Gluten-Free Medieval Desserts for Modern Campers
By THL
Isolda Fairamay
Background
and Purpose of This Class:
I was diagnosed with celiac disease in
2005. When I joined the SCA in 2009 I
quickly discovered that feasting was going to be a challenge for me. At that time and in my area there wasn’t a
lot of consideration that went into menu planning for those with dietary
challenges other than being a vegetarian or commonly known allergies such as
nuts and seafood. It didn’t seem to be a
concern, not because people didn’t care, but because they were not aware. Once people started to get to know me and
hear about my dietary challenges, they started asking questions about what it
meant and how to do it, so I began holding a few simple classes on gluten-free
and dietary awareness. Although sewing
was my main interest when I joined the SCA, my dietary needs accidentally and
quickly steered me in the direction of the kitchen. While cooking has never
been my strong-suit, baking has always been a passion of mine even before I was
diagnosed with celiac disease. As it
happens, I have found inspiration in re-inventing some of my own British
family’s old recipes that I have discovered have at least some origin in
medieval times. Anything pastry is my
favourite thing to make, but I have branched out into experimenting with other
types of medieval desserts. I even
hosted a feast called “Fool’s Paradise” that was 100% gluten-free and revolved
around desserts. My most recent adventure in gluten-free medieval baking was the
creation of a gluten-free bread recipe that could
have existed in the Middle Ages…and that was an adventure of over 30 recipe
attempts! Suffice it to say, I have done
a LOT of experimentation with many many failures, but many many successes as
well. Today I hope to share some of my
successes with you by demonstrating a sample of gluten-free desserts.
What’s
on the Menu?
I’d love to show you everything I’ve done, but
I had to choose recipes that could be done in a fairly short amount of time and
that could be done in a simple camp setting.
I’m sure these could be made in a more medieval camp setting, but I want
people who don’t know much about medieval camping (like me!) to be able to make
something that is, if not documentable in period, gives the atmosphere of
period desserts. However, along with the
recipes for the desserts being made today, I am also including a couple of
other recipes in the written material that you can take home and try yourself.
1) Honey Steamed Pudding
2) Pan-Fried Eccles Cakes Made with Gluten-Free
Pastry
3) Egg Custard Sauce
Honey
Steamed Pudding Cake:
When I was growing up my favourite dessert
that my British Mum used to make us was steamed pudding with Lyles Golden
Syrup. There was no Lyle’s Golden Syrup
in the Middle Ages, so my Mum’s version isn’t medieval at all.
Last summer a dear friend of mine with a Roman
persona was being elevated to the Order of the Laurel. Part of his celebration was a reception to be
held that evening. The elevation
happened at Great Northeastern War so therefore it was in a camp setting. I wanted to make something special for him
and I wanted it to have a Roman theme.
Honey being widely available in Ancient Rome and medieval times, I
decided to replace the Lyles Golden Syrup in my gluten-free steamed pudding
recipe for honey, inspired by period documentable Roman Honey Cakes. The thing that makes this recipe perfect for
a camp setting is because it is steamed.
All you need is a butane or propane stove to make it.
Ingredients:
1/3 cup white rice flour
¼ cup tapioca flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon xanthan gum
¾ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter (I use lactose-free butter, but
you can replace it with dairy free margarine)
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
¼ cup milk
Small bottle of honey
Optional: Bay leaves…I used these to decorate the honey
steamed pudding I made for my friend since he was being elevated to the Order
of the Laurel.
Method:
Beat the butter and sugar together until light
and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well after adding each one. Add vanilla extract
and cider vinegar. Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Stir in dry
ingredients into mixture, alternately with milk, making 3 additions of dry
ingredients and 2 of milk. Only stir until just combined. Line medium pyrex or
metal bowl with parchment paper. Pour in honey until about ¾ of the bottle is
gone. Carefully pour the cake mixture over top of the honey, making sure the
cake mixture covers it all…you can use a spatula to spread it to the sides.
