The Challenge
For January 1-14 the challenge is New Year's: a new year, a new era, a new receipt, or a food intended for New Year's.
Receipt(s)
I elected to make a Twelfth Cake. And then I went crazy, so I also made two other receipts: "To Ice a great Cake," and "To Make an Apple Paste." Here they are:
Twelfth Cakes.
Take seven pounds of flour, make a
cavity in the center, set a sponge with a[287]
gill and a half of yest and a little warm
milk; then put round it one pound of
fresh butter broke into small lumps, one
pound and a quarter of sifted sugar, four
pounds and a half of currants washed
and picked, half an ounce of sifted cinnamon,
a quarter of an ounce of pounded
cloves, mace, and nutmeg mixed, sliced
candied orange or lemon peel and citron.
When the sponge is risen mix all the
ingredients together with a little warm
milk; let the hoops be well papered and
buttered, then fill them with the mixture
and bake them, and when nearly cold
ice them over with sugar prepared
for that purpose as per receipt; or they
may be plain.
Mollard, John, The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined, London, 1802, p.287
To ice a great Cake.
Take the whites of twenty-four eggs, and a pound of double refined sugar beat and sifted fine; mix both together in a deep earthen pan, and with a whist whisk it well for two or three hours, till it looks white and thick; then with a thin broad board, or bunch of feathers, spread it all over the top and sides of the cake; set it at a proper distance before a good clear fire, and keep turning it continually for fear of its changing colour; but a cool oven is best, and an hour will harden it: you may perfume the icing with what perfume you please.
Glasse, Hannah, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, London, 1796, p.309
Take an ounce of cochineal beat very
fine; add three gills of water, a quarter
of an ounce of roche-alum, and two
ounces of lump sugar; boil them together
for twenty minutes, strain it through
a fine sieve, and preserve it for use close
covered.
Mollard, John, The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined, London, 1802, p.287
*note: this is what inspired me to make the apple paste, though, of course, I didn't waste my time or money on cochineal.
*note: this is what inspired me to make the apple paste, though, of course, I didn't waste my time or money on cochineal.
To make Apple Paste.
Take what quantity of golden pippins you think proper, which boil
whole in a pan of water, without paring them; when you see they are well
done, take them off, and put them in a draining sieve; then take a
horse-hair sieve, very open, and strain them through; when that is done,
put them in the preserving-pan,, and proceed as directed for apricots.
From Apricot Paste
Boil some apricots that are full ripe to a pulp, and rub the fine of it through a sieve; to every pound of pulp, take one pound two ounces of fine sugar, beaten to a very fine powder; heat well your paste, and by degrees put in your sugar; when all is in, give it a thorough heat over the fire, taking care not to let it boil; then take it off, and scrape it all to one side of the pan, let it cool a little, then lay it out on plates in what form you please; then dust them, and put them into the stove to dry.
Glasse, Hannah and Maria Wilson, The Complete Confectioner; or Housekeepers Guide, London, 1800.
Date/Region
Late 18th Century, early 19th Century, England
How did you make it?
I started with processing the apples for the pippin/apple paste. I elected to use granny smith apples for the higher pectin content, and out of a desire for the paste to be less susceptible to tasting only of sugar (failed on that last part, by-the-by). Of all of them, I felt that this would be the easiest, as there were only ratios rather than exact measurements of ingredients. So I processed 4 apples, drained off a little bit of the water - I thought it looked too liquid, and then added the sugar and food coloring (modern, not bugs :> ). Once heated through, and the sugar was all dissolved, I poured it out on a prepared pan to dry. I then placed the pan into my oven on dehydrate - a "slow" oven in my opinion, to cure.
Then I started in on cake, having decided to quarter the recipe, otherwise the cake would have been enormous. I started by mixing up the flour, warm milk, butter and yeast. Then I added the candied fruit, a blend of currants, golden raisins, and candied lemon peel. I had previously buttered a spring-form pan, and tipped the whole mess into it. I then let it rise on top of my oven while it was preheating to bake, and ended up leaving it there for about 1.5hours. In the end that was a little too long as the side of the cake collapsed a little when I took it out of the spring-form.
Once, cooled, I attempted the icing, which ultimately, I think, came out fairly well. To start with, as with the cake, I quartered the recipe. It read very much like a modern royal icing, but never having made that, I wasn't sure what it was going to come out looking like. When I beat it up the egg whites and sugar together, it took quite a while too come up to soft peaks. I was afraid that wouldn't work out correctly, so I added some more sugar until it came up to stiffer peaks, and then laid it on the cake. I chucked it back in the oven (with the paste decorations on it) for about 45min to help the icing set, as recommended in the receipt.
I'm not perfectly happy with the way it came out, but it tasted great!
Time to complete
Forever. Approximately 8 hours, not including overnight drying of apple paste when I was done working.
Total cost
$15? I had most of the indgredients on hand, save the apples, but the flour I used is not cheap.
How successful was it?
It tasted good, and looked pretty! Though I wasn't perfectly happy, success to me.
How accurate was it?
