Adventures in Procrastinatory Baking

[rikibeth]

I have just about convinced myself that I really DO need to acquire some Madeira and bake a seed-cake, for the rather flimsy reason that my characters (Horatio Hornblower, Archie Kennedy, and Lady Clarke, who is Archie's Aunt Sophia -- I invented HER, at least) are partaking of that right now. Baking seed-cake is probably easier than writing.

So: do

Comments

[eglantine_br]

Does anyone else have the Secret Garden cookbook? I have that one, but now I do want Spotted Dog.

Wind in the Willows is another food inducing book.

[rikibeth]

There's a Secret Garden cookbook

[eglantine_br]

I wonder if you could do a cooking demo there, the way they do at Plimouth...

I miss New England. I have my mother's copy of Fannie Farmer. I don't have Mrs Beeton, but I do have Settlement House. (Not as old, but the recipes feel old. I made a pound cake from it last week, it actually asked for a pound of everything.)

[rikibeth]

They absolutely do cooking demos at Noah Webster. The Stowe house isn't set up to have a WORKING kitchen, just a well-equipped one. It would have been a wood or coal range at the time, and the fire marshals would just LOVE that, let me tell you...

Proper pound cake still SHOULD have a pound of everything; it just makes rather a lot of pound cake that way. If you look in my modern baking textbook, it's still there.

I don't think I could ever leave New England *points to icon*. Where are you now, if you don't mind me asking?

[c1]

I'm all for obsolete measurements. Bonus points if you can incorporate attoparsecs, microfortnights, or Helens in your baking.

[eglantine_br]

hee...

[anteros_lmc]

Btw If you fancy trying your hand at some really historical cooking I can highly recommend Cooking and Dining in Ancient Rome by Apicius. Where else can one find recipes for stewed ostrich and roast flamingo?!

ETA How did the seed-cake turn out?

[rikibeth]

*g* as a fan of the Marcus Didius Falco mysteries, I am well familiar with that text!

The seed-cake was... interesting. I documented the whole process with pictures, and intend to do a full writeup and post it to following_sea as well as here. It's definitely not a modern taste, but it does pair nicely with madeira!

[anteros_lmc]

I am well familiar with that text!
Yay! We tried making some of the recipes for an open day at a Roman cavalry fort excavation I worked on years ago. Some of them were quite edible!

intend to do a full writeup and post it to following_sea
ROFL! I am going to have to create a new following_sea tag just for you - fanworks:baking XD Can't wait for the write up!

[rikibeth]

Fanworks:baking! I love it! Anything you want me to, er, research after the seed-cake?