Cover the top of the bowl very well with aluminum foil. You may want to use 2
pieces. Take a large pot and put a sieve or some scrunched up pieces of foil on
the bottom. Place the bowl in the pot. Fill with water up to approximately ¼ of
the bowl. Cover the pot and set to boil. Once water is boiling, turn down heat
until the water is just boiling. Steam for 1 hour and 15-30 minutes. Check the
level of the water now and then to make sure the pot doesn’t boil dry and add
water as necessary. Once done, carefully remove bowl from pot. Remove foil from
top of bowl, then place your serving plate over the bowl and carefully invert
it so the bowl is now upside-down on the serving plate. Carefully remove the
bowl and peel away the parchment paper to reveal the honey-soaked pudding cake.
Use the remainder of your honey to pour over the cake and to coat the serving
plate. Decorate with bay leaves as desired. The cake may be served hot or cold with
hot or cold egg custard. My favourite way to eat it is right out of the dish
with hot egg custard.
Pan-Fried
Eccles Cakes with Gluten-Free Pastry:
A British sweet treat mainly comprised of
pastry filled with currants, Eccles Cakes, were first recorded as being sold in
1793 at a bakery shop in the Lancashire town of Eccles. In medieval times, the church at Eccles held
an annual service known as Eccles Wakes, after which a fair was held, including
the consumption of Eccles cakes. When
the Puritans came to power in 1650, the wakes and cakes were banned because of
their “juicy and exotic richness”. The
cakes made a comeback, thankfully, during the Restoration of the English
monarchy.
Eccles
Cakes Filling:
2oz brown sugar
2 oz butter (I use lactose-free. Dairy-free margarine would work as well)
6 oz dried currants (NOT raisins!)
Gently melt the butter and brown sugar
together. Stir in currants. Let cool before filling the pastry.
Isolda’s
No-Fail Gluten Free Pastry:
Adapted from Pie Pastry recipe found in 125 Best Gluten-Free Recipes by Donna
Washburn and Heather Butt
This recipe is my “no-fail” pastry recipe that
I use for all of my pies, tarts and hand pies.
Seriously, the page in the recipe book that it originates is a mess of
food stains and literally falling out of the book! It can be made with all butter, all
shortening, a combination of both, or all dairy free margarine to suit your
guests’ needs. I find that if you use
shortening or margarine you need to decrease the amount you use compared to
butter or the pastry will become too sticky. For Eccles Cakes, an all butter
pastry is best for taste.
1 cup rice flour
1 cup corn starch
½ cup tapioca flour/starch
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup butter (I use lactose-free.)
1/3 cup ice water
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 egg yolks
*Extra rice flour for rolling
Mix dry ingredients together. Add butter and using a fork or two knives,
cut in until mixture is crumbly. You can
also rub it between your fingers to crumble the mixture. Mix the wet ingredients together with a fork
and then pour into the dry mix. Mix with
a fork until mixture starts to stick together and you can then use your hands
to form it into a dough ball. For
rolling, using two pieces of parchment paper, sprinkle some rice flour on the
bottom piece, place your dough to be rolled on top, sprinkle a little more rice
flour on top, then cover with the second piece of parchment paper. Roll dough to the thickness desired. To easily transfer to a pie plate, peel the
top piece of parchment from the rolled dough, sprinkle with rice flour, replace
parchment paper on top, then turn the whole thing over so you can peel the
remaining piece of parchment paper off.
place your pie plate upside-down on the rolled pastry and then carefully
turn it over using the bottom parchment to hold it. Peel the parchment off and carefully press
pastry into pie shell. If any bits fall off, just press in some extra bits into
your “holes”. Fill shell and top with second piece of pastry and use a fork or
fingers to secure together around the edge.
Prick and bake using your recipe’s directions for the pie filling. This recipe will be enough for one complete
pie.
Making
Up the Eccles Cakes:
Using an appropriate size cookie cutter or
drinking glass, cut out as many pastry discs as the recipe will allow. There are two methods to constructing an
Eccles Cake. 1) The traditional method is to place a spoonful
of the Eccles Cake filling into the middle of a pastry disc leaving a good
amount of room around the edges. Using
your fingers, bring up the sides of the dough into the centre and pinch
together to form a pouch. Turn the pouch
over on a parchment lined baking sheet and gently flatten. Using a knife or kitchen scissors, cut 3
slots in the top. 2) Alternatively, you
can place spoonful of Eccles Cake filling into the centre of a pastry disc and
cover with a second pastry disc. Secure
the discs together around the edges with a fork or by pinching them
together. Using a knife or kitchen
scissors, cut 3 slots in the top.
