugar is removed from the fire and stirred.
• Rosewater is added after cooking.
• The sugar is worked or formed into a “plate.”

This makes me think the historical preparation was probably not a clear, glassy hard-crack candy in the modern lollipop sense. It seems more likely to have been a worked sugar confection, cooked to a stage where it could still be stirred, handled, flavored, and formed.

That does not make the hard-crack version wrong as a modern feast interpretation. It is beautiful, dramatic, and useful for display. But if I were choosing the version that feels closest to the manuscript process, I would choose the softer worked sugar plate.

Medieval Sugar Stages for Modern Cooks

Modern candy recipes usually give temperatures. Medieval recipes usually do not. Instead, cooks judged sugar by appearance, texture, behavior, and touch. That is why older confectionery language includes terms such as thread, pearl, feather, ball, and crack.

The exact temperatures below are modern approximations. They are useful for home cooks, but historical cooks would have relied on experience and physical tests.

Stage	Approx. Temp.	What It Does	Modern Use
Thread	223–235°F	Forms thin threads from spoon or fingers	Syrups, preserves
Pearl / Blow	230–240°F	Thick syrup, bubbles, stronger strands	Candied fruits, soft sugarwork
Soft Ball	235–240°F	Forms a soft ball in cold water	Fondant, fudge-like candies
Firm Ball	245–250°F	Forms a firmer but pliable ball	Caramels, chewy candies
Hard Ball	250–265°F	Holds shape but remains chewy	Nougat, divinity-style candies
Soft Crack	270–290°F	Forms flexible brittle threads	Taffy, butterscotch
Hard Crack	300–310°F	Sets hard and glass-like	Lollipops, brittle, clear candy
Caramel	320°F and above	Sugar browns and develops caramel flavor	Caramelized sugar

For this recipe, the manuscript clues point most strongly toward the thread, pearl, or soft-ball range rather than hard crack. In testing, about 230°F produced a softer, paler sugar plate that could be beaten and worked before setting.

Humoral Notes: Sugar, Rosewater, and Flowers

Medieval sweets often lived at the border between food and medicine. Sugar was valued not only for sweetness, but also for its usefulness in medicinal preparations, preserves, and digestive confections.

Rosewater adds another layer. Roses were associated with cooling and comforting properties, especially for the heart and stomach. Violets were also often understood as cooling and soothing. A rose-scented sugar confection served at the end of a meal therefore made sense as both pleasure and digestive finish.

For a modern cook, this helps explain why such a small sweet could matter. Sugar plate was not meant to be eaten by the handful. It was a fragrant, elegant closing bite: sweet, floral, and showy enough to belong on a banquet table.

Modern Recipe: Sugar Plate with Edible Flowers

I am including two modern approaches below. The softer worked version is the one I now think is closest to the manuscript process. The hard-crack version is a useful feast-table adaptation when you want clear, dramatic candy with flowers suspended inside.

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• Enough water to thoroughly wet the sugar
• 2 tablespoons rosewater
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice, optional, to help reduce crystallization
• Edible flowers or petals, such as violets, roses, pinks, calendula, borage, or lavender
• Confectioner’s sugar, rice flour, or lightly oiled parchment for preventing sticking

Equipment

• Heavy-bottomed saucepan
• Reliable candy thermometer, preferably digital
• Heat-safe spatula
• Parchment paper or a marble slab
• Rimmed baking sheet or shallow candy molds

Safety note: Hot sugar syrup is dangerous. It sticks to skin and burns deeply. Keep children and pets away from the stove, use care while pouring, and do not taste until fully cooled.

Version 1: Softer Worked Sugar Plate

This is the version I now favor as the more historically plausible interpretation. It produces a pale, opaque, rose-scented sugar confection rather than a clear hard candy.

Method

1. Prepare your work surface. Line a baking sheet with parchment, or prepare a clean marble slab. Dust very lightly with rice flour or confectioner’s sugar if needed.
2. Prepare the flowers. Use only edible, unsprayed flowers. Remove stems and green parts. Petals are easier to use than whole blossoms.
3. Dissolve the sugar. Place the sugar in a heavy saucepan with just enough water to wet it thoroughly. Add lemon juice if using. Heat gently, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
4. Cook the syrup. Increase the heat and cook to about 230°F. This is in the thread to soft-ball neighborhood, not hard crack.
5. Remove from heat. Let the syrup cool slightly, then stir in the rosewater carefully. It may steam or bubble.
6. Beat and work the sugar. Stir with a heat-safe spatula as it cools. The sugar will begin to thicken and turn paler.
7. Add flowers. When the sugar is no longer violently hot but still workable, fold in the petals.
8. Form the plate. Pour or spread the sugar onto the prepared surface before it becomes too stiff.
9. Cool and serve. Let set fully, then cut or break into small pieces.

The result is softer and more delicate than modern hard candy. It is also more sensitive to humidity, so store it carefully between layers of parchment in an airtight container.

Version 2: Clear Hard-Crack Sugar Plate

This version is less likely to be the exact historical method for GK13, but it is beautiful and practical if you want a dramatic display candy. Flowers suspended in clear amber sugar look like tiny stained-glass windows.

