Re: [lace] St. Catherine's Day-Cattern Cakes
Hello Devon and everyone While I can't offer insights into a lace celebration (though, why not, ale?! sounds a plan)I spent an instructional afternoon today testing the Cattern Cakes recipe found here. Its rising agent is yeast, yes it works as mix-in: http://www.lynsted.com/Recipes/Cookbook/Cattern_Cakes.html No references, scholarship doubtful? but the Tudor connection is interesting. Coincidentally on PBS, there was a re-run of Bake Off, Tudor Week - the Jumble Biscuits are spiced similar to Cattern Cakes. Their knot configuration could be considered lace-themed? http://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/jumble-biscuits/ At the PBS site there is a link to a UK-to-North American ingredient converter. I used it to convert the measures for the Cattern Cakes with yeast. As for any other time I've tried to make Cattern Cakes, the dough is homely, the pinwheel effect is indistinct, the size of each cake is huge (yield in this batch,12) and I needed 30 min. baking time even at 400 deg. F. for crisp, as in not gummy and underdone, results. Two in the household and a guest offered to sample, all having several just to make sure. Perhaps appearance isn't the main thing. HTH On Wed, Nov 1, 2017 at 8:30 AM, DevonThein wrote: > ... > I have been researching recipes for Cattern Cakes. One thing that leaps > out at > me is that none of them are accompanied with a photo of the finished > product. > In my cooking life I have found this to be a red flag signifying that it is > quite likely that the recipe has never been kitchen tested, or never > successfully kitchen tested. Has anyone ever successfully made Cattern > cakes? > If so how did you do it? > -- Bev in Shirley BC, near Sooke on beautiful Vancouver Island, west coast of Canada - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] Re: St. Catherine's Day-Cattern Cakes
Ok, so here is my knowledge from when I ran the cook school and had my own home economist. Plus my research into cattern cakes. Use butter. If you can't use butter use a pure sunflower spread that is as near to 70% fat as possible (it says so on the packet). I use, in the UK, PURE (brand) sunflower spread for cakes and the old fashion Stork block for melted recipes. This is because hubby is dairy free. Otherwise I would use butter all the way. Dry cakes and biscuits come from using a low level fat. Most low fat spreads are 50% fat and lower. The rest is made up with water. When you bake the water evaporates and you end up with a dry mix. Add more water to you mixture and you get a sloppy mix and a dry biscuit. I know, doesn't make sense but take my word for it after hundreds of biscuits cooked over the years. The recipes for cattern cakes in the book that everyone has said and the one that was published in the Lace Guild all those years ago all originate from one single book published in the 70s about the food of the UK. I have searched for years for other versions and they all have the same ingredients in the same proportions. As I have to use gluten free flower for me and dairy free for hubby I have developed the following ways to create s lovely little cattern cake biscuit. 1) use large eggs every time 2) shove all the ingredients into the biscuit and form little balls the size of a small golf ball 3) put said golf balls of loveliness into a baking sheet that has silicon paper on it as a liner and squish them s little with the back of a fork The silicon paper reflects heat back into the biscuit and helps with the cook. Baking parchment is ok but avoid greaseproof paper as it absorbs moisture and affects your bake. Large eggs add the extra moisture without drying in the bake. Good luck. L Sent from my iPad > On 1 Nov 2017, at 18:18, Sue Babbs wrote: > > I suspect some of the problem in the dryness of the cattern cakes is the > difference in flour from the UK to the USA. - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] St Catherine's Day - Cattern Cakes
Because I had all the ingredients on hand, I just made the Cattern cakes recipe, which is exactly as Phillipa has typed out in her message. My verdict: I weighed everything and then measured it in North American cups. You wind up with roughly 3-¼ cups of dry ingredients that are supposed to be moistened by ½ c butter and 1 medium egg yolk. In the recipes in my trusty Canadian baking book, that amount of butter and egg is used to moisten about 2 cups of dry ingredients. So, I put in an extra 2 ounces of butter and used a jumbo egg rather than a medium one, and the mix turned good. I followed the rest of the instructions; must say the cakes are indeed bigger than a cookie - you would want 1 cake per person. I got 16 cakes, about 3” wide and a little under 1” high. The baking time wasn’t enough - the first few were still raw in the middle after 10 minutes. Adele - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] Re: St. Catherine's Day-Cattern Cakes