*If you are baking these at home in a regular
oven, it is important to PRE-HEAT the oven to 450F. Place Eccles Cakes on a parchment lined
baking sheet. If you have time, chill the
prepared Eccles Cakes. Once the oven it
up to temperature, bake for approximately 20 minutes, until they are crusty and
slightly browned on the bottom. The
filling will likely leak out somewhat and may smoke so don’t abandon your
oven! Remove from oven and place on
cooling racks. Let cool somewhat, then
sprinkle with superfine sugar. DO NOT
eat these straight from the over or you WILL burn your mouth! I recommend waiting at least 10 minutes.
Pan-Fried
Eccles Cake Method:
For the pan-fried version of Eccles Cakes I
recommend using the second method of making them up since they will likely stay
together better. Also, I would omit the
step where you cut 3 slots into the top since you will have filling leak out of
your Eccles Cakes in the pan and it will be a huge mess.
To pan-fry, heat a little butter in a
non-stick pan to a medium-high heat.
Carefully place 3-4 Eccles Cakes in the pan. Let them sit for a bit then carefully turn
them over. You may need to add more
butter to the pan. Turn the heat down
slightly and cover the pan. Keep turning
the cakes and checking for browning until they look done. Remove from pan and place on a plate or
cooling rack to cool. Sprinkle with
superfine sugar.
The results of a pan-fried Eccles Cake will be
a little cakey and won’t be as crunchy as an oven-baked Eccles cake, and they
may tend to fall apart easier, but the taste is there. Believe me, they won’t last long! You can use other desired fillings to make
different types of pan-fried pastries as well.
Your imagination is your only limit!
Egg
Custard Sauce:
When my mother used to make steamed pudding
with Lyle’s Golden Syrup she always made Bird’s Custard sauce to go with
it. Since Bird’s Custard Powder is not
from medieval times, I had to find another method. It’s not difficult to find
recipes for custard from the Middle Ages.
Most recipes you will find are in the form of pies, but there is a
recipe for sauce that rivals Bird’s Custard any day!
Crème Boiled:
Adapted from a 15th century recipe
book called Two Fifteenth-century Cookery-books:
Crème
boiled. ¶ Take mylke, and boile hit; And þen̄ take yolkes of eyren̄, and try
hem fro the white, and drawe hem thorgℏ a streynour, and cast hem into þe
mylke; and then̄ sette hit on̄ þe fire, and hete hit hote, and lete not boyle;
and stirre it wel til hit be som̄-what thik; And caste thereto sugur and salte;
and kut þen̄ faire paynmain soppes, and caste the soppes there-on̄, And serue
it in maner of potage
Translation:
Take milk and boil it; And take yolks of eggs, and separate them from
the white, and draw them through a strainer, and cast them into the milk; and
then set it on fire, and get it hot, and let not boil; and stir it well until
it be somewhat thick; and add sugar and salt; and cut good bread into pieces,
and add the pieces into it, and serve it in manner of potage (I interpret this
as a thick blended dish).
Isolda’s
Custard Sauce:
Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk or cream
5 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar (For a honey custard,
reduce sugar to 2 tablespoons and add 2 tablespoons of honey)
Pinch salt
Method:
Heat milk in a sauce pan (if you have a double
boiler, use that) to a point when the milk begins to scald. Remove from heat. Beat egg yolks in a separate bowl with sugar
until thick and creamy. Very slowly pour
the milk into the egg mixture, stirring constantly until the eggs are tempered
so they do not coddle. Pour mixture back
into saucepan. Heat slowly on low to
medium heat, stirring constantly (do not boil) until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and strain the mixture
through a fine sieve into the serving bowl to filter out any egg that may have
congealed. Serve hot or cold. Yields just over 2 cups. *For a dairy free
option, this sauce has been attempted with So Nice For Coffee dairy free
alternative and the results were very tasty.
I have tried it with coconut milk, but the results were a complete
disaster!
More
Recipes to Try When You Get Home:
Honey
Saffron Applesauce
This recipe I created and served as part of
dessert at our Ruantallan Baronial Investiture Anniversary in 2016. (Head Cook:
Mistress Gwenhwyfar Emrys) This is another recipe that can easily be
made in a camping environment.
