Chapter 20

Take a pound of prunes, and as many raisins of the sun, pick and wash them, then boil them with water and wine, of each a like quantity; when you first set them on the fire, put rice flour to them, being tender boil'd strain them with half a pound of sugar, and some rose-water, then stir the stuff till it be thick like leach, put it in a little earthen pan, being cold slice it, dish it, and cast red and white bisket on it.

_To make a made Dish of Blanchmanger._

Take a pint of cream, the whites of six new laid eggs, and some sugar; set them over a soft fire in a skillet and stir it continually till it be good and thick, then strain it, and being cold, dish it on a puff-paste bottom with a cut cover, and cast biskets on it.

_A made Dish of Custard stuff, called an Artichock Dish._

Boil custard stuff in a clean scowred skillet, stir it continually, till it be something thick, then put it in a clean strainer, and let it drain in a dish, strain it with a little musk or ambergriese, then bake a star of puff paste on a paper, being baked take it off the paper, and put it in a dish for your stuff, then have lozenges also ready baked of puff paste, stick it round with them, and scrape on fine sugar.

_A made Dish of Butter and eggs._

Take the yolks of twenty four eggs, and strain them with cinamon, sugar, and salt; then put melted butter to them, some fine minced pippins, and minced citron, put it on your dish of paste, and put slices of citron round about it, bar it with puff paste, and the bottom also, or short paste in the bottom.

_To make a made dish of Curds._

Take some tender curds, wring the wehy 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.

_To make a Paste of Violets, Cowslips, Burrage, Bugloss, Rosemary Flowers,_ &c.

Take any of these flowers, pick the best of them, and stamp them in a stone mortar, then take double refined sugar, and boil it to a candy height with as much rosewater as will melt it, stir it continually in the boiling, and being boiled thick, cast it into lumps upon a pye plate, when it is cold, box them, and keep them all the year in a stove.

_To make the Portugal Tarts for banquetting._

Take a pound of marchpane paste being finely beaten, and put into it a grain of musk, six spoonfuls of rose-water, and the weight of a groat of Orris Powder, boil all on a chaffing dish of coals till it be something stiff; then take the whites of two eggs, beaten to froth, put them into it, and boil it again a little, let it stand till it be cold, mould it, and roul it out thin; then take a pound more of almond-paste unboil'd, and put to it four ounces of caraway-seed, a grain of musk, and three drops of oyl of lemons, roul the paste into small rouls as big as walnuts, and lay these balls into the first made paste, flat them down like puffs with your thumbs a little like figs and bake them upon marchpane wafers.

_To make Marchpane._

Take two pounds of almonds blanch't and beaten in a stone mortar, till they begin to come to a fine paste, then take a pound of sifted sugar, put it in the mortar with the almonds, and make it into a perfect paste, putting to it now and then in the beating of it a spoonful of rose-water, to keep it from oyling; when you have beat it to a puff paste, drive it out as big as a charger, and set an edge about it as you do upon a quodling tart, and a bottom of wafers under it, thus bake it in an oven or baking pan; when you see it is white, hard, and dry, take it out, and ice it with rose-water and sugar being made as thick as butter for fritters, to spread it on with a wing feather, and put it into the oven again; when you see it rise high, then take it out and garnish it with some pretty conceits made of the same stuff, slick long comfets upright on it, and so serve it.

_To make Collops like Bacon of Marchpane._

Take some of your Marchpane paste and work it with red sanders till it be red, then roul a broad sheet of white marchpane paste, and a sheet of red paste, three of white, and four of red, lay them one upon another, dry it, cut it overthwart, and it will look like collops of bacon.

_To make Almond Bread._

Take almonds, and lay them in water all night, blanch them and slice them, take to every pound of almonds a pound of fine sugar finely beat, & mingle them together, then beat the whites of 3 eggs to a high froth, & mix it well with the almonds & sugar; then have some plates and strew some flour on them, lay wafers on them and almonds with edges upwards, lay them as round as you can, and scrape a little sugar on them when they are ready to set in the oven, which must not be so hot as to colour white paper; being a little baked take them out, set them on a plate, then put them in again, and keep them in a stove.

