GTOD Vigil Recipe - Pressmetzen zu Ostern

Pressmetzen Zu Ostern, Precedella, Torten von Epffel and Sugared Mint Leaves

I'd like to send thanks to Volker Bach for the inspiration for the festive centerpiece of the Vigil Feast.  Shortly after I was asked to do the Vigil daybard, he shared a memory for an Easter Feast from 2021.  I knew that I needed to make this pastry and the Dockenmilch.  If you have not visited culina vetus you are doing yourself a disservice. The breadth of the material found there is staggering. 


The cookbook of Balthasar Staindl from Dillingen in 1544 entitled “How to bake the Pressmetzen at Easter”.

Pressmetzen zu Ostern (from Balthasar Staindl)

ccxxii Make a good gentle egg cheese (like a custard) and do not burn it. Put it on a draining board so that it sinks down (drains) well, then take the egg cheese and stir it apart with a spoon, add more eggs, a little sweet cream, also grate manchet bread into it, yellow it (with saffron), season it, add sufficient raisins. Then take manchet bread (semmel) dough from a baker, roll it out wide, put the above mentioned egg cheese on it, and wreath (kräntzel) it around and around (make a plaited edge). Bake it in an oven, but before you put it into the oven, add figs, put almonds on top. Anoint the wreath outside with yellowed (saffron-dyed) egg yolks and put it back into the oven briefly. These flecken (tarts) are blessed for Easter.

Pressmetzen zu Ostern (from Balthasar Staindl)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 packet or 2 tsp. yeast

1/2 cup melted butter

1/2 cup lukewarm milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. salt 

1 egg

Stir together yeast, flour, sugar and salt.  Mix butter, milk and egg together. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. The dough will be very sticky and "shaggy" at this point. Work the dough until it is smooth and pliable ( about five minutes).  Place into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise for 30 minutes.

Ingredients: egg cheese ( Ayerschotten ):

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
6 egg yolks or 3 large eggs

Pinch salt

1 tbsp sugar

Whisk eggs with milk, sugar and salt. Put in a saucepan and heat slowly stirring constantly until the liquid starts to boil.  Continue to stir until the whey separates from the egg cheese allow to cool to room temperature. Place a cheesecloth in a strainer, add the egg cheese, weight with a plate and add some cans to the top in order to press the cheese.  You want it as dry as possible before you add the remaining ingredients. Note: this can be made a day ahead. 

Other filling ingredients:

2 eggs

~1/3 cup breadcrumbs

1-2 tbps. sweet cream 

Pinch of saffron

1 tbsp. sugar

3/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup chopped figs

1 egg yolk

Once the egg cheese is dry,  stir in remaining eggs,  breadcrumbs and sweet cream into the egg cheese. Fold in the raisins, color with saffron and sugar to taste.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle and spread the egg cheese filling on top. Fold the dough over and twist into a ring on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Let this rest for another 20 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped figs and almonds. Bake in the hot oven for 20 minutes. Brush with egg yolk. Bake again for about 15 minutes.

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.

Baronial 12th Night Recipes - Rastons Harl. MS 279, 1430

Rastons? Is it a bread or a pastry? My most educated guess is "yes"-- all breads are a kind of pastry, but not all pastries are bread.  There have been several very lively discussions about this particular bit of history and whether or not the end product constitutes a pastry or a bread. 

This particular recipe takes flour and eggs, mixes it with a leavening agent ( þan take Warme Berme), and then instructs you to let it rest ( & þenne lat reste a whyle), the end result being a product that is not unlike modern day bread. 

I will leave it to you to continue the debate. 

Rastons Harl. MS 279, 1430 

.xxv. Rastons.—Take fayre Flowre, & þe whyte of Eyroun, & þe ȝolke, a lytel; þan take Warme Berme, & putte al þes to-gederys, & bete hem to-gederys with þin hond tyl it be schort & þikke y-now, & caste Sugre y-now þer-to, & þenne lat reste a whyle; þan kaste in a fayre place in þe oven, & late bake y-now; & þen with a knyf cutte yt round a-boue in maner of a crowne, & kepe þe cruste þat þou kyttyst; & þan pyke al þe cromys withynne to-gederys, an pike hem smal with þin knyf, & saue þe sydys & al þe cruste hole with-owte; & þan caste þer-in clarifiyd Boter, & Mille*. [melle A. (mix). ] þe cromeȝ & þe botere to-gedereȝ, & keuere it a-ȝen with þe cruste, þat þou kyttest a-way; þan putte it in þe ovyn aȝen a lytil tyme; & þan take it out, & serue it fortℏ.

25. Rastons- take fair flour, and the white of eggs, and the yolk, a little; then take Warm Barm, and put all these together, and beat them thereto, and then let rest a while: then caste in a fair place in the oven, and let bake enough: and then with a knife cut it round above in the manner of a crown, and keep the crust that thou cut; & then pick all the crumbs within together, and pick them small with thine knife, and save the sides and all the crust whole without; and then cast therein clarified butter and mix the crumbs and butter together, and cover it again with the crust, that thou cuttest away; then put in the oven again a little time; and then take it out and serve it forth.

Rastons

1 cup lukewarm milk

1 cup lukewarm water

1 egg beaten
1 tbsp. sugar

1 1/2 tbsp. Yeast (not quick acting)

Bread Flour

This recipe creates a great loaf of bread that can be frozen. I replaced the ale called for in the original recipe with milk and water. I also chose to use unbleached bread flour instead of a mixture of white/wheat I had used previously. I had originally meant to freeze the dough and cook the bread on site day of. Research indicated that in order to freeze dough you needed to increase the amount of yeast to compensate for the yeast that would die during the freezing process, so I also increased the amount of yeast. Also, due to a bought of "foggy head syndrome" I forgot to add the salt to the tweaked recipe, ergo, no salt. If you prefer sweeter bread, no salt is needed, however, if you prefer your bread not so sweet, be sure to add salt to the dough.

I wish I had gotten pictures of this bread--it was beautiful. The recipe above creates two round loaves of soft crusted bread with a good crumb.

Heat milk and water to just above body temperature. While your water and milk are heating mix yeast and sugar with 1 cup flour. Beat egg. Add the warmed water and milk to the flour and yeast and then add beaten egg. Cover and set aside at least 20 minutes. When you return the sponge should be frothy and bubbly.

Slowly add in flour until a soft dough is formed. Shape the dough into rounds and place on your baking sheet. I usually use a little bit of oil to stick parchment paper to the pan, and then dust with a handful of flour so the bread does not stick. Cover the loaves and allow to sit until doubled in size. Spray the loaves with cooking spray if you want a browner crust, otherwise, place into a 400 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes. Or until crust is golden and bread sounds hollow when thumped.


At this point you can freeze the loaf or serve. If you wish to serve according to the instructions, cut off the top of the loaf and scoop out the crumb, like you would if you were creating a bread bowl. Mince the crumb of the bread, mix with clarified butter, replace the top and set the loaf back into the oven for several minutes before serving.