From: Early 19th century English Cookbook
Contributor: Anne Holloway
Recipe
Strawsberry Cakes – Mrs Alvis
Two lb of Flour one lb of sugar finely
preared mix them together thin
take out ’4 lb of ^this Flour so mixed to
roll them in, take 4 Eggs beat them
4 table spoonsful of cream & two table
spoonsful of Rose water, beat them
all well together mix them in the
Flour & roll them out in thin cakes
& bake them in a quick oven
Notes for a Modern Kitchen
1kg (2LB) plain flour
500 grams (1LB) of fine sugar
4 tablespoons cream
2 tablespoons of rosewater (if you do not like rose water, use less!)
2 eggs
- Mix flour and sugar together. Take out 250 grams (¼ of a pound) of this mixture to keep aside for the end.
- Beat together the eggs, cream and rose water.
- Mix flour, sugar and egg mixture together until they form a stiff dough.
- Put down the sugar/flour mixture you set aside and roll out the dough into thin cakes (I leave this to your imagination!).
- Bake in a hot oven at 200C/400F until lightly golden.
I highly recommend adding some fresh strawberries with cream, or strawberry jam as it goes nicely with the rose water.
Curatorial accidental discovery: If you want something a little less cookie/biscuit, and a bit more cake-like, then rub in 500-700 grams of unsalted butter and bake it like a modern cake. This is also very delicious.
Background
Monash University purchased this lovely Early 19th-century English cookbook in 2016. It contains approximately 175 handwritten recipes. The volume is quarter-leather bound with marbled boards. Dates on recipes range from 1812 to 1818 and have a decided emphasis on how to brew your own wine from all the fruits (and vegetables!) of the forest.