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

¾ cup sugar 2 Tbsp arrowroot powder 1 ½ cups orange juice 3 egg yolks 2 large oranges, or 6 clementines or tangerines 2 Tbsp butter 1 Tbsp grated orange peel 1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 deep-dish, 9” pie crust, baked

Meringue: 3 egg whites 2 Tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Grate the peel of an orange to get 1 Tbsp of orange zest (only the very outer layer of the peel, no white pith). Then peel the oranges, discard the peel, seeds, and as much pith as possible, and puree the oranges and orange zest in a blender. Chop the butter into small cubes. In a bowl, combine the orange puree, butter, and lemon juice.

Separate the eggs. Beat the egg yolks until smooth. Place the egg whites somewhere warm.

In a large pot, stir together the arrowroot and sugar. Stir in the orange juice. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat to low.

Pour a small amount of hot filling into the egg yolks, stirring as you pour. Then pour the yolk mixture back into the pan, stirring constantly as you pour.

Remove from heat. Stir in the pureed orange mixture. Pour into pie crust.

In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, 1 tsp at a time, beating on high until stiff glossy peaks form and sugar is dissolved. Spread evenly over hot filling, sealing edges to crust.

Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until meringue is golden brown. Let cool in the fridge until completely chilled before serving. The longer it has time to chill, the more solid the filling becomes.

#arrowroot #butter #dessert #eggwhite #eggyolk #lemonjuice #orange #orangejuice #orangezest #pie #sugar #vegetarian

Makes 1 pint.

½ lb grapes (any type) ¾ cup red wine vinegar ½ cup sugar ¾ tsp black peppercorns ¾ tsp mustard seeds ¼ tsp salt 4 whole cloves 1 cinnamon stick 2 grams dried orange peel (Probably 1 tsp) 9 grams candied ginger (probably 1 Tbsp)

Wash the grapes and remove stems. Put in a clean 1-pint jar.

Cook the rest of the ingredients over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Pour everything into the jar with the grapes. Set aside for about an hour to cool, then put the lid on and turn the jar upside-down to distribute the spices.

Store in fridge. They will take about 24 hrs to cure. They will keep for 4-5 days.

#candiedginger #cinnamon #clove #dairyfree #fairyfeast #glutenfree #grape #mustardseed #orangezest #pepper #salt #side #sugar #vegan #vinegar

Cake: ½ cup butter ¾ cup raw sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 eggs 2 cups fine semola 1 tsp baking powder ½ tsp baking soda ¾ cup plain yogurt ¼ cup finely chopped almonds

Syrup: 2 cups raw sugar 1 ½ cups water 1 Tbsp fresh orange zest 1 tsp dried floral tea ½ tsp lemon juice

Preheat oven to 300° F. Grease a large cake pan.

In a large bowl, mix the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well.

Mix the semola, baking powder and baking soda in another bowl. Add this slowly into the butter mixture alternately with yogurt.

Spread batter into the cake pan. Sprinkle chopped almonds over the top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes.

For the syrup, dissolve sugar in water over medium heat, add the lemon juice and the rose essence and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 5-7 minutes, then pour into another container. Put that in a bowl filled with cold water to cool the syrup so it doesn't overcook.

When the cake is done, slowly pour the cooled syrup over the hot cake. This works best to keep it in the pan so the syrup can be soaked into the cake. Serve the cake once it is completely cool.

#almond #bakingpowder #bakingsoda #butter #cake #dessert #egg #lemonjuice #orangezest #semolaflour #sugar #tea #vanilla #vegetarian #yogurt

1 cup milk 2 Tbsp butter ½ tsp salt ½ cup sugar 1 egg, beaten 1 tsp vanilla extract 1 Tbsp yeast 1 tsp sugar ¼ cup lukewarm water (110 degrees) 4 to 4½ cups flour 3 Tbsp melted butter 1 Tbsp orange zest

Sauce: 1 cup orange juice ¼ cup sugar 1 Tbsp cornstarch

Heat milk with butter, salt and ¼ cup of the sugar. Heat until butter melts, but do not boil. Let cool to lukewarm. Whisk in egg and vanilla.

Dissolve yeast in water with 1 tsp sugar. Combine 3½ cups of flour with yeast mixture and milk mixture, stirring to form dough. Turn dough onto lightly floured board. Spread a thin layer of butter inside the bowl.

Knead dough about 8 minutes until smooth and resistant, adding flour if necessary.

Return to bowl. Cover and place in warm place to rise until double in size, 1 to 2 hours.

Punch down dough. Roll out on lightly floured board to a large rectangle about ½” thick. Brush with melted butter. Mix ¼ cup sugar with orange zest and sprinkle on.

Roll dough like jelly roll. Use a sharp knife to cut thick slices to make the rolls. Place in a greased cake pan.

Mix together the sauce ingredients and pour over the rolls. Cover and let rise in warm place until nearly doubled in size.

Heat oven to 325° F. Bake rolls 45 minutes, until light golden brown.

#butter #cornstarch #dessert #egg #milk #orangejuice #orangezest #roll #salt #sugar #vanilla #vegetarian #wheatflour #yeast

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