An Addendum to The Coronation Feast of Tarrach and Fina by Sorcha Meadhdh Lassair O'Branigain

 

Springerle[i]

 

“take one pound of flour and one pound of sugar 1 oz of anise seeds ½ oz coriander seed mingle these together take 8 egs beat them very well then put in your stuff, then beat it all together very well then take dishes and anoint them with butter and put the stuff into them.  Let the oven be as hot as it is for manchet when it is brown on top turn it and set it in again.  If you will have it light put the youlkes of 8 more egs into it and beat the sugar with the egs before putting the flour into it.”

 

4 large eggs

2 cups sifted sugar

1 tsp anise extract [or ¼ tsp anise oil]

1 tsp lemon zest

4 cups sifted flour [approximately]

1 tsp baking powder or Hartshorn

½ tsp salt

 

Beat eggs until light and add sugar [slowly]; add extract and zest.  Don’t overbeat eggs.  Mix remaining dry ingredients separately and add slowly to wet mixture.  When flour is absorbed and dough is into a rough ball [you may not need to add all 4 cups flour mixture]  Dough will be moist feeling.  Turn out into plastic wrap or airtight container and refrigerate for at least an hour until firm.  Roll out chilled dough on lightly floured board.  Use cookie molds or cut fancy shapes.  Lay cookies on parchment lined baking sheets.  [I use Anise seeds scattered out on the paper before laying down the cookie shapes] Let cookies dry for at least 6 hours or overnight.  Bake in medium [350*] oven for approximately 8-10 minutes or until bottoms are lightly brown.  Baking time varies on thickness of cookie and size.  A 1” cookie ¼ inch thick will bake a lot faster than a 4”x6”x1/2” cookie.

 

[Note:  The shoe mold I used is a Springerle mold purchased from “House on the Hill” in Lombard, IL.  It is a historic reproduction mold, but I was unable to date it specifically.  Check out HouseontheHill.net for other unique and authentic reproduction molds for cookies, cakes, and papermaking].



[i] Spurling, Hilary.  Elinor Fettiplace’s Receipt Book; Elizabethan Country House Cooking.  [New York:  Viking Penguin, 1986].p.119.