Method

1. Line a rimmed baking sheet with lightly oiled parchment.
2. Scatter edible petals across the parchment, or have them ready to add just before pouring.
3. Cook the sugar syrup to 300°F.
4. Do not stir once the sugar has dissolved, as stirring can encourage crystallization.
5. Pour quickly over the petals or into molds.
6. Let cool completely before breaking into pieces.

This version sets rapidly. Work quickly, and do not try to handle the sugar while it is hot.

Kitchen Testing Notes

My first two attempts at hard-crack sugar plate were unsuccessful. I tested using the cold-water method, but both batches resulted in a soft, gummy candy. After that, I bought a digital thermometer, and the third attempt finally produced the clear amber candy I had been trying to make.

The lesson was immediate: sugarwork rewards accuracy. Humidity, pan size, water amount, heat level, and thermometer reliability all affect the finished candy. Medieval cooks would have learned these stages by experience. Modern cooks can absolutely learn the same skills, but a thermometer makes the learning curve less sticky.

I also tested the lower-temperature version because the manuscript wording seemed to suggest a pourable but not overly stiff candy. That batch was cooked to about 230°F and beaten as it cooled. I added petals of violets and pinks after the sugar began to turn pale.

Both versions were beautiful, and both were approved by my team of test teenagers. I had dim hope there would be leftovers based on the amount consumed by the test subjects. There were not many leftovers. This is, in my opinion, a successful sign.

Which Version Should You Make?

If you are making sugar plate for the first time, I recommend starting with the softer worked version. It is closer to the manuscript clues and gives you a better sense of how medieval sugar cookery worked by texture.

If you are making this for a feast display, a dessert board, or a dramatic final-course sweet, the hard-crack version is lovely. It may be less historically exact, but it creates a beautiful edible decoration.

Version	Temperature	Result	Best Use
Worked sugar plate	About 230°F	Pale, softer, opaque	Historical reconstruction, small sweets
Hard-crack flower candy	300°F	Clear, amber, brittle	Feast display, decorative shards

Flowers for Sugar Plate

Edible flowers turn sugar plate from simple candy into feast art. Use only flowers that are safe to eat and have not been sprayed with pesticides or florist preservatives.

Good Choices

• Violets
• Rose petals
• Pinks or dianthus petals
• Calendula petals
• Borage flowers
• Lavender blossoms, used sparingly

Delicate petals may discolor in very hot sugar, so add them late. For the hard-candy version, scattering petals onto parchment and pouring the syrup over them may preserve their shape better than stirring them into the pot.

For SCA Feasts, Classes, and Historical Demonstrations

Sugar plate is a useful recipe for teaching historical cooking because it shows how much older recipes depend on observation. The original does not give a thermometer reading. It gives behavior: test the sugar, watch the texture, stir it, and do not let it become too stiff.

• For a class: Make both versions and let people compare texture.
• For feast service: Serve small pieces with wafers, comfits, preserved fruit, or marchpane.
• For display: Use the hard-crack version for dramatic translucent shards.
• For historical discussion: Use the softer version to talk about sugar stages before thermometers.
• For transport: Pack pieces between parchment and keep dry.
• For humid weather: Store airtight and avoid leaving the candy uncovered for long periods.

Dietary Notes 🥕

• Vegetarian: Yes
• Vegan: Yes, assuming vegan sugar is used
• Gluten-Free: Yes
• Dairy-Free: Yes
• Egg-Free: Yes
• Common Allergens: None inherent, but confirm flower safety and possible cross-contact

Serving Suggestions

• Serve as part of a banquet or final course with comfits, wafers, marchpane, and preserved fruits.
• Break hard-crack sugar plate into irregular shards and arrange them on a small plate.
• Cut or mold the softer worked version into small pieces once it has set.
• Use rose petals for a romantic final-course sweet, or violets for a spring feast.
• Package small pieces in paper twists or tiny dishes for an event treat.

...

Sources

• Hieatt, Constance B. Pleyn Delit: Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks. 2nd ed. University of Toronto Press, 1996. See “Sugar Plate,” p. 175, attributed to GK13.
• Hieatt, Constance B., and Sharon Butler, eds. Curye on Inglysch. Early English Text Society, 1985. “Suger Plate,” GK13, from Goud Kokery, Harleian MS. 2378.
• Internet Archive record for Curye on Inglysch

AI Assistance Disclosure

AI Assistance Disclosure: Historical transcription, formatting, and redaction support were provided with the help of AI tools for research and editing. Some images were created or edited with AI tools. All historical interpretation and final text are curated and verified by the editor of Give It Forth.

🍊 Oranges after the Portugal Fashion - Candied Renaissance Oranges (Sir Hugh Plat, 1609)

Originally published 1/18/2015 - Updated 9/10/2025 - Refreshed 5/27/2026

Imagine being served what appears to be a glossy orange at a Renaissance banquet, only to discover that it has been boiled, candied in sugar syrup, filled with marmalade, and sliced open like a jewel-bright hard-boiled egg. Sir Hugh Plat’s Delights for Ladies (1609) preserves exactly that kind of culinary theater in his recipe “To preserve Orenges after the Portugall fashion.”

This is not a simple orange preserve. It is edible display. Whole oranges are softened, sweetened, filled with a stiff orange marmalade made from their own pulp, returned to syrup, and then served in slices. Plat promises that the finished fruit “will cut like an hard egge,” which is one of those historical recipe instructions that sounds impossible until you see it happen on the plate.

