Cheryl's recipes

Here are the recipes for the delicious treats Cheryl gave us at her presentation this morning: Enjoy, you ambitious souls!

Elizabethan Era Ginger Bread (serves 8)

1 cup honey
A generous 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground licorice
1 3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 tablespoon anise seeds

1. In the top of a double broiler, heat the honey. Add the spices except the anise seeds and stir to blend.
2. Add bread crumbs and mix thoroughly. Cover and cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. The mixture should be thick and moist.
3. Place the ginger bread on a large sheet of waxed paper. Fold up the sides of the paper and mold the dough into small rectangular shapes.
4. Sprinkle the anise seeds on top and press them gently into the dough with the side of a knife.
5. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
6. Serve the ginger bread at room temperature in thin slices.


Elizabethan Era Fine Cakes (yields 25 small cakes)

6 ounces of butter (1 1/2 sticks) at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk - beaten
1 3/4 cups of sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon mace
Pinch of ground saffron
1 egg white

1) In a bowl, cream the butter. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy.
2) Add the egg yolk and beat until thoroughly blended.
3) In another bowl, combine the sifted flour and spices, stirring to distribute evenly.
4) Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl containing butter and sugar mixture. Combine by stirring with your hands.
5) Press the mixture into a 9" square baking pan.
6) Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until the cake feels firm when pressed lightly in the center.
7) Cut into squares while the cake is still hot.
8) Cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Thanks Cheryl!