Iumbolls
Iumbolls is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for cakes/biscuits made from ground almonds and left-over shortcake, flavoured with caraway seeds. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of: Iumbolls.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
20 minutes
Total Time:
40 minutes
Makes:
12
Rating: 
Tags : Baking RecipesCake RecipesBritish Recipes
Original Recipe
Iumbolls (from Sir Hugh Platt's
Delightes of Ladies to adorne their Persons, Tables, Closets, and distillatories with Beauties, banquets,perfumes and waters. Reade, Practise, and Censure 1602)
Take 1/2 a pound of almonds being beaten to paste with a short cake being grated, and two eggs, two ounces of caraway seeds, being beaten, and the juice of a lemon: and being brought into paste, roll it into round strings: then cast it into knots, and so bake it in an oven and when they are baked, ice them with rose water and sugar, and the white of an egg being beaten together, then take a feather and gild them, then put them again into the oven, and let them stand in a little while, and they will be iced clean over with a white ice: and so box them up and you may keep them all the year.
Iumbolls are also sometimes known as Jumbles for the plaited or knotted nature of these biscuits.
Modern Redaction
Method:
Mix the almonds, ground shortcake, egg, lemon juice and caraway seeds together. Split the mixture in three, roll into long tubes and plait these together. Place this on a baking sheet and cook in the oven at 160°C (320°F/Gas Mark 3) for fifteen minutes. Whilst the cake is cooking, mix the sugar, rose-water and the egg white together to form the icing.
After 15 minutes take the cake form the oven, cover with the icing and return to the oven to cook for a further two minutes.
Take out of the oven, allow to cook and serve.