I have served these at feast, and one of the best things about them was that people thought they were table decorations. They sat on the table looking so bright, polished, and ornamental that diners did not immediately realize they were meant to be eaten. The servers had to explain that yes, the oranges were part of the menu. That moment is exactly why this recipe matters. It shows how Renaissance sweets could blur the line between food, decoration, luxury, and conversation piece.

Best historical choice: use Seville or bitter oranges if you can find them. I first made this recipe with ordinary sweet oranges, which worked, but later a generous member of the historical food community sent me bitter oranges and helped refine the quantities. I wish I could remember whether it was Ken Albala or David Friedman, but I remain deeply grateful for the opportunity. The bitter orange version was, to my taste, far better: more balanced, less cloying, firmer in set, and much closer to what Plat seems to describe.

Whole oranges simmering in sugar syrup. Plat’s method creates both candied fruit and marmalade in one showpiece.

Why This Recipe Matters

Plat’s preserved oranges are a perfect example of early modern English banquet culture. By the late 16th and early 17th centuries, elite tables used sugar, preserved fruits, marchpane, comfits, and molded sweets to display wealth and skill. These foods were often served in a banquet course, not necessarily as the main meal, but as a refined display of delicacy, hospitality, and status.

The phrase “after the Portugall fashion” is especially interesting. Portugal was strongly associated with citrus, sugar, maritime trade, and fashionable imported luxuries. Sweet oranges were sometimes linked with Portuguese trade and cultivation, while bitter oranges remained especially useful in preserves and marmalades because of their peel, acidity, bitterness, and natural pectin. In a recipe like this, the name signals more than geography. It suggests refinement, foreign fashion, and an expensive style of sweetmaking.

It is also worth remembering that “marmalade” did not always mean the soft breakfast spread we know today. Early marmalades were often stiff fruit pastes, closer to quince paste or fruit cheese. Plat’s instruction that the oranges should slice “like a hard egg” makes much more sense when we imagine a firm, sliceable citrus paste tucked inside the candied peel.

Historical Recipe

To preſerue Orenges after the Portugall faſhion. Take Orenges & coare them on the ſide and lay them in water, then boile them in fair water til they be tender, ſhift them in the boyling to take away their bitterneſſe, then take ſugar and boyle it to the height of ſirup as much as will couer them, and ſo put your Orenges into it, and that will make them take ſugar. If you haue 24. Orenges, beate 8. of them till they come to a paſte with a pounde of fine ſugar, then fill euery one of the other Orenges with the ſame, and ſo boile them again in your ſirup: then there will be marmelade of orenges with your orenges, & it will cut like an hard egge.

- Sir Hugh Plat, Delights for Ladies (1609)

Modernized Transcription

To preserve oranges after the Portugal fashion: core each orange on the side and soak them in water. Boil them in clean water until they are tender, changing the water during boiling to reduce their bitterness. Then boil sugar to a syrup, enough to cover the oranges, and put the oranges into it so they take sugar. If you have 24 oranges, beat 8 of them to a paste with a pound of fine sugar, then fill each of the remaining oranges with that paste. Boil them again in the syrup. Then there will be marmalade of oranges within your oranges, and it will cut like a hard egg.

Bitter Oranges vs. Sweet Oranges

If you can find them, Seville oranges, also sold as bitter oranges, sour oranges, marmalade oranges, or sometimes naranja agria, are the best choice for this recipe. They are more bitter than supermarket navel or Valencia oranges, but that bitterness is exactly what makes the preserve work. The sharpness balances the sugar and gives the finished confection a much more complex flavor.

Bitter oranges also behave better in the kitchen. Their peel is well suited to candying, and their higher pectin helps the marmalade filling set firmly. Sweet oranges can certainly be used, and I include a sweet-orange adaptation below, but they tend to produce a softer, juicier filling unless the pulp is drained and cooked down.

Factor	Seville / Bitter Oranges	Sweet Oranges
Historical fit	Best choice	Modern adaptation
Flavor	Bittersweet, complex, aromatic	Milder and sweeter
Pectin	Higher, firmer set	Lower, softer filling
Best use	Historical recreation and feast display	Accessible home version

Where to look: Seville or sour oranges are often seasonal, usually appearing in winter. Try Latin American groceries, Mediterranean or Middle Eastern markets, specialty produce shops, or online citrus growers. If you see “marmalade oranges,” those are usually exactly what you want.

Humoral and Feast Notes

In early modern food theory, oranges were often understood as cooling and drying, with bitter or sour oranges especially valued for cutting richness and stimulating appetite. This makes them a sensible banquet sweet after heavy meats, sauces, and rich dishes. The sugar, while luxurious, was also treated as useful in preservation and digestion, not merely as indulgence.

For a feast table, these oranges work beautifully as an entremet, subtlety, or banquet-course confection. They can sit among marchpane, comfits, candied peels, preserved fruits, wafers, or hippocras. They are especially effective because they do not immediately announce themselves as food. They invite the diner to ask: “Is that decoration?” And then the feast begins to talk back.

