Recipe from Country contentments, or The English huswife. by Gervase Markham, published 1623. Above you can see a scan of the original text. The book can be read at archive.org. This is known to be the oldest found recipe for pound cake.

Very unusual for a historic recipe to have specific quantities listed, so that is helpful. I based my baking instructions on an analysis of the recipe found on cupcakeproject.com.

I cut the recipe in half because it is huge, and I used only whole eggs, for the sake of convenience. To be more medieval, the flour should be whole wheat but soft and finely milled. (I used to be able to buy whole wheat pastry flour. It was perfect for medieval recipes. I miss it.) The sugar should be raw sugar, or brown sugar if that is more available. Sugar was crystallized in this time period, but from what I can tell it was another 100 years or so before sugar was so purified that it resembles the white granulated sugar of today.

½ lb flour ½ lb sugar 6 eggs ¼ oz fennel seeds or star anise ¼ oz coriander 1/8 oz dried orange peel or fresh orange zest

Grind the fennel/star anise, coriander, and orange peel in a mortar with a pestle, until the spices are as fine as you can get them. Remove any remaining large pieces.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and spices.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs until mixed. Slowly add the flour mixture while beating on medium-high speed with an egg beater or stand mixer. Continue to beat for 10-20 minutes (my egg beater was getting worryingly hot at 10 minutes, so I stopped).

Grease a 9”-10” circular cake pan and preheat oven to 350° F. Bake cake for 35-40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

#anise #cake #coriander #dairyfree #dessert #egg #fairyfeast #fennel #historical #orangezest #sugar #vegetarian #wheatflour

2 cups spinach, cooked or frozen ¼ cup dried fruit ½ cup warm milk 3 cups flour 2 tsp instant yeast 1 tsp salt 1-2 tsp herbs or spices as desired 2 Tbsp oil 1 egg

If your spinach is frozen, warm it up before mixing. Combine the spinach, dried fruit, and milk in a blender and puree until smooth. You need 1 ½ cups of puree (add more milk if necessary).

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, salt, and seasoning. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg with the oil.

Stir the spinach mixture and egg mixture into the flour mixture. Knead it thoroughly. It will seem dry but the spinach will continue releasing moisture as it is kneaded, so don't add more liquid until you're sure it needs it.

Put the dough in a bowl coated in oil, cover it, and let rise until doubled (about 45-60 minutes).

Lightly knead the dough, then form it into rolls and place on a baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes or until doubled. While rising, preheat oven to 375° F.

Bake for 17-20 minutes.

#bread #driedfruit #egg #fairyfeast #milk #oil #roll #salt #side #spices #spinach #vegetarian #yeast

2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder ½ cup nut flour ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground nutmeg or mace 1-2 oranges or clementines or tangerines 12 Tbsp butter 1 cup sugar 2 eggs 1 cup plain yogurt 3 Tbsp melted butter 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 ¼ cup grated apple

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, nut flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg/mace.

Peel the oranges and manually remove the pith and seeds. Blend the orange flesh in a food processor to create a thick pulp, it doesn't have to be totally liquefied. You need to get 2/3 cup of orange pulp.

In a large bowl, cut the butter into the sugar, then beat them until they are creamed together. One ingredient at a time, beat in the eggs, yogurt, and orange pulp.

Spray the bottom and sides of a large cake pan. In the bottom of the pan, spread the melted butter, then evenly sprinkle the brown sugar, then evenly spread the grated apple.

Gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Spread the batter evenly over the apples. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until the cake tests done.

Let the cake cool until it has shrunk away from the edges of the pan, then turn out up-side down onto a serving tray.

#apple #bakingpowder #brownsugar #butter #cake #cinnamon #dessert #fairyfeast #mace #nutflour #nutmeg #orange #sugar #vegetarian #wheatflour #yogurt

1 tsp dried rose petals, hibiscus petals, or similar sweet flower ½ cup warm water ¼ cup raisins, dried cranberries, or other small dried fruit 1 ½ cups flour ¼ tsp salt ¾ cup butter 3 small apples 2 pears 2 Tbsp honey ½ cup chopped almonds

Grind the flower petals into a powder. In a small bowl, combine the warm water with the flower petals and dried fruit. Set aside while preparing the filling.

