Cookies?

[coloradoclyde]

18th or 19th century Christmas cookies?... :hmm:

Also, when did frosting appear?

 

[Claude Mathis]

Frosted Marchpanes, 1494
According to Simon Charsley in “Wedding Cakes and Cultural History,” food historians describe marchpanes as a paste made of almonds and sugar that is served at celebrations. Invented for topping marchpanes in 1494, icing first appeared inseparable from them.

Frosted Cake, 16th Century
What tastes sweeter than one layer of cake but many, topped with essentially a sugar-based coating? In the 16th century, a French chef baked the first frosted, multi-layered cake, and the most lasting use for icing was born. A one-layer cake does not need icing in the same way that many layers use frosting to hold the entire cake together.

First Frosting and Icing Recipe, 1655
Beaten egg whites proved invaluable in the development of icing or frosting, according to “Wedding Cakes and Cultural History”. In 1655, Rebecca Price instructed her cook “to ”˜frost’ the newly-baked cake over with the white of an egg beaten together with rosewater ”˜and strew fine Sugar [sic] upon it, and then set it again into the Oven [sic] that it may Ice [sic]”. Note how the inventor described the cake as frosted and iced.

 

[satx78247]

INTERESTING.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, satx

 

[Tallswife]

historic foodways Christmas cookies

Really interesting article!

 

[coloradoclyde]

Thanks!....That was good....I really like the videos..... :thumbsup:

Did you see the size of the mortar and pestle in the Ratafia video? Man! I'd love to have that... :grin: :grin:

 

[sidelock]

MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone ------ and the very best to you all in 2017. I have enjoyed our banter this year. May God bless you all and the USA.

 

[George]

The same to you, sidelock. It's a pleasure sharing the forum with you.

Spence

 

[Loyalist Dave]

In very old cook books, especially British books, one would look up biscuits when searching for cookies. :grin:

In The Complete Confectioner; or The Whole ART of Confectionary (c. 1790) at the very beginning there are several recipes for different [strike]cookies[/strike] biscuits, AND there is an illustration between pages 8 and 9 of a biscuit syringe..., which we would call today a "cookie shooter" or "cookie gun".

Just be advised that these were published prior to baking powder, and early, quick rising batters would have used pearl ash plus an acid... so since this even back then wasn't widely used, you don't find anything to lighten a quick bread or cookie in many recipes, beyond a very brisk whipping before the cookies are made and baked.

So..., if you duplicate some of them you might want to tone down the eggs and/or yolks, and the whipping, and use some baking powder. IF you make them verbatim just to see what you get, remember that eggs of the 18th century were smaller than Grade A Large eggs today..., (use medium eggs in that case).

:thumbsup:

LD

 

[sidelock]

Thank you Spence. I will be back in VA soon and I visit KY often and would enjoy meeting you some day.