Callishones – Coriander Flavored Marchpane from A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen (1621)

Coriander Flavored Marzipan Callishones
Inspired by John Murrell’s A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen (1621)

Originally published: December 31, 2020, 3:28 PM
Updated: May 13, 2026

These coriander-flavored marchpane candies, called Callishones, are small molded sweetmeats made from almond paste, sugar, spice, and rosewater. They belong to the glittering world of Renaissance banqueting, where food, medicine, perfume, and display often shared the same sugared tray.

Callishones is likely related to the French calissons, traditionally pronounced roughly “cal-ee-SOHNS.”

The finished candies are delicate rather than strongly spiced. Coriander gives the almond paste a warm, citrus-like fragrance, while rosewater adds a floral note. With a touch of gold at the edges, they become tiny edible jewels fit for a feast board.

Source Spotlight: A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen

John Murrell’s A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen belongs to the early 17th-century English tradition of printed household and cookery books aimed at gentlewomen managing refined domestic tables. These books often included recipes for preserves, pastes, marmalades, comfits, marchpanes, and decorative banquet dishes.

The longer title associated with this work emphasizes learning “the whole Art of making Pastes, Preserves, Marmalades,” which places these callishones firmly in the world of sweetmeats and banquet confectionery.

Online reference: A Delightfull Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen at ckbk.

What Are Callishones?

Callishones were molded or printed sweetmeats made from marchpane paste. The name is related to calissons, almond-based sweets still associated with southern France. In this English recipe, the paste is flavored with coriander and musk, then shaped and dried.

Because almonds, sugar, floral waters, and aromatic ingredients were expensive, marchpane sweets were associated with wealth, banquets, weddings, and courtly hospitality. They were not merely “candy” in the modern sense. They were part dessert, part digestive, part edible art.

A Luxury Confection

In the 17th century, almonds, refined sugar, floral waters, and imported spices represented luxury ingredients. Even small sweetmeats like these reflected access to global trade and fashionable dining culture.

Original Recipe

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.

How to Make Elizabethan Fruit Pastes & Marmalades (Quince, Peach & Plum)

Paste of quince (amber), apricot (yellow), and strawberries (red).

Originally published: December 2020
Updated: October 24, 2025

Sweet Preserves for a Banquet Table

In the Elizabethan era, fruit pastes—sometimes called marmalades or “chardequynce”—were glittering jewels of sugar, fruit, and spice. They appeared at the close of grand meals as part of the banqueting course, alongside marchpane, candied spices, and comfits. Far from our modern breakfast spreads, these were confections of luxury—delicate, perfumed, and designed as edible art.

My earliest experiment with fruit paste was a quince paste, followed by a Spanish-style marmalade made with dates, powdered pearls, and gold leaf. Since then, I’ve made pastes of apples, raspberries, strawberries, apricots, and plums. For our Baronial Twelfth Night, the table featured a full assortment of these sparkling fruits.

Historical Context

The first fruit pastes appear in late medieval manuscripts such as *A Leechbook* (Royal Medical Society MS 136, c.1444) and continue into the Tudor and Elizabethan printed cookbooks like A.W.’s A Book of Cookrye (1587) and John Partridge’s The Treasurie of Commodious Conceits (1573). These recipes often recommend honey or sugar as preservatives, with quinces or wardens (a firm pear) providing natural pectin. Sugar was believed to “close the stomach” and aid digestion—so these confections were thought medicinal as well as delightful.

By the late 16th century, “marmalade” had expanded beyond quince to include peaches, plums, and even medlars. Unlike modern spreads, these were boiled until firm and cut into decorative shapes, sometimes impressed with moulds and dusted with sugar to gleam like gemstones.

The very word marmalade comes from the Portuguese marmelada, meaning a preserve of quince (marmelo). It entered English through imported Iberian sweetmeats and gradually expanded to mean any thick fruit conserve. Only in the 17th century did citrus marmalades—especially bitter orange—become fashionable in England.

Sugar, Trade, and Luxury

In the 1400s and early 1500s, sugar was a costly import from Mediterranean trade routes, used sparingly in medicines and aristocratic kitchens. By Elizabeth’s reign, Caribbean plantations and new trade networks made sugar more available, transforming what had been a medicinal luxury into a fashionable indulgence. Elaborate sugarwork became a mark of refinement—these pastes were served on gilded dishes at banquets to showcase both taste and status.

Period Tools & Presentation

Household inventories list *marmalet boxes*—small wooden or pewter containers used to store fruit pastes—and carved boxwood moulds for shaping them into knots, roses, or heraldic badges. Displayed among marchpane and candied fruits, these confections were edible sculptures. At feasts, they were offered in the banquetting house alongside spiced wine, wafers, and sugar plate, eaten in tiny bites rather than spread on bread.

Humoral Theory Notes

According to Galenic medicine, quinces and other tart fruits were considered cold and dry in the second degree, balancing the hot and moist qualities of meats and wines. The addition of sugar, cinnamon, and ginger “warmed” the mixture, making it more agreeable to the stomach. Thus, fruit pastes served both as decoration and as digestive aid.

Iberian Influence

England’s fascination with “Spanish marmalades” reflected the influence of Iberian confectionery traditions using honey, rosewater, and spice. Early imports were prized gifts, inspiring English cooks to recreate them at home. A.W.’s peach marmalade and Partridge’s plum version show how continental recipes adapted to local fruits and English tastes.

