Hello, friends! It is time once again to delve into the world of historic recipes. This week, I was lucky enough to come across a tasty recipe for some little treats in a cookbook published in 1832 titled Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats (a book I have used before in my historic eats endeavors). This recipe was for baked goods called jumbles, which don’t exactly sound too appealing but are indeed delicious!
The recipe for “Jumbles” reads as follows:
“Three eggs.
Half a pound of flour, sifted.
Half a pound of butter.
Half a pound of powdered loaf-sugar.
A table-spoonful of rose-water.
A nutmeg grated.
A tea-spoonful of mixed mace and cinnamon.
Stir the sugar and butter to cream. Beat the eggs very light. Throw them, all at once, into the pan of flour. Put in, at once, the butter and sugar, and then add the spice and rose-water. If you have no rose-water, substitute six or seven drops of strong essence of lemon, or more if the essence is weak. Stir the whole very hard, with a knife.
Spread some flour on your paste-board, and flour your hands well. Take up with your knife, a portion of the dough, and lay it on the board. Roll it lightly with your hands, into long thin rolls, which must be cut into equal lengths, curled up into rings, and laid gently into an iron or tin pan, buttered, not too close to each other, as they spread in baking. Bake them in a quick oven about five minutes, and grate loaf-sugar over them when cool.”
Most of the ingredients listed are typical in our kitchens today with the exception of rosewater and mace, which as I have explained in previous posts, can be found in places like Whole Foods or specialty shops. Both of these ingredients pack very powerful punches, so small amounts are all you need to make a difference in a recipe! Let’s see how they made a dessert like jumbles taste:
(For the purposes of this recipe, the ingredient measurements were roughly cut in half to control the portions.) The ingredients are: 2 eggs, 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 stick butter, 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tablespoon rosewater, 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon mace, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon.
I first creamed the (softened) stick of butter and cup of powdered sugar in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed.
I then added the two eggs to the butter and sugar mixture. This is a little out of order from what the recipe states, but it makes it a lot easier for the batter to come together!
I then added the flour, spices, and rosewater to the mixture and mixed it on medium speed for about 4 to 5 minutes.
I then rolled out portions of the dough on a floured surface and shaped them into circles. I realized later that perhaps they were supposed to be tight circles and not large like I made them, but they still turned out great!
I placed my jumbles on a buttered baking sheet and baked them in a 450 degree oven for 8 minutes–just a tiny bit longer than what the recipe stated.
Once the jumbles came out of the oven, I sprinkled them with more powdered sugar.
Even though these are probably much larger than they were meant to be, my jumbles turned out to be very delicious and pretty!
While I have no idea what “jumbles” were originally intended to look like, I thoroughly enjoyed my large, sugary circles. 🙂 The rosewater and mace add very distinct flavors to the dough, and this is actually a very simple recipe to follow that does not take a very long time to make. For their ease and tastiness, jumbles would be great for any parties (or lazy Sundays) you have planned in the near future!
Bold, Joyful Life 