Slice the apples and pears into thin slices, removing the core. Cook the fruit with ¼ cup butter and honey over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the apples are soft and butter is melted. Remove from heat. Scoop out the raisins with a slotted spoon and add those to the apple mixture.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Cut in ½ cup of butter. The flower water should be just under ½ cup; stir that into the flour to make a paste. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill.

Preheat oven to 375° F.

When the dough is cold and harder, roll out into a large, thin circle and line a deep-dish pie pan. Set aside any extra dough to make a decorative top. Spread the chopped almonds into a layer on the bottom, then add the rest of the filling.

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

#almond #apple #butter #cranberry #dessert #driedfruit #fairyfeast #flowers #honey #pear #pie #raisin #salt #vegetarian #wheatflour

A sort-of medieval recipe, I haven't found a good primary source, only other people saying that it is medieval. A small verse:

Next crowne the bowle full of With gentle lambs wooll, Adde sugar, nutmeg, and ginger, With a store of ale too, And thus ye must doe To make the Wassaile a swinger.

No reference was listed, and it sounds fake; but I haven't had time to investigate further. Anyway the recipe is unusual and delicous regardless of provenance.

3 liters of apple juice or cider (I did part unfiltered apple juice, part carbonated apple juice) 6 large apples 2 tsp ground nutmeg 1 tsp ground ginger 1 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 375° F. Cut the apples in half and cut out the cores. Place them in a cake pan and add about ½” of water. Roast the apples for 35-45 minutes, until they are mushy and the skin is peeling off.

Meanwhile, put the sugar in a pan and add enough juice to cover it. Heat over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the nutmeg and ginger. Keep it over low heat.

Remove and discard the skin from the roasted apples. I found that different varieties of apple peeled differently, and some apple flesh needed to be scraped off the back of the pulled-off skin, but it wasn't difficult.

Puree the apple flesh in a food processor or blender until it is totally smooth like thick apple sauce. If using a blender, add enough juice to get it to blend, but not enough to really liquefy it. It needs to be thick and drier than usual applesauce.

Set a crock pot on high heat. Pour in the apple juice/cider and the sugar mix. Stir together. Then pour in the pureed apple. It should float to the top and resemble a wool fleece soaking in cider. Let it heat up to desired temperature, then set the crock pot to low or warm to maintain temperature for the duration of your winter feast.

#apple #applejuice #brownsugar #dairyfree #drink #fairyfeast #ginger #glutenfree #historical #nutmeg #slowcooker #vegan

4 cups flour 1 ¾ cups warm water or milk 1 Tbs. salt 2 tsp dry yeast or .6-.7 oz fresh yeast 2 tsp sugar

Mix-ins: peanut butter jam/jelly cheese marinara sauce, with or without cheese, minced pepperoni, etc poppy seeds and lemon zest dill weed and grated carrot any kind of herbs, edible flowers tiny bits of caramel cheese with minced vegetables like peppers, garlic, etc honey cinnamon and sugar dried fruit Use your imagination!

Combine the yeast with the sugar in warm water/milk. Stir in the flour one cup at a time, adding in the salt with the last cup of flour. Knead so that it's smooth and elastic with some resistance.

Coat bowl and dough in oil or water. Place dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap sealed around the edges, but large and loose over the top so it doesn't smash the risen dough. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled, in a warm place.

Divide dough into a lot of small portions. Add a different mix-in into each piece, adding flour if necessary to anything that is too wet. Some fillings can be kneaded into the dough. For some fillings, roll the piece of dough flat, put on the filling, and roll it into a log with the filling spiraled inside. Others can be made into little filled dumplings. Coat the outside of the pieces with water so they will adhere together. Put the pieces of dough all together in a greased bread pan, coat the top with oil, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise again for another 30 minutes or so, until it is about an inch over the top of the pan.

Spray water into the oven or place a small pan with water inside. Put the bread pan into the oven, then start pre-heating to 350° F. Bake for 60-70 minutes until it's a dark golden brown on top and the interior measures to 190°-200° F.

#bellpepper #bread #caramel #carrot #cheese #cinnamon #dill #driedfruit #fairyfeast #garlic #honey #jalapeño #jam #lemonzest #milk #nutbutter #nuts #pastasauce #peanutbutter #pepperoni #poppyseed #salt #side #spicedsugar #sugar #wheatflour #yeast

Crust: 1 ¾ cups flour ½ cup brown sugar ½ cup cold butter, cut into small cubes 1 egg ¼ cup cold water

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Mix flour and sugar. Cut in butter until there is no dry flour. Stir in the egg. Add half of the water, stir it in completely, then stir in the rest of the water. Chill the dough while making the filling.