9 lbs apples
1 ½ cups water
1 ½ cups honey
¾ cup lemon juice
6 pinches salt
3 pinches saffron
Mix water, lemon juice, salt and saffron in a
large pan. Peel, core and chop apples
into cubes right into the mixture. Add
honey. Cook over low-medium heat,
covered, and stirring occasionally to break up the apples for 20-30 minutes
until apples are soft. Let cool. If the consistency of the sauce is too lumpy
for your taste, use a hand mixer to break it up or mash the lumps with the back
of a slotted spoon. Makes approx. 12
cups
Isolda’s
Shrewsbury Cakes:
The first thing to know about Shrewsbury Cakes
is that they are not really cakes at all, they are cookies, or biscuits. Made
with flour, sugar and butter, they are very much like shortbread cookies and
are known for being flavoured with spices and/or rosewater. The book entitled The Taste of Britain by Laura Mason and
Catherine Brown suggests Shrewsbury Cakes were first documented in the 1500’s,
referring to their crisp and brittle texture.
Specifically, there appears to be reference to Shrewsbury Cakes in 1596
when, due to a shortage of grain, there was a ban on making these “fine cakes”
in Shrewsbury. There are several literary references to Shrewsbury Cakes
including many cookbooks. One of the most notable and early literary references
to the crisp and brittle texture of these biscuits comes from Lord Herbert of
Cherbury when writing to his guardian, Sir George More in 1602: “…it is a kind of cake which our country
people use and made in no place in England but in Shrewsbury…” This reference to Shrewsbury, a town in the
county of Shropshire, England, is very likely the origin of the name of these
delicious cookies. Since then, the
Shrewsbury Cake name has gained in fame and is a well known cookie in Britain,
with many flavour variations used including rosewater, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon
or orange, and even dried fruit.
Of course, my Shrewsbury Cakes are
gluten-free!
Ingredients:
1 lb finely ground rice flour
8 oz butter
8 oz caster sugar (known as superfine sugar or
special fine sugar)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg lightly beaten
Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter and rub through fingers until
mixture resembles peas. Add just enough
egg to bring dough together (you need less than you think!). Roll between two pieces of parchment paper
VERY thin. Cut into desired shape (the
circle is the traditional shape). Bake
at 325 F for 5-8 minutes until crisp.
Yields approximately 150 biscuits.
(Shapes come out better if refrigerated for a time before baking. It is also possible to freeze cut shapes
ahead of time for easier prep.)
Brie as a cheese can be traced back to the
Middle Ages. It is said that Emperor
Charlemagne pronounced brie as “one of the most marvellous foods”. The recipe for Tart de Bry calls for “chese
ruayn”. Many historians believe it means
a soft English cheese made of “rewain” grass but considering the title of the
recipe, others have deduced that it could mean the cheese could be FROM Reuil
in Brie ie. “Reuil-an”. Either way, who wouldn’t want brie in a tart,
all melty and yummy?
Original Recipe Found in Pleyn Delit (Hieatt and Bulter, 1390):
174. Tart de Bry. Take a crust ynche depe in a
trap. Take yolkes of ayren rawe & chese ruayn & medle it & þe
yolkes togyder. Do þerto powdour gynger, sugur, safroun, and salt. Do it in a
trap; bake it & serue it forth.
Isolda’s Châteaux de Brie (Brie Castles)
My gluten-free redaction for this recipe was
another item on my menu for my “Fool’s Paradise” event. I wanted to include some subtleties so I made
these tarts to look like castles and decorated them with tiny banners made with
toothpicks and triangle shaped pieces of paper with our Baronial and Canton
devices on them.
Ingredients:
One recipe of Gluten-Free Pastry
6 egg yolks
6-8 oz brie, rind trimmed, cheese
chopped into very small pieces
Pinch ginger
Pinch salt
Pinch saffron
¼ cup sugar (optional…if you want a
savoury tart, leave out the sugar)
Beat the yolks until creamy yellow,
with sugar if using it, otherwise beat them on their own. Add salt, ginger and saffron. Beat brie in a separate dish as smooth as you
can. Beat egg mixture and brie
together. For “Châteaux de Brie”
(castles), line cupcake tins with cupcake liners. Cut the pastry into castle turret shapes. Cut
the outside of the castle shape first, line the sides of the tart shell and
pinch overlapping ends together. Cut out
circles and place them in the bottom of the tart shell making sure there is
enough overlapping the edge upwards. One filling recipe yields approximately
12-16 tarts. Bake 375 F for
approximately 20 minutes…watch for browning.
