17th Century Cookbooks

17th Century Cookbooks
Transcriptions taken from Manuscripts held at the Wellcome Library for the History of Medicine
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To make the best Bisket-Cakes

Bisket Cakes

"Take four new laid Eggs, leave out two of the Whites, beat them very well, then put in two spoonfuls of Rose-water, and, beat them very well together, then put in a pound of double refin'd Sugar beaten and searced, and beat them together one hour, then put to them one pound of fine Flower, and still beat them together a good while; then put them upon Plates rubbed over with Butter, and set them into the Oven as fast as you can, and have care you do not bake them too much."
The Queen-Like Closet, by Hannah Woolley (late 17th)

spacer Ingredients

2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 2 spoons rosewater (if you are using pure dilute cooking rosewater, you can go ahead and simply use a soup spoon or whatever but when using a more concentrate water, use with caution), 1 pound of sugar and 1 pound of flour. (butter to grease the pan)

spacer Instruction

  • Heat your oven to a quick oven, generally this is around 400F but I had mine arounf 350F, however my oven also runs hot.
  • The directions are quite basic, everytime you add an ingredient, stir a whole lot. I wasn't sure if it would make a difference if I stirred much after adding the rosewater but did anyway.
  • When it is all mixed, you will want to put the biscuits on a very well greased plate.
  • The dough will be rather sticky and difficult to roll or shape. To deal with this, I used an old trick and rolled up the dough into a log and sliced it. Some of the biscuits were also spoon off and squished with the bottom of a glass. It seems to make no difference in the end, though a squished biscuit leaves a nice smooth surface on top.
  • Do not leave them in the over too long, if they start showing signs of turning gold, take them out right away

spacer Notes

You will notice a slight buttery flavour from the bottoms of the biscuits which may actually seem a bit unwelcome. You may want to keep this in mind. I am unsure of the tastes of the time but most modern eaters will likely find them best when fresh from the oven when they are still quite light and fluffy. As they age, even if well sealed in a jar, they will develope a tough and chewy exteriour.



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