Filling: ½ cup butter ½ cup honey 2 Tbsp water ¼ cup sugar 2 cups sliced almonds

Stir all ingredients except almonds over medium heat, until butter is mostly melted and sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add almonds.

Divide the dough in half and press each half into a pie or tart tin (9”-10”), pressing it partially up the sides. Pour half of the glaze into each crust.

Bake for 25 minutes.

#almond #brownsugar #butter #dessert #egg #fairyfeast #honey #pie #sugar #vegetarian #wheatflour

2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen) 2 cups water 1 Tbsp floral tea* (dried rose petals, hibiscus, chamomile, etc) 2 cups sugar 2 liters carbonated water

Spices: For regular healing potion: ½ tsp ground ginger For greater healing potion: ¼ tsp ground clove For superior healing potion: ¼ tsp smoked paprika For supreme healing potion: 1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper

½ tsp pearl dust** For regular healing potion: pink pearl dust For greater healing potion: white pearl dust For superior healing potion: silver pearl dust For supreme healing potion: gold pearl dust

*The floral tea I used in this batch was a combination of hibiscus petals, lemon peel, orange peel, rose hips, and rose petals.

**Pearl dust is a powdered food coloring, made with mica powder, used to decorate pastries. It is shimmery, and not to be confused with color dust, which is powdered food coloring that is not pearlescent. It is also called luster dust in different brands.

Combine raspberries, water, floral tea, and spice over high heat in a large pan. Bring to a boil, then lower to medium heat to maintain a boil for 25 minutes.

Put a fine mesh strainer, or a colander lined with cheesecloth, over a tall bowl or pitcher. Pour the mixture into the strainer and let it slowly strain through gravity, without pressing the mixture.

Eventually, after an hour or more, you should have about 1 ½ cups of syrup.

Remove and reserve 2 cups of carbonated water from its bottle. Add the pearl dust into the bottle, then pour the raspberry syrup into the bottle. Top off any empty space with the reserved carbonated water. Screw on the lid and gently tilt the bottle back and forth to mix it.

#carbonatedwater #cayenne #clove #dairyfree #drink #fairyfeast #ginger #glutenfree #paprika #pearldust #raspberry #sugar #tea #vegan

Bread: 2 tsp dry yeast or .6 oz cake yeast 2 tsp sugar 2 cups warm water or soup stock 1 Tbsp salt 4 cups flour 1 tiny pinch of lavender buds ½ tsp fennel seed 1 tsp thyme

Filling: 1 pound ground sausage ¾ cup grated or minced onion ¼ cup grated carrot 1 tsp minced garlic ½ cup (4 oz) cream cheese

1 egg for glaze

Stir together the sugar, yeast, and water/vegetable stock. Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time. With the last cup, add in the salt and herbs. Knead on a floured countertop until the dough is smooth and less sticky. Coat the dough with oil, place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.

While the dough is rising, cook the sausage, onion, carrot, and garlic in a pot over medium heat. Cook until the sausage is mostly browned. Some pink is ok, as it will be cooked again. Cut the cream cheese into chunks and stir it into the meat mixture.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll the dough out into a rectangle taking up the whole space of the baking sheet, then place the filling along the middle 1/3 of the dough, leaving about 1 ½ inches of free space at the ends. Cut slashes along the sides of the dough.

Fold the short ends over the filling, then fold each fringe piece of dough over the middle, alternating sides and stretching at a diagonal to create a braided look. Pinch closed any large gaps in the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise another 30 minutes. Towards the end, set the oven to preheat to 350° F.

When the dough is done rising, beat an egg and brush it all over the loaf.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

#carrot #creamcheese #egg #fairyfeast #fennel #garlic #lavender #main #onion #salt #sausage #soupstock #sugar #thyme #wheatflour #yeast

4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen 3 cups water 2/3 cup sugar 2 cups plain yogurt ¼ tsp ground allspice

Combine the blueberries, water, sugar, and allspice in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. In small batches, blend the blueberry base with the yogurt in a blender, until the soup is completely smooth. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, then serve.

#allspice #blueberry #dessert #fairyfeast #glutenfree #side #sugar #vegetarian #yogurt