A Queens Delight Part 6

_To make Paste of Oranges and Lemons._

Take your Oranges well coloured, boil them tender in water, changing them six or seven times in the boiling, put into the first water one handful of Salt, and then beat them in a wooden bowl with a wooden Pestle, and then strain them through a piece of Cus.h.i.+on Canvas, then take somewhat more than the weight of them in Sugar, then boil it, dry and fas.h.i.+on it as you please.

_To make Rasberry Cakes._

Take Rasberries, and put them into a Gallipot, cover them close, and set them into a skillet of water, and let them boil till they are all to mash, then rub them through a strainer of Cus.h.i.+on Canvas, put the liquor into a silver bason, and set it upon a very quick fire; and put into it one handful or two of whole Rasberries, according to the quant.i.ty of your liquor; and as you shall like to have seeds in your paste: Thus let it boyl very fast till it be thick; and continually stir, lest it burn; then take two silver dishes that are of a weight, and put them into your scales, in the one put the Rasp.i.s.s stuffe, and in the other double refined Sugar finely beaten, as much as the weight of Rasp.i.s.s stuff; then put as much water to the sugar as will melt it, set it upon the fire, and let it boil till it be very high candied, then take it from the fire, and put your Rasp.i.s.s stuff into it; and when your Sugar and Rasberries are very well mixt together, and the sugar well melted from about the dish, (which if it will not do from the fire, set it on again) but let it not boil in any case; when it is pretty cool, lay it by spoonfuls in places, and put it into your stuff, keeping temperate fire to it twice a day till it be candied that will turn them, joyn two of the pieces together, to make the cakes the thicker.

_To make Paste of Genoa Citrons._

Take Citrons, & boil them in their skins, then sc.r.a.pe all the pulp from the core, strain it through a piece of Cus.h.i.+on Canvas, take twice the weight of the pulp in Sugar, put to it twice as much water as will melt it that is half a pint to every pound of Sugar, boil it to a Candy height; dry the Pulp upon a Chafing-dish of Coales, then put the syrup and the Pulp hot together, boil it with stirring until it will lye upon a Pye-plate, set it in a warm stone Oven upon two billets of wood, from the heat of the Oven, all one night, in the morning turn it, and set it in the like heat again, so turn it every day till it be dry.

_To make a French Tart._

Take a quarter of Almonds or thereabouts, and peel them, then beat them in a mortar, take the white of the breast of a cold Capon, and take so much Lard as twice the quant.i.ty of the Capon, and so much b.u.t.ter, or rather more, and half a Marrow-bone, and if the bone be little then all the Marrow, with the juyce of one Lemon; beat them all together in a Mortar very well, then put in one half pound of loaf sugar grated, then take a good piece of Citron, cut it in small pieces, and half a quarter of Pistanius, mingle all these together, take some flour, and the yolks of two or three Eggs, and some sweet b.u.t.ter, and work it with cold water.

_To make Cakes of Pear Plums._

Take a pound of the clear, or the Pulp, a pound of Sugar, and boil it to a Sugar again, then break it as small as you can, and put in the clear, when your Sugar is melted in it, and almost cold, put it in gla.s.s plates, and set them into your stove as fast as you can, with coals under them, and so twice a day whilst they be dry enough to cut; if you make them of the clear, you must make paste of Apples to lay upon them, you must scald them, and beat them very well, and so use them as you do your Plums, and then you may put them into what fas.h.i.+on you please.

_To make Cakes, viz._

Take a pound of Sugar finely beaten, four yolks of Eggs, two whites, one half pound of b.u.t.ter washt in Rose-water, six spoonfuls of sweet Cream warmed, one pound of Currans well pickt, as much flower as will make it up, mingle them well together, make them into Cakes, bake them in an Oven; almost as hot as for Manchet, half an hour will bake them.

_To make a Cake the way of the Royal Princess, the Lady_ Elizabeth, _daughter to King_ Charles _the first._

Take half a peck of Flower, half a pint of Rose-water, a pint of Ale-yeast, a pint of Cream, boil it, a pound and an half of b.u.t.ter, six Eggs, (leave out the whites) four pound of Currans, one half pound of Sugar, one Nutmeg, and a little Salt, work it very well, and let it stand half an hour by the fire, and then work it again, and then make it up, and let it stand an hour and a half, in the Oven; let not your Oven be too hot.

_To make Paste of Apric.o.c.ks._

Take your Apric.o.c.k, & pare them, and stone them, then boil them tender betwixt two dishes on a Chafing-dish of coals; then being cold, lay it forth on a white sheet of paper; then take as much sugar as it doth weigh, & boil it to a candy height, with as much Rose-water and fair water as will melt the sugar; then put the pulp into the Sugar, and so let it boil till it be as thick as for Marmalet, now and then stirring of it; then fas.h.i.+on it upon a Pye-plate like to half Apric.o.c.ks, and the next day close the half Apric.o.c.ks to the other, and when they are dry, they will be as cleer as Amber, and eat much better than Apric.o.c.ks itself.

