Early modern recipe books

Note that all white sweetmeats must be done with double refined sugar, or clarified Sugar, and as your preserue them strew parte of the waight of the sugar on the sirrup, of white or greene it will make them keepe theire couler.

Note that for preserueing all plumbet to keepe them from Breaking, is to giue them a little slitt in the Lower End, if you doe not stone them, or pare them, this is most proper for dampsons

Note that for preserued Quince, the best way for them is to vse noe other but faire water, that hath Quince seeds steeped or boiled in it.

Some doe put in the Iuice of Aples to make the Quince Ielly the moud and looke cleere, But its nothing soe good, nor tasts soe kindly.

Note that though white Quince marmalet holds & tast he best, yet it must ever be kept dry, for if the candies Topp doe once graroe moist, it will quickly chang couler, and grow darker.

And soe will alsoe dried cake, or dried plumbit, loose theire couler.

The longer and softer all kinds of blacke plumbit are done, they are the blacker and looke better.

If you find the sirrup of preserued Apricocks to thiken like honey with keepinge, or that your sirrup is gone, then make a sirrup with Sugar, and Sliced pipings to a Ielly, it will looke cleere, put it to your Apricockes with in a day, and not body can know it from the right sirrup.

All december and Ianuary is a good time to preserue pipings in.

Grapes will make fine cleere cakes and Iellyes.

Note that all white preserues looke much the better to be dont, with double refined Sugar, or else to haue refined Sugar Clarifed.

Some will keepe Iuice for cleere Cakes warme till the Candy is ready, with wood not be too high as to sugar, Cut them not out of your glasses, till they haue Candied a fort night in a stone.

To kep all kinds of Redd preserues with a pure Dryentall Couler, put in sometimes 2 or 3 dropes of sirrup of mulberryes.

Quinces and Peaches put together, make very goode past like that of fenon.

ffor preserueing Quinces white lett them not be> to Ripe.

The fflanders Cherryes are not soe good to preserue as the English, because they are not soe ffleshey, they must new be too ripe, to be of a deepe redd Couler.

Note that any preserues or marmaletts thayt you would spend with a quarter of a yeare after you haue made them, will keepe soe long well enough with halfe the waight of the Sugar.

Noate thayt all Bisket Bread should be kept in Tin, or earthen Potts, or Boxes, But if in Wood Boxes, then Oakewood best, because it gives Least ill tast to any sweetmeates, the like also for Wafers, Iomballs, such like you would keep drye & Crisp, must also be kept in a dry place: but Macker ounes, & Cakes of Almons, & all Plum Cakes & such like for of Flower, must not be kept in to dry a place

To recouer the tast of Bisket, Cakes, & suchlike when the grow stale or tast of a Cubert; to eate as if they wear New also Manchet Bread, Put them into a Warme Ouen after Bread is drawen; or by the fyer; & for Cakes or Bread, if you will, wett them a little all ouer with some Ale or new Woort, or Bear the better, & so they will eats New for one day.

Noate that Refined Suger, or Brazill Powder, is best for Rock Candies: for Barbery, or Mederous Sugers, are to fatt sugers.

Noate that after you haue put into suger, your fruites, or Iuices that you would haue Candy, then keep them only on the fyer soe longe tell it but begins to boyle; for boyling will hinder the candiing then, & only turne to a Roapinge.

To prepare Gumm Dragon for Makeinge Sweetmeats, Pasts and Sugar, Plats, the

Take a quarter of a spoonefull of the Gumm, to ftower spoonefulls of Rosewater soe lett it Lye all night. the whitest is the best.

To Clarifie Sugar for more pure preseruinge

Beat Sugar very Small, wett the Sugar very thin with water as halfe a pint, to a pound almost (or else its apt to candy in the boiling vp) and as it boiles vp, put in two whites of Eggs beaten to water, and therie shells to some two pound of Sugar, Then settinge it on a Blazing fire, boile it a pace with continuall stirring, vntill it hath fully Boiled by 2 or 3 times till it growes fowle or Blackish, with gathering all the foulenes to the scumd then powre it through a strainer to [rasin] into a sirrup.

{Some Clarety with 24 Spoonfulls of faire Water beaten with the whites of 2 Eggs into Froath, which Froath put into the Hott Syrop & when it boyleth up, put in 2 or 3 drops of colde water, then set it of & Scum itt clean}

Muske or Amber greece put into wett Sweetmeats makes them mould.

Muske and Ambergreece.

Note that one graine of muske is enough to mixe with fowre graines of Ambergre to put into any Sweetmeats, and without Muske the Ambergreece will not put forth its strength. Some will put in Eight graines of Ambergreece.

To desolue Ambergreece that it may be alwayes ready to perfume what you will for the Smell but not for eatinge: by puting a drop or more on the place and rubinge it in. Sir Will Paston

Take a drame of Ambergreece. halfe a drame of Civett, an ounce of Oyle of Benn, the Iuice of a Lemon, halfe a dram of muske, Mixe these togeth[...]

in a hott Silner onorter, But remember to put the musk in last when the morter is Cold.

An excelle An Excellent perfume

Take of thye puder of Iuniper Beniamin storax of a each two ou ounces & of the oyle of cloves 6 dro^pes of musk ten grains Beat all thease to past with a little gume dragon steeped in rose water roule them in to little pelets as big as a great pea p flat then and theym & dry them in an Oven & when they be thur throught dry thay will burne with an dilicate smell

The vse of Amber

Mingle togather in a hot morter a dram of amber half a dram of civet one ounce of Oyle of Ben the iuce of a big limon half a dram of Musk the muske must be put in last

when the morter is cold cleane i[...] with quanty lie of salt & that [...] last being beaten as it ware mix[...] with amber let the morter be heals in hot water so as noe wat[...] may get in.

To dry Apricotes

Take your Apricotes when they be ful[...] ripe pare & stone theym & as you doe them putt them into fare water then waight them & put to every pard pound of apricots a pound of sug[...] then put your apricots in hote water tell they be soft then take theym out & lay thye owne a cloth put to every pound of suger a pin[...]

of water & set it on cotes tel thye suger be melted then scum it and put your apricots into thye syrupe let theym be hot of owne one side & then turn them that thay may be throughtly hot but not boyle then set them by tell that they be throughly cold heat them owne both sides twice a day for 7 days togather then take them up on your plate & set theym in an oven/

To Keepe Barberyes with out boyling

Take fine seareed suger & lay a laying of it in the bottome of a deepe narrow gally pott then take barbires & stone them & lay a lying of them but not uery thick then lay an other laying of suger & so of barberes