_To make Almond Bisket._

Take the whites of four new laid eggs and two yolks, beat them together very well for an hour, then have in readiness a quarter of a pound of the best almonds blanched in cold water, beat them very small with rosewater to keep them from oiling, then have a pound of the best loaf sugar finely beaten, beat it in the eggs a while, then put in the almonds, and five or six spoonfuls of fine flour, so bake them on paper, plates, or wafers; then have a little fine sugar in a piece of tiffany, dust them over as they go into the oven, and bake them as you do bisket.

_To make Almond-Cakes._

Take a pound of almonds, blanch them and beat them very small in a little rose-water where some musk hath been steeped, put a pound of sugar to them fine beaten, and four yolks of eggs, but first beat the sugar and the eggs well together, then put them to the almonds and rose-water, and lay the cakes on wafers by half spoonfuls, set them into an oven after manchet is baked.

_To make Almond-Cakes otherways._

Take a pound of the best Jordan almonds, blanch them in cold water as you do marchpane, being blanched wipe them dry in a clean cloth, & cut away all the rotten from them, then pound them in a stone-motar, & sometimes in the beating put in a spoonful of rose-water wherein you must steep some musk; when they are beaten small mix the almonds with a pound of refined sugar beaten and searsed; then put the stuff on a chafing-dish of coals in a made dish, keep it stirring, and beat the whites of seven eggs all to froth, put it into the stuff and mix it very well together, drop it on a white paper, put it on plates, and bake them in an oven; but they must not be coloured.

_To make white Ambergriese Cakes._

Take the purest refined sugar that can be got, beat it and searse it; then have six new laid eggs, and beat them into a froth, take the froth as it riseth, and drop it into the sugar by little and little, grinding it still round in a marble mortar and pestle, till it be throughly moistened, and wrought thin enough to drop on plates; then put in some ambergriese, a little civet, and some anniseeds well picked, then take your pie plates, wipe them, butter them, and drop the stuff on them with a spoon in form of round cakes, put them into a very mild oven and when you see them be hard and rise a little, take them out and keep them for use.

_To make Sugar-Cakes or Jambals._

Take two pound of flour, dry it, and season it very fine, then take a pound of loaf sugar, beat it very fine, and searse it, mingle your flour and sugar very well; then take a pound and a half of sweet butter, wash out the salt and break it into bits into the flour and sugar, then take the yolks of four new laid eggs, four or five spoonfuls of sack, and four spoonfuls of cream, beat all these together, put them into the flour, and work it up into paste, make them into what fashion you please, lay them upon papers or plates, and put them into the oven; be careful of them, for a very little thing bakes them.

_To make Jemelloes._

Take a pound of fine sugar, being finely beat, and the yolks of four new laid eggs, and a grain of musk, a thimble full of caraway seed searsed, a little gum dragon steeped in rose-water, and six spoonfuls of fine flour beat all these in a thin paste a little stiffer then butter, then run it through a butter-squirt of two or three ells long bigger then a wheat straw, and let them dry upon sheets of paper a quarter of an hour, then tie them in knots or what pretty fashion you please, and when they be dry, boil them in rose-water and sugar; it is an excellent sort of banqueting.

_To make Jambals._

Take a pint of fine wheat flour, the yolks of three or four new laid eggs, three or four spoonfuls of sweet cream, a few anniseeds, and some cold butter, make it into paste, and roul it into long rouls, as big as a little arrow, make them into divers knots, then boil them in fair water like simnels; bake them, and being baked, box them and keep them in a stove. Thus you may use them, and keep them all the year.

_To make Sugar Plate._

Take double refined sugar, sift it very small through a fine searse, then take the white of an egg, gum dragon, and rose-water, wet it, and beat it in a mortar till you are able to mould it, but wet it not to much at the first. If you will colour it, and the colour be of a watry substance, put it in with the rose-water, if a powder, mix it with your sugar before you wet it; when you have beat it in the mortar, and that it is all wet, and your colour well mixt in every place, then mould it and make it into what form you please.