_To make Paste of Pippins like leaves, and some like Plums, with their stones, and Stalks in them._

Take Pippins pared and coared, and cut in pieces, and boiled tender, so strain them, and take as much Sugar as the Pulp doth weigh, and boil it to a Candy height with as much Rose-water and fair water as will melt it, then put the pulp into the hot sugar, and let it boil until it be as thick as Marmalet; then fas.h.i.+on it on a Pye-plate, like Oaken leaves, and some like half Plums, the next day close the half Plums together; and if you please you may put the stones and stalks in them, and dry them in an Oven, and if you will have them look green, make the paste when Pippins are green; and if you would have them look red, put a little Conserves of Barberries in the Paste, and if you will keep any of it all the year, you must make it as thin as Tart stuff, and put it into Gallipots.

_To make Paste of Elecampane roots, an excellent remedy for the Cough of the Lungs._

Take the youngest Elecampane roots, and boil them reasonably tender; then pith them and peel them; and so beat it in a Mortar, then take twice as much sugar as the Pulp doth weigh, and so boil it to a Candy height, with as much Rose-water as will melt it; then put the pulp into the Sugar with the pap of a roasted-apple, then let it boil till it be thick, then drop it on a Pye-plate, and so dry it in an Oven till it be dry.

_To make Paste of flowers of the colour of Marble, tasting of natural flowers._

Take every sort of pleasing Flowers, as Violets, Cowslips, Gilly-flowers, Roses or Marigolds, and beat them in a Mortar, each flower by it self with sugar, till the sugar become the colour of the flower, then put a little Gum Dragon steept in water into it, and beat it into a perfect paste; and when you have half a dozen colours, every flower will take of his nature, then rowl the paste therein, and lay one piece upon another, in mingling sort, so rowl your Paste in small rowls, as big and as long as your finger, then cut it off the bigness of a small Nut, overthwart, and so rowl them thin, that you may see a knife through them, so dry them before the fire till they be dry.

_To make Paste of Rasberries or English Currans._

Take any of the Frails, and boil them tender on a Chafing-dish of coals betwixt two dishes and strain them, with the pap of a rosted Apple; then take as much sugar as the Pulp doth weigh, and boil to a Candy height with as much Rose-water as will melt it; then put the Pulp into the hot Sugar, and let it boil leisurely till you see it is as thick as Marmalet, then fas.h.i.+on it on a Pie-plate, and put it into the Oven with two billets of wood, that the place touch not the bottom, and so let them dry leasurely till they be dry.

_To make Naples Bisket._

Take of the same stuff the Mackaroons are made of, and put to it an ounce of pine-apple-seeds in a quarter of a pound of stuff, for that is all the difference between the Mackaroons and the Naples Bisket.

_To make Italian Biskets._

Take a quarter of a pound of sea.r.s.ed sugar, and beat it in an Alablaster mortar with the white of an Egg, and a little Gum Dragon steept in Rose-water, to bring it to a perfect paste, then mould it up with a little Anniseed and a grain of Musk; then make it up like Dutch-bread, and bake it on a Pie-plate in a warm Oven till they rise somewhat high and white, take them out, but handle them not till they be throughly dry and cold.

_To make Prince Biskets_

Take a pound of sea.r.s.ed sugar, and a pound of fine flower, eight Eggs with two of the reddest yolks taken out, and so beat together one whole hour, then take you Coffins, and indoice them over with b.u.t.ter very thin, then put an ounce of Anniseeds finely dusted, and when you are ready to fill your Coffins, put in the Anniseeds and so bake it in an Oven as hot as for Manchet.

_To make Marchpane to Ice and Gild, and garnish it according to Art._

Take Almonds, and blanch them out of seething water, and beat them till they come to a fine paste in a stone Mortar, then take fine sea.r.s.ed sugar, and so beat it altogether till it come to a prefect paste, putting in now and then a spoonful of Rose-water, to keep it from oyling; then cover your Marchpane with a sheet of paper as big as a Charger, then cut it round by that Charger, and set an edge about it as about a Tart, then bottom it with Wafers, then bake it in an Oven, or in a Baking-pan, and when it is hard and dry, take it out of the Oven, and ice it with Rose-water and Sugar, and the white of an Egg, being as thick as b.u.t.ter, and spread it over thin with two or three feathers; and then put it into the Oven again, and when you see it rise high and white, take it out again and garnish it with some pretty conceit, and stick some long Comfits upright in it, so gild it, then strow Biskets and Carrawayes on it. If your Marchpane be Oyly in beating, then put to it as much Rose-water as will make it almost as thin as to ice.

_Lozenges_

Take Blossoms of Flowers, and beat them in a bowl-dish, and put them in as much clarified Sugar as may come to the colour of the cover, then boile them with stirring, till it is come to Sugar again; then beat it fine, and sea.r.s.e it, and so work it up to paste with a little Gum Dragon, steep it in Rose-water, then print it with your mould, and being dry, keep it up.