Prince Bisket

Prince Bisket is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for a biscuit (cookie) flavoured rose water. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of Prince Bisket.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Makes:

10–12

Rating:

Tags : Baking Recipes Cake Recipes British Recipes

This is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for a biscuit (cookie) flavoured rose water.

Original Recipe

Prince-Bisket (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 one pound of very fine flower, and one pound of fine sugar, and eight egges, and two spoonfuls of Rose water, and one ounce of Carroway seeds, and beat it all to batter one whole houre: for the more you beat it, the better your bread is: then bake it in coffins, of white plate, being basted with a little butter before you put in your batter, and so keep it.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

500g flour
350g sugar
5 eggs, beaten
4 tsp caraway seeds
2 tbsp rose water

Method:

Sift the flour and sugar together and add the beaten eggs, caraway seeds and rose water. Using a wooden spoon mix all the ingredients together until they form a solid dough (this may take some time as the eggs will stiffen as they are beaten).

The dough will still be a little liquid, but this is fine. Once the dough will stiffen no more (this may take up to an hour of mixing) spoon out some of the mixture onto a greased cooking sheet to form 7cm round. Place in an oven pre-heated to 170°C (325°F/Gas Mark 3) for 20 minutes. Allow the biscuits to cool and harden before transferring to a wire rack so that they can cool properly.
Find more Hugh Plat Recipes Hereand more Traditional Elizabethan Recipes Here.