_To make Muskedines called Rising Comfits or Vissing Comfits._

Take half a pound of refined sugar, being beaten and searsed, put into it two grains of musk, a grain of civet, two grains of ambergriese, and a thimble full of white orris powder, beat all these with gum-dragon steeped in rose-water; then roul it as thin as you can, and cut it into little lozenges with your iging-iron, and stow them in some warm oven or stove, then box them and keep them all the year.

_To make Craknels._

Take half a pound of fine flour dryed and searsed, and as much fine sugar searsed, mingled with a spoonfull of coriander-seed bruised, and two ounces of butter rubbed amongst the flour and sugar, wet it with the yolks of two eggs, half a spoonful of white rose-water, and two spoonfuls of cream, or as much as will wet it, work the paste till it be soft and limber to roul and work, then roul it very thin, and cut them round by little plats, lay them upon buttered papers, and when they go into the oven, prick them, and wash the tops with the yolk of an egg, beaten and made thin with rose-water or fair water; they will give with keeping, therfore before they are eaten they must be dried in a warm oven to make them crisp.

_To make Mackeroons._

Take a pound of the finest sugar, and a pound of the best Jordan-almonds, steep them in cold water, blanch them and pick out the spots: then beat them to a perfect paste in a stone mortar, in the beating of them put rose-water to them to keep them from oyling, being finely beat, put them in a dish with the sugar, and set them over a chafing-dish of coals, stir it till it will come clean from the bottom of the dish, then put in two grains of musk, and three of ambergriese.

_To make the Italian Chips._

Take some paste of flowers, beat them to fine powder, and searse or sift them; then take some gum-dragon steeped in rose-water, beat it to a perfect paste in a marble mortar, then roul it thin, and lay one colour upon another in a long roul, roul them very thin, then cut them overthwart, and they will look of divers pretty colours like marble.

_To make Bisket Bread._

Take a pound of sugar searsed very fine, a pound of flour well dryed, twelve eggs and but six whites, a handful of caraway-seed, and a little salt; beat all these together the space of an hour, then your oven being hot, put them into plates or tin things, butter them and wipe them, a spoonful into a plate is enough, so set them into the oven, and make it as hot as to bake them for manchet.

_To make Bisquite du Roy._

Take a pound of fine searsed sugar, a pound of fine flour, and six eggs, beat them very well, then put them all into a stone mortar, and pound them for the space of an hour and a half, let it not stand still, for then it will be heavy, and when you have beaten it so long a time, put in halfe an ounce of anniseed; then butter over some pie plates, and drop the stuff on the plate as fast as two or three can with spoons, shape them round as near as you can, and set them into an oven as hot as for manchet, but the less they are coloured the better.

_Bisquite du Roy otherways._

Take to a pound of flour a pound of sugar, and twelve new laid eggs, beat them in a deep dish, then put to them two grains of musk dissolved, rose-water, anniseed, and coriander-seed, beat them the space of an hour with a wooden spatter; then the oven being ready, have white tin molds butter'd, and fill them with this Bisquite, strow double refined sugar in them, and bake them when they rise out of the moulds, draw them and put them on a great pasty-plate or pye-plate, and dry them in a stove, and put them in a square lattin box, and lay white papers betwixt every range or rank, have a padlock to it, and set it over a warm oven, so keep them, and thus for any kind of bisket, mackeroons, marchpane, sugar plates, or pasties, set them in a temperate place where they may not give with every change of weather, and thus you may keep them very long.

_To make Shell Bread._

Take a quarter of a pound of rice flour, a quarter of a pound of fine flour, the yolks of four new laid eggs, and a little rose-water, and a grain of musk; make these into a perfect paste, then roul it very thin and bake it in great muscle-shells, but first roast the shells in butter melted where they be baked, boil them in melted sugar as you boil a simmel, then lay them on the bottom of a wooden sieve, and they will eat as crisp as a wafer.

_ To make Bean Bread._

Take two pound of blanched almonds and slice them, take to them two pound of double refined sugar finely beaten and searsed, five whites of eggs beaten to froth, a little musk steeped to rose-water and some anniseeds, mingle them all together in a dish, and bake them on pewter-plates buttered, then afterwards dry them and them.