Renaissance Candied Fruit, Roots & Flowers (Markham, 1623) — Step-by-Step + Modern Method

Sugared Plums (Renaissance method)

Originally published: 2015  •  Updated: 2025-10-24

Context. This post expands on Gervase Markham’s early-17th-century candying method from The English Huswife (1623), part of his famous “banqueting-stuffe”—the delicate sugarwork served at the end of elite meals. Candying preserved seasonal produce for winter and created jewel-like sweets for feast courses and subtleties. Below you’ll find Markham’s original text and a carefully tested modern method I use for SCA feast work.

Comfits of Anise and Fennel – Medieval Candied Spices & Seeds (A Sweet Treat from the Past)

Comfits—candied spices & seeds—served as sweet digestives and table decoration in late medieval & Renaissance feasts.

Comfits – Medieval Candied Spices & Seeds (How to Make Historic Comfits)

Originally published 9/15/15 / updated 10/1/2025

Please note this correction: gum arabic and gum tragacanth are not the same substance. I originally conflated them—mea culpa, and thank you to the reader who flagged it.

Baronial 12th Night Comfits

Comfits were often served at the end of a feast as a digestive, to perfume the breath, and to decorate subtlety dishes and table settings. Aromatic seeds such as anise, fennel, or caraway were built up with repeated coats of sugar syrup—sometimes tinted with beet, spinach, or saffron. Almonds, ginger, and cinnamon splinters appear in later sources as well. You can still buy descendants of these sweets today (think Jordan almonds and pastilles), but handmade comfits are more delicate and—yes—tastier.

Rose Conserve – Medieval Sugared Petals for Heart & Spirit

Rose conserve — my original 2017 photo, refreshed here with updated notes and historical context.

Originally published: October 2, 2017 • Updated: September 19, 2025

Rose Conserve – A Medieval Confection of Petals & Sugar

Rose conserve — also called conserva rosarum — is a perfumed paste of fresh rose petals pounded with sugar. It sits right on the border of food and medicine: sweet enough for the banquet table, soothing enough to appear in apothecary lists. Cool, fragrant, and very old-fashioned in the best way.

Hannah Woolley’s Queen-like Closet (1675) – Recipe LXXXVI: To Make the Best Orange Marmalade.

Originally published: May 28, 2017 — Updated: September 19, 2025

Elizabethan Orange Marmalade – From Hannah Woolley’s Queen-like Closet (1675)

Historical Context

This recipe comes from Hannah Woolley (1622–1675), one of the first Englishwomen to publish cookery and household books under her own name. Her Queen-like Closet (1675) offered not only food recipes but also remedies, preserving techniques, and domestic advice. Orange marmalade, recipe LXXXVI, is one of her standout entries, and I’ve been itching to try it for years. When I found a pile of blood oranges on clearance, that was my excuse. No pressure, right? 😊

Marmalade in England: The word “marmalade” originally meant a quince paste (marmelada) from Portugal. By the late 16th century, imported Seville oranges became the fruit of choice for marmalade. These bitter oranges, full of pectin, set well and gave a sharp tang. Woolley specifies “deepest coloured oranges,” and while she probably meant Sevilles, I used blood oranges—sweeter and ruby-red. Everyone who tasted my batch loved it, but it is sweeter than a true bitter-orange preserve would have been.

Cultural Notes

• Cost of Oranges: In Woolley’s day, oranges were still a luxury. A pound could cost as much as a laborer’s daily wage. To serve marmalade at table was as much a statement of wealth as it was hospitality.
• Orangeries: Wealthy households began building “orangeries”—brick or glass houses to protect citrus trees through the English winter. Having one was as fashionable as wearing pearls. Preserves like marmalade were an edible extension of that prestige.
• Sugar as Luxury: Sugar came in loaves, had to be clarified, and was still expensive in the 17th century. It was considered medicinal as much as culinary. Combining oranges and sugar meant this marmalade straddled the line between health remedy and confection.
• Storage: Woolley instructs to “put it up in gally-pots.” These were small glazed jars sealed with paper, leather, or wax. Unlike our modern sealed canning jars, period marmalade wasn’t shelf-stable for years—it was eaten within months.

💰 Cost of Citrus & Sugar in Period

In the 16th–17th centuries, both oranges and sugar were expensive luxuries. A pound of imported oranges could cost as much as a day’s wage for a laborer, and sugar came in hard loaves that had to be chipped and clarified. Serving marmalade wasn’t just a treat — it was a visible display of wealth and refinement.

🍽️ Menu Placement & Humoral Theory

Marmalade and fruit preserves were served at the banquet course—a light, sweet table after the heavy meats. Oranges were considered cold and dry, while sugar and apples were warm and moist. Together, they made a more balanced food, thought to help digestion at the end of a feast.

The Original Recipe

Queen-like Closet (1675)

Modernized Text

LXXXVI. To make the best Orange Marmalade. Take the Rinds of the deepest coloured Oranges, boil them in several Waters till they are very tender, then mince them small, and to one pound of Oranges, take a Pound of Pippins cut small, one Pound of the finest Sugar, and one Pint of Spring-water, me't your Sugar in the Water over the fire, and scum it, then put in your Pippins, and boil them till they are very clear, then put in the Orange Rind, and boil them together, til you find by cooling a little of it, that it wil jelly very well, then put in the Iuice of two Oranges, and one Limon, and boil it a little longer; and then put it up in Gally-pots.

