My sister sent me this poem yesterday. Her son, who is in grade six, was given a task of writing about a picture. The picture he wrote about was a picture of Jesus holding a lamb. This is what he wrote.
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Metaphorical Lemon Puffs
The recipe for Lemon Puffs as it appears in The English Art of Cooking by Richard Briggs, printed in 1798.
I chose this recipe thinking it would represent Austen’s Fools. You know ─ the characters who seem all that is charming but turn out to be. . .well. . .not so nice. I thought the sugar could represent their charm and the sourness of the lemons could represent those parts of their character they wished to keep hidden. Little did I realize how this experiment was going to truly show me their characters.
I followed the recipe as it was written except for one small change. I found whipping the eggs and sugar by hand to be something I was not capable of doing for half an hour. Though I did persevere for more than half of that time, I finished the half hour using an electric hand mixer.
After the half hour of mixing, the egg and sugar mixture was thick but no overly so. I questioned the addition of three beaten eggs, but since the recipe said to add them, I did. Perhaps I had done something wrong, but my mixture became quite runny as I suspected it would. Still I continued. I dropped small drops on a parchment lined pan and baked them. The results were not unlike the Austen characters who seem so promising but leave disappointment in their wake. As the small drops baked, they ran together and flattened out…there was no puff in my lemon puffs. How disappointing!
They seemed to lack substance ─ does that sound like some of those rather shallow Austen Fools?
So what is a lady to do when met with such disappointment? Go looking for a Colonel Brandon, of course. Or in the case of my lemon puffs, search the kitchen for ingredients which might have been found in a regency kitchen.
To my runny, disappointing lemon puff mixture, I added. . .
- 3 1/2 t. baking powder (I do not know if they had this back then, and perhaps baking soda would have worked just as well or better since there was an acid, the lemon juice, in the batter already.)
- 1 1/2 c. almond flour
- 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
I then dropped the much more substantial batter onto parchment lined pans and baked. I wish I could tell you precisely how long I baked them, but I can’t since I forgot to set the timer, and the oven was accidentally turned off during the baking of one pan. My best guess is they took about 13 minutes to bake at 350°F. And, in the words of my dear husband who endured the grumbling that went along with this baking experiment, the results were “surprisingly delicious”─crisp on the outside and soft and cake-like on the inside.
This makes me wonder. . .can an Austen Fool be made into something less disappointing? Now there’s something to ponder while enjoying a lemon cookie with a cup of tea.
My Story…in Art
Just stopping by today to show you a piece of artwork. My friend Kathleen over at Kitty’s Daydreams printed out a page of Oxford Cottage and created a custom piece of art for me. Isn’t it lovely? Not only is it in my favourite colour…pink, but it also contains a found poem just for me.
I believe
courage,
my dearest,
was in her
nature.
What to see some of Kathleen’s other work?
Hop on over to her facebook page (here) or her Society 6 store (here).
A Change of Heart
About a week ago on a snow day, I sat down with my computer and decided to take part in a playground challenge at A Happy Assembly (a JAFF forum). The topic was grovelling and making amends. I thought about that horrible scene in Pride and Prejudice where Darcy’s proposal is firmly refused. I decided to give a unique reason to Elizabeth for her burst of anger and harsh words.
It is snowing again today, but I am at school and not home. Traffic was horrid, and I was late. I ended up filling in for a colleague and had part of a class taken for fundraiser. I am feeling rather growly, so I decided to share Elizabeth and Darcy’s story of what happened after the refusal but before Darcy could leave the parsonage.
A small bit of understanding, a kind word, a small gesture is sometimes all it takes to go from grumbly to contented…to have
A Change of Heart
“Forgive me for having taken up so much of your time, and accept my best wishes for your health and happiness.” Darcy turned to leave.
Elizabeth saw the hunch in his shoulders and the slight shake of his head. Was he deriding himself? Had she truly heard pain behind his anger? Her emotions threatened to overcome her, and without a thought, she called out to him.
Continue reading A Change of Heart
Elizabeth’s Gift to Lady Matlock
In For Peace of Mind, the Gardiner and Bennet families have a tradition of giving gifts at the end of each year. As Elizabeth explained to Georgiana,
“The gifts must show thankfulness for and give blessing to the receiver. Uncle says that is the most important part of the tradition.”(For Peace of Mind, Chapter 9)
I wanted Elizabeth to give a gift of homemade sweets to Lady Matlock. This sent me wandering around the internet in search of information about sweets in Regency England. Happily, I stumbled across the third edition of a cookbook published in London, England in 1827 which contained a recipe for chocolates! Below is that recipe.
Conserve of Chocolate—Conserve de Chocolat.
Boil-down two ounces of chocolate de santé or of vanille, in a quarter of a glass of water; have ready half a pound of sugar on perlé; mix it with the sugar, and work as the other: or all sorts of wet conserves, follow the directions given for cherries, currants, gooseberries, raspberries, oranges, lemons, &c. &c.
Of course, my research could not stop there. I had to try it. I needed to know how hard it might be for Lizzy to make her gift. So, I read the recipes for the other types of conserves as listed and gathered my tools. The results were edible, but not very good.
After a bit of thought, I decided perhaps I could find a similar recipe in my grandmother’s cookbook (printed in 1934)and use those instructions. This is the recipe I found.
Cocoa Fudge
1/2 cup cocoa
2/3 cup cold water
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
nut meats
Place the cocoa and cold water in a sauce pan. Stir over low fire until chocolate is melted. Remove from fire and stir until smooth. Stir in sugar gradually and add milk. Then stir over fire until sugar is dissolved. Boil over medium flame until it reaches 226 degrees F. or until a soft ball will form when a teaspoonful of syrup is dropped in cold water. When test is obtained place pan in cold water to cool for a few minutes. Add butter and vanilla. Remove pan. Beat until it begins to thicken and lose its shine. Add nut meats. Pour at once onto a damp cake pan (greasing is unnecessary).
Marjorie M. Nelson
I gathered my tools again and began my second attempt. In this second attempt, I used 1/4 cup of cocoa, 1 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of cold water, and a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. I followed Marjorie’s directions as written omitting the information about the milk, butter and nut meats; making sure not to stir while the mixture boiled; and pouring it not into a damp pan but into a pan lined with wax paper. The results were not only edible but declared good by my teenage son!
Next time, I think I might try adding dried fruit or nut meats, or perhaps I will pour the chocolate into some pretty moulds, or….
Sources:
The Art of French Cookery by A.B. Beauvilliers, Restauranteur, Paris, Third Edition, printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, Paternoster-Row.
Friendship League’s Book of Tested Recipes (Swedish Tabernacle Church, Minneapolis, MN published by Independent Press.