_To make Ginger-Bread._

Take a pound of Jordan Almonds, and a penny manchet grated and sifted and mingled among the almond paste very fine beaten, an ounce of slic't ginger, two thimble fuls of liquoras and anniseed in powder finely searsed, beat all in a mortar together, with two or three spoonfuls of rose-water, beat them to a perfect paste with half a pound of sugar, mould it, and roul it thin, then print it and dry it in a stove, and guild it if you please.

Thus you may make gingerbread of sugar plate, putting sugar to it as abovesaid.

_To make Ipocras._

Take to a gallon of wine, three ounces of cinamon, two ounces of slic't ginger, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, an ounce of mace, twenty corns of pepper, an ounce of nutmegs, three pound of sugar, and two quarts of cream.

_Otherways._

Take to a pottle of wine, an ounce of cinamon, an ounce of ginger, an ounce of nutmegs, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, seven corns of pepper, a handful of rosemary-flowers, and two pound of sugar.

_To make excellent Mead much commended._

Take to every quart of honey a gallon of fair spring water, boil it well with nutmeg and ginger bruised a little, in the boiling scum it well, and being boil'd set it a cooling in severall vessels that it may stand thin, then the next day put it in the vessel, and let it stand a week or two, then draw it in bottles.

If it be to drink in a short time you may work it as beer, but it will not keep long.

Or take to every gallon of water, a quart of honey, a quarter of an ounce of mace, as much ginger and cinnamon, and half as much cloves, bruise them, and use them as abovesaid.

_Otherways._

Take five quarts and a pint of water, warm it, and put to it a quart of honey, and to every gallon of liquor one lemon, and a quarter of an ounce of nutmegs; it must boil till the scum rise black, and if you will have it quickly ready to drink, squeeze into it a lemon when you tun it, and tun it cold.

_To make Metheglin._

Take all sorts of herbs that are good and wholesome as balm, mint, rosemary, fennil, angelica, wild time, hysop, burnet, agrimony, and such other field herbs, half a handful of each, boil and strain them, and let the liquor stand till the next day, being setled take two gallons and a half of honey, let it boil an hour, and in the boiling scum it very clean, set it a cooling as you do beer, and when it is cold, take very good barm and put it into the bottom of the tub, by a little & a little as to beer, keeping back the thick setling that lieth in the bottom of the vessel that it is cooled in; when it is all put together cover it with a cloth and let it work very near three days, then when you mean to put it up, skim off all the barm clean, and put it up into a vessel, but you must not stop the vessel very close in three or four days, but let it have some vent to work; when it is close stopped you must look often to it, and have a peg on the top to give it vent, when you heare it make a noise as it will do, or else it will break the vessel.

Sometimes make a bag and put in good store of slic't ginger, some cloves and cinamon, boil'd or not.

* * * * * * * * *

SECTION XII.

_To make all manner of Creams, Sack-Possets, Sillabubs, Blamangers, White-Pots, Fools, Wassels,_ &c.

_To make Apple Cream._

Take twelve pippins, pare and slice, or quarter them, put them into a skillet with some claret wine, and a race of ginger sliced thin, a little lemon-peel cut small, and some sugar; let all these stew together till they be soft, then take them off the fire and put them in a dish, and when they be cold take a quart of cream boil'd with a little nutmeg, and put in of the apple stuff to make it of what thickness you please, and so serve it up.

_To make Codling Cream._

Take twenty fair codlings being peeld and codled tender and green, put them in a clean silver-dish, filled half full of rose-water, and half a pound of sugar, boil all this liquor together till half be consumed, and keep it stirring till it be ready, then fill up the dish with good thick and sweet cream, stir it till it be well mingled, and when it hath boil'd round about the dish, take it off, sweeten it with fine sugar, and serve it cold.

_Otherways._

Codle forty fair codlings green and tender, then peel and core them, and beat them in a mortar, strain them with a quart of cream, and mix them well together in a dish with fine sugar, sack, musk, and rose-water. Thus you may do with any fruit you please.

_To boil Cream with Codlings._

Boil a quart of cream with mace, sugar, two yolks of eggs, two spoonfulls of rose water, and a grain of ambergriese, put it into the cream, and set them over the fire till they be ready to boil, then set them to cool, stirring it till it be cold; then take a quart of green codling stuff strained, put it into a silver dish, and mingle it with cream.