To make the best Orange Marmalade: Take the rinds of the deepest-colored oranges. Boil them in several changes of water until very tender, then mince them small. For each pound of orange rind, take a pound of pippins (apples), a pound of fine sugar, and a pint of spring water. Melt the sugar in the water over the fire and skim it. Add the apples and boil until clear. Add the orange rind and continue boiling until it will set like jelly when cooled. Then add the juice of two oranges and one lemon. Boil a little longer, then put into jars.

Dry Peaches and Red Quince Paste served at Curia Regis (9/10/2017)

To Dry Peaches – 17th-Century Fruit Paste (Hannah Wolley, 1670)

Originally published 9/16/17. Updated 9/19/2025.

Golden peach pastes adapted from Hannah Wolley’s Queen-Like Closet (1670): jewel-bright confections, oven or dehydrator friendly, ideal for SCA feasts.

This sweet preserve comes from The Queen-Like Closet (1670), a cookbook and household guide by Hannah Wolley. While late for the SCA timeline, her preserving methods represent skills widely practiced in the 16th and 17th centuries—perfectly in line with late-period banquet fare.

About Hannah Wolley

Hannah Wolley (1622–c.1674) was among the first Englishwomen to make a career from writing. She was the first to publish cookery books under her own name, the first to openly market them to servants and housewives as well as the gentry, and one of the earliest women in England to claim authorship professionally. Her career began with The Ladies Directory (1661) and The Cook’s Guide (1664), before culminating in The Queen-Like Closet (1670). The latter went through multiple editions, was translated into German, and became her best-known work. She blended recipes for food, preserves, and medicines, establishing herself as the “Martha Stewart” of her day.

What Kind of Peaches?

In 17th-century England, peaches were a luxury fruit, grown in walled gardens or imported at high cost. Period peaches were closer to older European cultivars: smaller, firmer, often slightly tart, and prized for their fragrance. They were valued in preserves where structure and color mattered as much as flavor.

• Period style: Older white-fleshed clingstone peaches (smaller, firmer).
• Modern substitutes: White peaches (delicate, aromatic), yellow peaches (bright amber color), or apricots (documented in the original recipes).
• Practical feast kitchen: Frozen peaches or reconstituted dried apricots work beautifully when fresh fruit is out of season.

Sources in Period

CCXV. To dry Apricocks. Take your fairest Apricocks and stone them... boil them till they are clear... lay them out upon Glasses to dry in a stove, and turn them twice a day.

CCI. To dry Apricocks or Pippins to look as clear as Amber. Take Apricocks... set them into a warm Oven... every day turn them till they be quite dry. Thus you may dry any sort of Plumbs or Pears as well as the other, and they will look very clear.

—Hannah Wolley, The Queen-Like Closet (1670)

Editor’s Note: Although Hannah Wolley’s Queen-Like Closet (1670) is technically outside the SCA’s 1600 cut-off, the method of drying fruits with sugar syrup was already well established centuries earlier. Wolley’s text preserves a technique that was in active use during the medieval and Renaissance periods, even if not written down until her time.

• 14th century – Forme of Cury (c.1390): preserves and sugared fruits appear.
• 15th century – Harleian MS. 279 (c.1430): recipes for fruit pastes and conserves.
• 16th century – Platina and Scappi describe sugared fruits, marmalades, and pastes on elite banquet tables.
• 17th century – Hannah Wolley records these long-standing practices in print (1670).

This timeline shows that while Wolley’s printed version is late, the preservation technique itself is “in period” and entirely appropriate for SCA feasts.

Menu Placement

Dried fruits and fruit pastes were served as part of the banquet course—the sweets and subtlety table that followed the main meal. They also travel well, making them practical for camping feasts today.

Humoral Notes

According to humoral theory, peaches were considered cold & moist. Drying them and cooking them with sugar shifted them toward balance, making them more wholesome. Serving them with warming spices like cinnamon or ginger further balanced their nature.

Gelo in bocconcini di piu colori piatti - Jelly in small bites, of many colors - Scappi

Gello Among the Roasts: A Sweet Surprise at 12th Night By Yonnie Travis, Culinary Historian and Historical Food Blogger at Give It Forth 

Yule log with a golden egg that when cracked open poured out a wealth of golden coins with gryphons on them.

As a culinary historian specializing in medieval and Renaissance foodways, I bring historical jelly dessert recipes from manuscripts to modern tables. At the 12th Night 2024 feast, one such showpiece made its dramatic return—a shimmering, layered jelly known in the kitchen as "gello." This dish paid tribute to a Renaissance feast jelly dish found in Scappi's Opera and Romoli's banquet menus. This post examines the 16th-century gelatin preparation and its cultural significance. It offers a modern version of Scappi's gelatin recipe for you to try at home.