This website, http://www.cooksinfo.com/flour, supports the claim that you need to add liquid when making a UK recipe with American flour, and subtract liquid for the reverse. Unfortunately they do not say exactly how much to add/subtract. There is also a helpful table showing how different flours are labeled in the UK, Canada, and the US. Amanda in Philly On Wed, Nov 01, 2017 at 08:04:26PM +, Devon Thein wrote: > I was wondering about whether it was the self rising flour that was the > problem. I wonder why you need more water in the US. Perhaps a humidity > issue? > I do have the recipe in the very pretty book about Cattern Cakes and > holidays, so no need to retype it. > > What about beverages? I see that something called Hot Pot is served. Also, > lacemakers beg for ale. Has anyone tried either of these? > Devon > > > > > - > > To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: > > unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to > > arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ > > > > - > To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: > unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to > arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] St Catherine's Day - Cattern Cakes
My lace group in Kurri Kurri, NSW, Australia has our Christmas get together close to Nov 25th - Catterns Day. Each person contributes some food to share - in Oz we call this "bring a plate" - and also a small gift (to an agreed value) which is put into the lucky dip basket. Some people bring lace to do but mostly there is general chat, often someone who has been travelling will tell us about their craft related doings. My contribution is the Cattern Cakes. The recipe was found online and the result is a very authentic British style of cake. Maybe an American would call them a cookie - they are somewhere between a cake and a biscuit in type. Recipe: 9oz/275 gms SR flour (cake flour ie.including raising agent) 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1oz/25 gms currants 2oz/50 gms ground almonds 2 teaspoons caraway seeds 7oz/200 gms castor sugar 4oz/100 gms melted butter 1 medium sized egg beaten Cinnamon and fine sugar mix for sprinkling Heat oven to hot Sift flour and cinnamon together Add currants, almonds, caraway seeds and sugar Add melted butter and beaten egg Mix by hand to give a soft dough but dont handle too much. Roll or push out on a floured surface to a rectangle about 12 x10 ins, 30 x25 cms. Brush the surface with water Sprinkle on the cinnamon/sugar mix so that the surface looks brown. Roll up the dough from the long side. Slice into approx. 3/4in /2cm slices 12 or so cakes Place well apart on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, so that they are beginning to brown but don't overcook. They will puff up a bit and spread out. They should be more crumbly and chewy than crisp when cold. The result is a spiral which represents the wheel on which St Catherine was martyred. They are very quick to make, and best made on the day of eating. So to answer your queries Devon: The mix is a dough but but not made with yeast. Caraway seeds are essential, as are currants, and the cinnamon layer to give the wheel effect. And the ground almonds give the texture. Philin Maitland NSW - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] Re: St. Catherine's Day-Cattern Cakes
I was wondering about whether it was the self rising flour that was the problem. I wonder why you need more water in the US. Perhaps a humidity issue? I do have the recipe in the very pretty book about Cattern Cakes and holidays, so no need to retype it. What about beverages? I see that something called Hot Pot is served. Also, lacemakers beg for ale. Has anyone tried either of these? Devon > > - > To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: > unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to > arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ > - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] Re cattern cakes
There's a picture on another webpage:http://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/lacemakers-cattern-cakes-english- spiced-sugar-cookies-266901 Note the subtitle. English spiced sugar cookies. It's guess that, in a pinch, you might be able to get a package of sugar cookie mix, roll it out and add the fruit and spice bits, then bake. It might be an acceptable alternative. If you're in the USA, like me, no one has tasted an authentic cattern cake so no one would be the wisrer. It would also eliminate having to translate English ingredients into what's available in the USA. I made the cookies from the book recipe once years ago. My problem is that I don't like caraway, so I made half with and half without that seed. It's too long ago to remember how well they turned out. We ate them but I don't think they were memorable. I may try again this year, especially since we have lace meeting on Nov. 25th. Perfect timing. Thanks for reminding me. Alice in Oregon -- where summer ended yesterday and winter rains are due to start today. On Wednesday, November 1, 2017 12:23 PM, Shirley MEIER wrote: Hi Devon , if you enter  cattern cakes / visual   into your browser and then find the  Lavender and Lovage   page you will find an easy recipe plus visual pictures . Hope this helps. Shirley in Corio , Oz. shirl200...@gmail.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Re cattern cakes
Hi Devon , if you entercattern cakes / visual into your browser and then find theLavender and Lovage page you will find an easy recipe plus visual pictures . Hope this helps. Shirley in Corio , Oz. shirl200...@gmail.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] Re: St. Catherine's Day-Cattern Cakes
