Renaissance Biscuit Recipes

Try These Historic Biscuit Recipes From The Renaissance Era

Enjoy trying these authentic Renaissance biscuit recipes. Renaissance biscuits were unlike the biscuits we now eat, they were actually small sugar cakes or glazed sponge cakes, sometimes called confetti.

In medieval times, small sweetened cakes were crumbled over the heads of a wedding couple who ate the crumbs for good fortune. This "eating together," called confarreatio, is the origin of the word "confetti" and was once the term used for the tiny, cookie-like sugar biscuits made from these early Renaissance recipes.

If you have difficulty reading the Early-Modern-English style of writing, or you need to shed light on any outdated ingredient names and cooking terms, please refer to...

The Renaissance Dessert Recipes Glossary

To make very fine Bisket

Take half a Pound of fearced Sugar, the Yolks of fix Eggs, a little fearced fpice and Seeds, and a little Ambergreece or Musk, your Eggs muft be very hard, then put all thefe into a Mortar and beat them to a Pafte with a little Gum Dragon fteeped in Rofewater all night, then mould it up with fine Sugar; and make it into pretty Fancies, and dry them in a warm oven.

To make Orange, or Limon or Citron Bisket

Take either of thefe preferved and wafhed from their Syrup, beat them well in a Mortar, and then put in a little Gum Dragon as before, beat them again together till it be a perfect Pafte, then mould it up with Sugar fearced, and make them up in what fhape you pleafe and dry it.

To make Bisket of Potato-Roots or Parfneps

Take their Roots boil'd very tender, and beat them in a Mortar with their weight of fearced Sugar, then put in a little Gum dragon as before, beat them to a Pafte, and mould them up with Sugar fearced, and make them up in what fhape you pleafe, and dry them.