_To make Quince-Cream._

Take and boil them in fair water, but first let the water boil, then put them in and being tender boil'd take them up and peel them, strain them and mingle it with fine sugar, then take some very good and sweet cream, mix all together and make it of a fit thickness, or boil the cream with a stick of cinamon, and let it stand till it be cold before you put it to the quinces. Thus you may do wardens or pears.

_To make Plum Cream._

Take any kind of Plums, Apricocks, or the like, and put them in a dish with some sugar, white-wine, sack, claret, or rose-water, close them up with a piece of paste between two dishes; being baked and cold, put to them cream boil'd with eggs, or without, or raw, and scrape on sugar, _&c._

_To make Gooseberry Cream._

Codle them green, and boil them up with sugar, being preserved put them into the cream strain'd as whole, scrape sugar on them, and so serve them cold in boil'd or raw cream. Thus you may do strawberries, raspas, or red currans, put in raw cream whole, or serve them with wine and sugar in a dish without cream.

_To make Snow Cream._

Take a quart of cream, six whites of eggs, a quartern of rose-water, a quarter of a pound of double refined sugar, beat them together in a deep bason or a boul dish, then have a fine silver dish with a penny manchet, the bottom and upper crust being taken away, & made fast with paste to the bottom of the dish, and a streight sprig of rosemary set in the middle of it; then beat the cream and eggs together, and as it froatheth take it off with a spoon and lay it on the bread and rosemary till you have fill'd the dish. You may beat amongst it some musk and ambergriese dissolv'd, and gild it if you please.

_To make Snow Cream otherways._

Boil a quart of cream with a stick of cinamon, and thicken it with rice flour, the yolks of two or three eggs, a little rose-water, sugar, and salt, give it a walm, and put it in a dish, lay clouted cream on it, and fill it up with whip cream or cream that cometh out of the top of a churn when the butter is come, disht out of a squirt or some other fine way, scrape on sugar, sprinkle it with rosewater, and stick some pine-apple-seeds on it.

_Otherways._

Take three pints of cream, and the whites of seven eggs, strain them together, with a little rosewater and as much sugar as will sweeten it; then take a stick of a foot long, and split it in four quarters, beat the cream with it, or else with a whisk, and when the snow riseth, put it in a cullender with a spoon, that the thin may run from it, when you have snow enough, boil the rest with cinamon, ginger, and cloves, seeth it till it be thick, then strain it and when it is cold, put it in a clean dish, and lay your snow upon it.

_To make Snow Cream otherways with Almonds._

Take a quart of good sweet cream, and a quarter of a pound of almond paste fine beaten with rose-water, and strained with half a pint of white-wine, put some orange-peel to it, a slic't nutmeg, and three sprigs of rosemary, let it stand two or three hours in steep; then put some double refined sugar to it, and strain it into a bason, beat it till it froth and bubble, and as the froth riseth, take it off with a spoon, and lay it in the dish you serve it up in.

_To make a Jelly of Almonds as white as Snow._

Take a pound of almonds, steep them in cold water six hours, and blanch them into cold water, then make a decoction of half a pound of ising-glass, with two quarts of white wine and the juyce of two lemons, boil it till half be wasted, then let it cool and strain it, mingle it with the almonds, and strain them with a pound of double refined sugar, & the juyce of two lemons, turn it into colours, red, white, or yellow, and put it into egg shells, or orange peels, and serve them on a pye plate upon a dish.

_To Make Almond Cream._

Take half a pound of almond paste beaten with ros-water, and strain it with a quart of cream, put it in a skillet with a stick of cinamon and boil it, stir it continually, and when it is boiled thick, put sugar to it, and serve it up cold.

_To make Almond Cream otherways._

Take thick almond milk made with fair spring-water, and boil it a little then take it from the fire, and put to a little salt and vinegar, cast it into a clean strainer and hang it upon a pin over a dish, then being finely drained, take it down and put it in a dish, put to it some fine beaten sugar, and a little sack, muskedine, or white wine, dish it on a silver dish, and strow on red Biskets.

_Otherways._