Historical Context: Jelly as Prestige in Renaissance Banquets

To understand why jelly appeared mid-feast, we must look at the structure of Renaissance menus—particularly those outlined in Romoli's La Singolare Dottrina. His January banquet is a masterclass in culinary pacing: it opens with bread and sugared pastries, flows into savory pasta, braised vegetables, and roasted meats, and interlaces confections and jellies throughout. Each phase of the meal is carefully balanced—sweet beside salty, cold beside hot—often with overlapping sensory contrasts on the same plate.

Romoli organized his menus into over ten structured services, including antipasti, allesso (boiled meats), arrosto sottile (delicate roasts), arrosto grosso (larger roasts), torte, and frutte stufate (stewed fruits). Each course reflected a deliberate visual, humoral, and seasonal logic. Rather than isolating dishes by flavor profile, he arranged them to follow a rhythm of richness and relief. This approach created striking moments—such as serving jelly alongside roast game or poultry—not as a dessert but as a cooling, spiced counterpoint. English and French feasts of the same era also adopted this multi-layered service style.

The preparation of Renaissance jellies involved tools and techniques that differ significantly from modern convenience methods. Cooks relied on collagen extracted by slow-boiling the feet of calves, wethers, or lambs. This process took hours and required precise timing. They clarified the resulting broth with egg whites and filtered it repeatedly through spice bags made from muslin or linen. Specialized copper or ceramic pots helped regulate temperature, while ornate molds or even hollowed eggshells shaped the final presentation. This method demanded not just labor but culinary judgment, as no pre-measured gelatin powder ensured success.

In Renaissance cuisine, jelly wasn't an afterthought—it was an edible spectacle. Found amidst roast courses, molded jellies represented Renaissance edible art and embodied the culinary hierarchy of the time. They required rare ingredients (such as spices, wine, and sugar), gelatin-rich bones, and hours of labor-intensive clarification. These elaborate creations symbolized refinement and control over nature, appearing in both Italian and English feast menus as palate cleansers and visual centerpieces.

The growing accessibility of ingredients like sugar and spices during the 16th century helped elevate jelly dishes from medicinal curiosities to prestigious banquet fare. As European trade with Asia, the Middle East, and the New World expanded, elite kitchens gained increased access to cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and pepper—ingredients that enhanced the flavor, aroma, and perceived sophistication of jellies. Sugar, in particular, shifted from a rare pharmaceutical ingredient to a hallmark of wealth. Dishes like jelly allowed hosts to signal economic power and global reach through taste and spectacle.

Bartolomeo Scappi articulates this concept in his Opera (1570), where he presents detailed instructions for constructing layered jellies composed of alternating colors, spices, and almond milk dividers. Likewise, Domenico Romoli, in La Singolare Dottrina (1560), integrates jelly into the arrosto course by pairing it with roasted wild boar cheeks, thereby demonstrating the culinary rationale for employing sweet jellies to moderate the heat and richness of roasted meats.

The Arrosto Course on the 12th Night of 2024 - Areinterpretation of Romoli's January menu included:

• Carré di costolette di manzo – Spit-roasted rack of beef ribs (we substituted brisket)
• Cipolle brasate in quaresima – Braised whole onions, Lent-style
• Salsa di noci e aglio – Walnut and garlic sauce
• Salsa di mostardo amabile – Sweet mustard sauce
• Minestre di zucche Turchesche – Turkish squash
• Tortelletti d’herba alla Lombarda – Lombard-style herb tortellini
• Gelo in bocconcini di più colori – Jelly in small bites, of many colors (the centerpiece!)

Original Italian (Scappi, Opera, 1570)

Scappi’s Cap. CCXLI – “Per fare gelo in bocconi di più colori”

Per fare gelo in bocconi di più colori. Cap. CCXLI.

Piglia piedi di castrato, & di vitella, & se fora del mese d’Aprile, o di Maggio, in loco de quelli di castrato pigliar quelli d’agnello, nettandoli del pelo, & d’ungnie, & cavandone l’osso; lavisi in più acque, & mettanosi a bollire in un pignattone di rame con tanto vino bianco, & acqua che gli stia sopra; schiumi spesso, & facciasi bollire tanto, quanto sarà giusto, acciocché il decotto che se n’hà da formare faccia buona gelatina. Se vogliono accrescergli di bontà, & arte faccian bollire con detti piedi colli di castrato, o vitella, o d’agnello ben netti. Quando detto decotto fia cotto al giusto, cavinsi detti piedi, cavandone la midolla, & passisi per stamegna. Levandone ogni grasso, mettasi in una pignatta con tre ottavi di aceto forte ben chiaro, due libre di zucchero, sei albumi d’ova fresche battute. Facciasi bollire. Quando sarà prossimo a levarsi da fuoco, mettasi in una sacca di panno lino con pepe grosso, cannella, noce moscata, zenzevero, & altri aromati, se piace, & così colisi più volte, acciò sia ben chiaro. Quando detto gelo sarà colato, & schiarito, pongasi in vasi di vetro, o di terra, o in scorze d’ova, facendo li colori a parte. Se si vuole mettere un colore sopra l’altro, aspettisi che l’uno raffreddi, & rassodi prima di mettervi l’altro sopra. Fra uno, & l’altro colore si può mettere gelatina bianca fatta con latte di mandorle. Si può ancora fare con detti colori alcuni modi di frutti in forma, & piante, & animali in forme di cera, o stagno. Pongansi in luogo fresco, & si manterranno.

