(Italian) To Prepare A Filled Twist

 

The Opera of Bartolomeo Scappi, 1570

If you are looking for a portable pick-me-up, that is sweet, savory, and delicious look no further than this recipe. Scappi's recipe for fruit-filled twist hist all the right spots. The moisture in the fruit prevents the dough from drying out, making this a perfect treat for the dayboard.

Original Recipe

Make a dough of two pounds of fine flour with six fresh egg yolks, two ounces of rosewater, an ounce of leaven moistened with warm water, four ounces of either fresh butter or rendered fat that does not smell bad, and enough salt. That dough should be kneaded well for half an hour. Make a thin sheet of it, greasing it with either melted butter that is not too hot or with rendered fat. With the pastry wheel, cut the edges one after the other, which are always quite a bit thicker than the rest. Sprinkle the dough with four ounces of sugar and an ounce of cinnamon. Then get a pound of currants that have been brought to a boil in wine, a pound of dates cooked in that wine and cut up small, and a pound of seeded muscatel raisins that have been brought to a boil in wine; combine all those ingredients and mix them with sugar, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Spread that mixture out over the sheet of dough along with a few little gobs of butter. Beginning at the long edge of the dough, roll it up like a wafer cornet, being careful not to break the dough. A twist like that needs only three rolls so it can cook well; it should not be too tight. Grease its surface with melted butter that is not too hot. Begin at one end to roll it up, not too tightly, so it becomes like a snail shell or a maze. Have a tourte pan on hand lined with a rather thick sheet of the same dough greased with melted butter and gently put the twist on it without pushing it down. Bake it in an oven or braise it with a moderate heat, not forgetting to grease it occasionally with melted butter. When it is almost done, sprinkle sugar and rosewater over it. Serve it hot. The tourte pan in which the twists are baked has to be ample and with low sides.

Ingredients

For the filling

1 cup dried currants or raisins

1 cup raisins

1 cup chopped dates

1 cup red wine

1/4 cup sugar (I used golden sugar)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cloves

Note: I used "Duke's Powder"

Instructions

1. Mix together all ingredients in a pot and cook until soft. Set aside to absorb the remaining liquid and cool while you work on the dough.

Ingredients

For the Dough

1 packet yeast

2/3 cup water

3 1/2 cups flour

3 tbsp. or to taste rosewater

3 egg yolks

4 ounces butter

1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Add yeast to the flour and mix well

2. Add water, rosewater, egg yolks butter, and salt, and knead the dough for 20 minutes if kneading by hand, or, 7 minutes if using a mixer and dough hook. The dough should be supple and not sticky.

3. Spray a baking sheet with a bit of oil before you begin shaping the dough.

4. Divide the dough into eight pieces. Shape each piece into a rectangle.

5. Divide the fruit filling among the rectangles and roll the long sides of the rectangle up into a cylinder. Then shape it like a cinnamon roll.

6. Place it onto the oiled sheet and allow it to rise for 30 minutes. While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

7. Before baking, brush the tops with an egg yolk that has been beaten. Bake for ~ 50 minutes or until browned.

8. You may glaze with a mix of 2 1/2 tbsp. sugar and 2 tsp. rosewater. I usually do 1 tsp. rosewater and 1 tsp. orange juice.

To serve, you can cut your rolls into slices, or serve whole.

Sources

"The Opera Of Bartolomeo Scappi (1570)". Google Books, 2022, https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Opera_of_Bartolomeo_Scappi_1570/oF2jsqrWtEkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=twists. Accessed 5 Sept 2022.

(German) - Lebkuchen - Gingerbread

 Originally published Oct. 10, 2022

Das Kochbuch der Sabina Welserin (c. 1553)

Cookies! Who doesn't like a good cookie? With the cultivation of sugar in the 7th century, came cookies, or rather, test cakes that were used to test the temperature of an oven.

When we think of cake, a dense, bread-like product that is sweetened with honey, and perhaps flavored with nuts and fruits is not what we think of. However, this is an apt description of the earliest cakes. They were a food that was made to last many months.

According to Etymology, the word "cake" comes from the Old Norse kaka, which derives its roots from the West Germanic *kokon, from the Middle Dutch "koke" or Dutch "koek" meaning a cake or gingerbread dumpling. Its earliest usage is in the 13th Century, referencing a flat or thin bit of baked dough. The cakes that we are familiar with come into existence sometime in the middle of the 19th Century.

How did cakes become cookies?

In the early 1800s the word cookie is referenced in American English, in the sense of a "small, flat, sweet cake" from the Dutch koekje a diminutive of koek.

Ammonia Cookies - Hartshorn

I have seen some rather pithy debates over the use of hartshorn in the period, and this prompted me to do a little bit of research on the Food History Timeline (foodies--if you are not using this resource you are missing out). Here is what I found:

Ammonium carbonate, aka Hartshorn, Baker's Ammonia, or, hirschhornsalz, is a substance that is extracted from deer antlers. Hart is the term applied to a male deer, also known as a stag. It is reputed to have a very pungent odor which dissipates when cooked.

How was hartshorn made?

To create hartshorn cooks would heat and pulverize the horns. Once ground it could be added to baked goods where it would act similar to baking powder does today. When heated, it produces ammonia and carbon dioxide gas that lifts the dough as it escapes creating a light, springy texture.