I will be frank and admit that there is a fair amount of guess work in this. I have no idea what the shapes for the pippin paste look like. I have seen some beautifully decorated cakes (Ivan Day), in which the icing is colored pink, and the decorations are white gum paste or sugar work. However, looking at some later receipts they say the pippin paste is "occasionaly flavoured with lemon, and is principally used for ornamenting the tops of twelfth cakes." Sooo, shrug a little on that one, and generally I had fun making them, though I found sticky spots for days.
I love making historic receipts, but I am challenged by the fact that I should be, and mostly am, gluten-free for my health. As a result, I elected to make this cake gluten-free so that I could partake and not foist it off in total to my co-workers. After much looking at gluten-free receipts for yeasted cakes, stollen, and panettone (addition of eggs), I worked out something I believed would give me the texture and feel of the cake with gluten free flour. I also use a homemade blend of flour, which is comprised of really high quality non-wheat flours, and pectin to retain moisture better than most gluten-free mixes, ensuring a non-gritty texture present in most off the shelf blends.
Next up:
January 15-28: Looking Back Improve on (or try an alternate version of ) a previous challenge, or a recipe you are already comfortable with.
I think I'm going with Kisses. Thanks, Eliza Leslie.
From Apricot Paste
Boil some apricots that are full ripe to a pulp, and rub the fine of it through a sieve; to every pound of pulp, take one pound two ounces of fine sugar, beaten to a very fine powder; heat well your paste, and by degrees put in your sugar; when all is in, give it a thorough heat over the fire, taking care not to let it boil; then take it off, and scrape it all to one side of the pan, let it cool a little, then lay it out on plates in what form you please; then dust them, and put them into the stove to dry.
Glasse, Hannah and Maria Wilson, The Complete Confectioner; or Housekeepers Guide, London, 1800.
Date/Region
Late 18th Century, early 19th Century, England
How did you make it?
I started with processing the apples for the pippin/apple paste. I elected to use granny smith apples for the higher pectin content, and out of a desire for the paste to be less susceptible to tasting only of sugar (failed on that last part, by-the-by). Of all of them, I felt that this would be the easiest, as there were only ratios rather than exact measurements of ingredients. So I processed 4 apples, drained off a little bit of the water - I thought it looked too liquid, and then added the sugar and food coloring (modern, not bugs :> ). Once heated through, and the sugar was all dissolved, I poured it out on a prepared pan to dry. I then placed the pan into my oven on dehydrate - a "slow" oven in my opinion, to cure.
Then I started in on cake, having decided to quarter the recipe, otherwise the cake would have been enormous. I started by mixing up the flour, warm milk, butter and yeast. Then I added the candied fruit, a blend of currants, golden raisins, and candied lemon peel. I had previously buttered a spring-form pan, and tipped the whole mess into it. I then let it rise on top of my oven while it was preheating to bake, and ended up leaving it there for about 1.5hours. In the end that was a little too long as the side of the cake collapsed a little when I took it out of the spring-form.Once, cooled, I attempted the icing, which ultimately, I think, came out fairly well. To start with, as with the cake, I quartered the recipe. It read very much like a modern royal icing, but never having made that, I wasn't sure what it was going to come out looking like. When I beat it up the egg whites and sugar together, it took quite a while too come up to soft peaks. I was afraid that wouldn't work out correctly, so I added some more sugar until it came up to stiffer peaks, and then laid it on the cake. I chucked it back in the oven (with the paste decorations on it) for about 45min to help the icing set, as recommended in the receipt.
I'm not perfectly happy with the way it came out, but it tasted great!
Time to complete
Forever. Approximately 8 hours, not including overnight drying of apple paste when I was done working.
Total cost
$15? I had most of the indgredients on hand, save the apples, but the flour I used is not cheap.
How successful was it?
It tasted good, and looked pretty! Though I wasn't perfectly happy, success to me.
How accurate was it?
I will be frank and admit that there is a fair amount of guess work in this. I have no idea what the shapes for the pippin paste look like. I have seen some beautifully decorated cakes (Ivan Day), in which the icing is colored pink, and the decorations are white gum paste or sugar work. However, looking at some later receipts they say the pippin paste is "occasionaly flavoured with lemon, and is principally used for ornamenting the tops of twelfth cakes." Sooo, shrug a little on that one, and generally I had fun making them, though I found sticky spots for days.
I love making historic receipts, but I am challenged by the fact that I should be, and mostly am, gluten-free for my health. As a result, I elected to make this cake gluten-free so that I could partake and not foist it off in total to my co-workers. After much looking at gluten-free receipts for yeasted cakes, stollen, and panettone (addition of eggs), I worked out something I believed would give me the texture and feel of the cake with gluten free flour. I also use a homemade blend of flour, which is comprised of really high quality non-wheat flours, and pectin to retain moisture better than most gluten-free mixes, ensuring a non-gritty texture present in most off the shelf blends.
Next up:
January 15-28: Looking Back Improve on (or try an alternate version of ) a previous challenge, or a recipe you are already comfortable with.
I think I'm going with Kisses. Thanks, Eliza Leslie.
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