English Translation:

To make jelly in bites of many colors. Chapter CCXLI.

Take the feet of a wether and a calf; if it is not the month of April or May, substitute lamb’s feet for the wether’s. Clean them of hair and hooves, remove the bones, and wash in several waters. Boil them in a large copper pot with enough white wine and water to cover them. Skim frequently, and boil until the broth reduces to the appropriate level, forming a good jelly. For added flavor and refinement, you may boil clean necks of wether, calf, or lamb along with the feet.

When the broth is ready, remove the feet and extract the marrow. Strain the liquid through a cloth (stamegna), removing all the fat. Place it in a pot with three-quarters of strong clear vinegar, two pounds of sugar, and six beaten egg whites. Bring it to a boil.

When it is almost ready to remove from heat, pour it through a linen bag containing whole pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and any other desired aromatics. Strain it several times until very clear.

Once filtered and clarified, pour the jelly into glass or earthenware containers—or into eggshells. Make each color separately. If you want to stack one color atop another, allow the previous layer to cool and set before adding the next. Between colored layers, you may add white jelly made with almond milk.

🦚 Curious about the full feast?
Explore the complete menu from the Flaming Gryphon 12th Night Feast 2024 to see all the dishes and historical inspirations behind this event.

You may also shape colored jellies into forms of fruits, plants, or animals using wax or tin molds. Store in a cool place and they will keep well.

Early modern cooks employed this historical jelly recipe to layer color, spice, and visual complexity into a refined banquet offering. By gelatinizing richly seasoned broths, they transformed a functional preservation method into a performative culinary art. Within the framework of Renaissance banquet culture, such jellies signaled wealth, aesthetic discernment, and mastery of technique. Their cooling properties, often accentuated by ingredients like almond milk or vinegar, also reflected humoral principles—tempering the heat and dryness of roasted meats to restore bodily balance.

Scappi Gelatin Recipe Modern Version 

Prep Time: 20 minutes active, 4–6 hours chilling time

Yields: One 9" mold or several smaller servings

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Ingredients 

6 cups clear stock (vegetable for vegetarian) 

2 cups white wine (or lemon juice) 

Juice of 1 lemon (or vinegar) 

1/2 tsp ground mace 

1/2 fresh ginger root, sliced 

1 lb granulated sugar 

1 tbsp rosewater 

4 tbsp powdered gelatin (or agar for vegan)

Yellow Variation: Add a pinch of saffron

Red Variation: Use red wine instead of white; infuse with two whole nutmegs and two cinnamon sticks

Step-by-Step Instructions: How to Make Renaissance Jelly

Simmer base: Combine stock, wine, sugar, and spices in a pot. Simmer until flavors meld.

Dissolve the gelatin: Stir it in after removing the pan from the heat and continue stirring until it has fully dissolved.

Strain: Use cheesecloth or fine sieve for clarity.

Layer 1 – Red: Pour the mixture into the mold and chill until it has set completely. 

Layer 2 – White: Mix almond milk with gelatin and rose water; pour over the red layer and chill.

Layer 3 – Yellow: Infuse base with saffron; pour and chill.

Unmold: Dip in warm water briefly to release jelly.

While modern cooks lack access to veal feet and 16th-century spice routes, they can still evoke the elegance and complexity of Renaissance jellies. Infusing broths or white wine with whole spices like cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg replicates the warming and aromatic profiles found in Scappi's recipes. Clarifying with egg whites, a technique still used in consommé preparation, offers both historical fidelity and visual clarity. Almond milk layers provide a subtle nod to humoral theory, while soft floral notes, such as rosewater, enhance historical authenticity. These adaptations prioritize flavor harmony and visual drama—just as the originals did.

Vegetarian or Vegan Adaptation

To make a Renaissance banquet jelly recipe vegetarian or vegan, substitute clear vegetable stock for the meat broth. Use agar-agar (1 tsp per cup liquid); boil to activate. For the white layers, blend almond milk with agar and rose water. Agar creates a firmer set than gelatin; reduce the amount slightly for a softer texture that mimics historical gelatin.

FAQ: Medieval Jelly Food History

Was jelly served with meat in the Renaissance? Yes. Scappi and Romoli describe serving jelly in roast courses, where it balances hot, rich meats with cool, spiced elegance.

What made jelly a prestige dish? It required costly ingredients—such as sugar, wine, and exotic spices—as well as time, skill, and precise presentation. It signified wealth and artistry.

How long did 16th-century gelatin preparation take? Up to 24 hours. Boiling bones, reducing broth, clarifying, and then molding took a full day or more—often split among kitchen staff.

What is the easiest way to try a Scappi jelly today? Follow the modern adaptation above using stock, wine, gelatin (or agar), and layering in molds. It's a faithful tribute to Scappi's gelo.

Sources & References

Romoli, Domenico. La Singolare Dottrina. Venice, 1560. Google Books

Scappi, Bartolomeo. Opera dell'arte del cucinare. Venice, 1570.

Scully, Terence. The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570). University of Toronto Press, 2008.

May, Robert. The Accomplisht Cook. London, 1660.

To assist the writing process, I used these Grammarly AI prompts: Prompts created by Grammarly

- "Identify any gaps"