You can also simply fill a pie shell with the filling but it may need
longer baking time.
Gingerbread:
Medieval gingerbread is nothing like the
modern day gingerbread cookies we have come to love today other than the
addition of ginger, although other spices were used as well in medieval
times. Medieval gingerbread is a mixture
of honey, breadcrumbs and spices with addition of saffron or powdered
sandalwood for colour and results in something of a candy or other confection. It was often made into shapes using wooden
moulds and the gingerbread was often gilded with gold leaf.
My version basically replaces regular
bread-crumbs with gluten-free bread crumbs. The most important thing to know is
DO NOT use the pre-packaged gluten free bread crumbs. They don’t have the correct consistency and
some have added cornmeal which doesn’t give you the results you want at
all. My preference is to use Udi’s
gluten free white bread or burger buns left out on the counter for about 2-3
days until they’re stale and then break them up and grind them in a blender.
Isolda’s
Gluten-Free Gingerbread People:
3-4 oz honey
4 Udi’s Gluten Free White Sliced Bread, stale
and broken into very fine pieces
½ -1 teaspoon of ground ginger (to your taste)
¼ - ½ teaspoon of cinnamon (to your taste)
Rice Flour for Rolling Out
Bring the honey to a boil on medium heat. Add spices.
While stirring, add breadcrumbs gradually until the mixture becomes
thick and stiff but workable. Let cool
slightly until mixture can be handled with bare skin. It will thicken upon cooling but if it is
still too runny, you can add more breadcrumbs while on low heat. Turn mixture onto a piece of parchment
paper. Add another piece of parchment on
top and roll out to desired thickness.
Cut the gingerbread into desired sizes and work into desired shapes. The use of a cookie cutter is helpful but you
can mould it into very cool designs with your hands! They are quite sweet and gingery, so I would
suggest not making any pieces larger than 1-2 inches perimeter. Cool in the fridge and store in a covered
tin…use pieces of parchment paper for each layer of gingerbread pieces so they
don’t stick together. Although it would
be a sticky mess, this mixture would make a great children’s activity…children
can mould pieces into shapes they like and decorate them.
Bonus…here’s my gluten-free leavened medieval bread recipe!
Isolda Fairamay’s Gluten-Free Leavened Medieval Bread Recipe:
2 tablespoons lard, melted
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon yeast
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons hot water
¼ cup hot water
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 oz garbanzo/fava flour
2 oz
millet flour
2 oz
rice flour
1 oz ground flax
Method:
Mix garbanzo/fava, millet and rice flours together with salt in a
bowl. In a separate bowl, mix melted
lard with ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons of hot water and stir in the ground flax. Meanwhile, mix the honey with ¼ cup hot water
and sprinkle the yeast over it and stir a little. Let stand for about 5 minutes. Stir the flax mixture with the yeast mixture
together then add to the dry ingredients.
Beat with a fork or spoon until the mixture comes together and for as
long as your arms can stand mixing.
Place into a parchment lined metal dish, cover lightly with plastic wrap
and let rise for approximately 40 minutes.
On the stovetop, prepare a pot with a pressure cooker rack (metal sieve
with holes in it), a sieve that will fit in the bottom of your pot or simply
crumple up some aluminum foil to make a place for your baking bowl to sit
on. Pour enough water in so that it will
come up about a quarter of the way up the side of your baking bowl when the
bowl is set in and bring to boil. Remove
the plastic wrap from the baking bowl and cover it securely with aluminum
foil. Place bowl in prepared pot, cover
and steam for about 60 minutes. Remove
from dish and place onto a cooling rack, cover lightly with a tea towel and let
rest for 10-20 minutes before cutting.
*I have since made buns using this
recipe by using a foil cake pan, lining it with parchment and then setting
blobs of the batter in it…approximately 6 will fit in the pan. Turned out very well!