Is hartshorn period for the SCA?

The earliest recipe I was able to locate is for Hartshorn Jelly, from a book published in 1659 purportedly a collection of recipes from as early as the 15th century. The author of this collection, Leonardo Fioravanti died in 1588. The style of writing is similar to the writing of the time that I am familiar with, but I am NOT the expert, based on what I have discovered, it is plausible. More research needs to be done.

℞. Two ounces of Hartshorn being small rasped, and a pint of fair water, one Nutmeg sliced, one race of Ginger, a branch of Rosemary, boyle all these together in an earthen Pipkin over a soft fire, till it be very clammy, then strain it into a Bason, and put to it Rosewater and Sugar.

Original Recipe

Gút lezelten zú bachen

Nim am ersten ain pfúnd zúcker, ain qúertlin geleúterts

honig, nit gar ain fiertellin mell/ nim 5 lot rerlen, 3 lott negellen,

4 lott kerner/ gestossen, die andere wirtz schneid

aúffs klainest, die rerlen aúfs grebest gestosen, thú jmber

aúch darein/ vnnd thú zúcker in das honig, lasß es mitainander

sieden, thús mell jn ain múolter, geúsß die kerner am

ersten ein, darnach den jmber vnnd dan die andern wirtzen.

Interpretation

#151 To bake good Lebkuchen

Take first a pound of sugar, a quart of clear honey, not quite a third quart of flour, take two and a half ounces of cinnamon, one and a half ounces of cloves, two ounces of cardamom. Cut the other spices as small as possible, the cinnamon sticks are ground as coarsely as possible. Also put ginger therein and put the sugar into the honey, let it cook together, put the flour in a trough, pour the cardamom into it first, afterwards the ginger and the other spices.

Ingredients

¾ cup honey

¾ cup sugar

½ cup flour

3 tbsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. cloves

1 ½ tsp ginger - fresh if you can get it

½ tsp cardamom

Instructions

1. Mix together flour, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and ginger.

2. In a heavy-bottomed pan add sugar and honey and slowly heat over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. NOTE: If scum rises to the top, skim it off. This is normal when using honey.

3. Heat the honey and sugar mixture together until small bubbles begin to form and the syrup starts to get foamy. Approximately ten minutes.

4. Make a hollow in the flour and spice mixture and gently pour the honey into the hollow. Stir gently until well mixed. NOTE: This is a very sticky dough, and you may be tempted to add more flour. If you must, only add enough to allow the dough to form and no more.

5. Set the dough aside and allow it to cool for about 15 minutes.

6. While the dough is cooling, cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

7. Dust hands with flour (do not forget this step or you may end up regretting your life's decisions--this dough sticks to everything!), rough your dough into a log, and section off pieces of it using a bit of waxed, unflavored floss.

8. Pick up a bit of the sectioned-off dough, roll it into a ball and place it on the cookie sheet. You will want to space them about 2 1/2 to 3 inches apart. Push an almond into the top of your cookie and bake for about 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container while still slightly warm.

Thoughts

OMG! These are a sticky mess, but ohhhssssooooo worth it!! They are spicy and chewy and delicious. They would be excellent to bring with you on a camping trip and are modern enough in flavor that even the most discriminating cooking connoisseur will not complain.

You do want to store them while they are still warm so they remain soft. These cookies keep for a very long time. Do try them.

Sources

"An Exact Collection Of The Choicest And More Rare Experiments And Secrets In Physick And Chyrurgery (Both Cymick And Galenick) Viz. Of Leonard Phioravant, Knight And Doctour In Physick And Chyrurgery, His Rational Secrets And Chyrurgery &C. : Whereunto Is Annexed Paracelsus's One Hundred And Fourteen Experiments : With Certain Excellent Works Of G.B. Áa Ortu Aquitano ; Also Isaac Holandus, His Secrets Concerning His Vegetal And Animal Work : With Quercetanus His Spagyrick Antidotary For Gun-Shot : Also Certain Collections Out Of Some Manuscripts Of Dr. Edwards And Other Physitians Of Note ...". Quod.Lib.Umich.Edu, 2022, https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A41325.0001.001/1:39.9.6?firstpubl1=1640;firstpubl2=1660;rgn=div3;singlegenre=All;sort=occur;subview=detail;type=simple;view=fulltext;q1=hartshorn. Accessed 2 Oct 2022.

"Cake | Etymology, Origin And Meaning Of Cake By Etymonline". Etymonline.Com, 2022, https://www.etymonline.com/word/cake. Accessed 2 Oct 2022.

Crew, Kitchen. "The History Of Cookies". Just A Pinch, 2022, https://www.justapinch.com/blog/articles/read/209514/the-history-of-cookies/. Accessed 2 Oct 2022.

"Das Kochbuch Der Sabina Welserin (C. 1553)". Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, 2022, https://www.uni-giessen.de/fbz/fb05/germanistik/absprache/sprachverwendung/gloning/tx/sawe.htm. Accessed 2 Oct 2022.

"Sabrina_Welserin.Html". Daviddfriedman.Com, 2022, http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Sabrina_Welserin.html. Accessed 2 Oct 2022.