I suspect some of the problem in the dryness of the cattern cakes is the difference in flour from the UK to the USA. I often have to add more liquid over here than I did when I made the same recipe in the UK, but you need to know what the consistency should be to get that right. Also I believe there is a different balance in rising agents in self-rising flour (UK) than in self-raising flour (US), so you might want to Google how much baking powder etc to add to plain flour to get the equivalent to UK self-rising flour. I can't find it in my recipe books quickly. Sorry Sue suebabbs...@gmail.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Re: St. Catherine's Day-Cattern Cakes
Dear Devon, I expect you'll get lots of answers to this question. Just to say I have successfully made Cattern cakes from the recipe in the book "Cattern Cakes and Lace. A Calendar of Feasts" by Julia Jones and Barbara Deer. They were delicious and needed no yeast. My recipe used self raising flour, and produces a dough that you roll up, then slice to make the Catherine Wheel shaped biscuits. I can type in the recipe if you haven't already got it. (I think the book is out of print). Are you going to do the rest of the meal - boiled, stuffed rabbit and onions???!! Or the St Catherine's Eve Cathern Bowl?? Lovely idea to celebrate St Catherines Day. Enjoy it, Jane from an autumnal New Forest, where the colours are wonderful - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] St. Catherine's Day-Cattern Cakes
Hi Devon: Just to say I suggest you *don’t* make the recipe found in the book “Cattern Cakes and Lace”. It sounds good, and I had high hopes for it, but the cookies were astoundingly dry. Maybe there’s a misprint and maybe a professional baker could look at the recipe and find the problem; I think they specify too much flour, but I don’t know. That recipe is one where you roll out the dough, sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar, and roll it up. Makes a nice spiral, which goes with the Catherine Wheel idea. Adele West Vancouver, BC > I have been researching recipes for Cattern Cakes. One thing that leaps out at > me is that none of them are accompanied with a photo of the finished product. > In my cooking life I have found this to be a red flag signifying that it is > quite likely that the recipe has never been kitchen tested, or never > successfully kitchen tested. Has anyone ever successfully made Cattern cakes? > If so how did you do it? - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] St. Catherine's Day-Cattern Cakes
The Brooklyn Lace Guild would like to have a riotous debauch on St. Catherineâs Day and have looked to me for guidance about how to plan it. Has anyone ever celebrated St. Catherineâs Day with their lace group and what advice would you offer? I have been researching recipes for Cattern Cakes. One thing that leaps out at me is that none of them are accompanied with a photo of the finished product. In my cooking life I have found this to be a red flag signifying that it is quite likely that the recipe has never been kitchen tested, or never successfully kitchen tested. Has anyone ever successfully made Cattern cakes? If so how did you do it? The recipes all seem to have some similarities. Many seem to start with bread dough and then add a few ingredients, always including caraway seeds, often butter, an egg. Some include cinnamon, almonds and currents. Other recipes start from scratch and have you adding yeast to flour, but donât seem to allow for any rising time. This seems odd to me. Sometimes the âcakesâ are formed into a loaf, or some other mound. In some recipes they are rolled out flat, then curled up in a spiral roll and cut crosswise like cinnamon rolls. This sounds prettier, but possibly less authentic. One thought that occurs to me is that there must be some way to start with a premade dough and then add the optional ingredients. Call me lazy. Suggestions? Devon Sent from Mail for Windows 10 - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] Lace tells
Maureen, I thought this was a fascinating site. Here's the link http://torch.ox.ac.uk/themes/tellings-reconstructing-repertoire-songs-used-en glish-lace-schools Beth Harpell in dreary New Jersey where it's only 36° > On Nov 1, 2017, at 9:07 AM, Maureen wrote: > > Dear All > > I recently saw an email about lace tells and songs and that someone in Oxford was doing some research but I now can't find it, either in the emails or in the archives. Can anyone remember who commented about it? if so could you let me know please? > > Regards > Maureen > In grey Yorkshire UK > > - > To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: > unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to > arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Lace tells
Dear All I recently saw an email about lace tells and songs and that someone in Oxford was doing some research but I now can't find it, either in the emails or in the archives. Can anyone remember who commented about it? if so could you let me know please? Regards Maureen In grey Yorkshire UK - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
