Medieval Desserts And How They Differ From Modern Ones

If you could spend a day in medieval times, you would notice many differences between the medieval world and the modern one you live in. You would have eaten and lived according to your social status and class in medieval times. Someone with money would have had access to meat, fish, and desserts, for example, and there are a lot of foods and desserts that are very similar today to these old-fashioned ones.

The wealthy could afford grain such as milled flour and dairy products like butter and cheese. Medieval peasants had to make do with a more basic diet and they would have had to use rye and barley rather than wheat products and honey was used to sweeten foods and drinks. Elaborate desserts would not have been a possibility for the poor.

Ingredients Used in Medieval Desserts

Berries and nuts were grown and used in desserts as well as soup recipes. Fruity desserts were well liked and examples include apple stew, raising pudding and fig stew. Pears were popular too and dishes like pear compote, pears in syrup and pear stew would have appeared on the medieval dinner table.

Sugar and honey added sweetness to medieval dessert recipe and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg enhanced the flavor. These desserts sound delicious but they would have been hard work to make, compared to the easy fluffy jello dessert recipes and instant jello pudding recipes of today.

Almond milk was used as a thickening agent for drinks and desserts in the medieval world and this was made by soaking ground almonds in broth, wine, or water. Powder douce was a tasty combination of ground hyssop, fennel, aniseed, and sugar and saffron was also used as an ingredient to add flavor.

Medieval Desserts After the Crusade Period

French and German soldiers, as well as English ones, became used to West Asian flavor during the Crusades and they missed the oranges and lemons when they got back to their Northern European countries. Citrus fruits and other West Asian and Mediterranean ingredients became popular in the late Middle Ages and were used in both dessert recipes and savory ones.

Medieval Tarts and Pastries

Lemons, oranges, pears, and apples were combined with honey or sugar, rosewater, nutmeg or cinnamon and baked inside a butter, water, flour and egg piecrust.

It is still possible to make pastries and tarts with these ingredients today but the appearance of other modern ingredients has made this type of cookery less popular. You might like to use jello as an ingredient in a fruit tart for example, or make a jello fruit cheesecake. You might even want to forget the classic dishes altogether and whiz up a five-minute instant pudding if you have had a long day and you want a break from cooking.

There is obviously a lot more choice of quick and easy desserts now than in medieval times, not just because we have a far better range of ingredients to use but also because we have less time to cook and appreciate the timesaving ingredients and cooking methods available to us.

A medieval housewife would have spent the day cooking, cleaning, and caring for her family but the fast-paced lifestyle we are more familiar with today sees more women working all day and then looking for quick and easy dessert recipe like jello recipes, easy cake recipes, and healthy dessert recipes to feed her family.

Perhaps you have some old copper jello molds or tin jello molds gathering dust in the kitchen. Why not get them out and make some tasty jello recipes? Jello is a wonderful dessert for kid and adults alike and jello molds are perfect for making a stunning looking dessert.

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