The Fresh Loaf

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Prince bisket redux

gary.turner's picture
gary.turner

Prince bisket redux

In this post, "beat the batter one whole hour...", ericb introduced the prince bisket. His source put the origins as during the English civil war, or mid C17. Further research on my part puts it back to Elizabethan times at least. I made a 'full' recipe this time. Yield is 24 2oz muffins.

  • 450g flour, half AP, half cake.
  • 450g granulated sugar.
  • 8 eggs.
  • 25g caraway seeds + 10g anise seed. I think I'd prefer the proportions reversed or all anise or fennel.
  • 40g rosewater.
I mixed for a little over 45 minutes with my DLX's cookie whisk at a little less than half speed, and ladled into 2 muffin tins (24 muffins). I baked for 20 minutes @ 375℉ (my oven is non-convection), turning and switching racks halfway through (my oven is small; two tins won't fit on a rack).

The flavor is quite different from what I think of as cookie or muffin. I think the anise or fennel would be more to my taste, but I do like these. I saw coriander also suggested in one old recipe. Nigella might be a better fit with the caraway if care is taken not to overpower the caraway.

The chew is definitely angle-food cake like if the angel-food were on steroids. This crumb is definitely chewy with a rebound. If someone familiar with cookie/cake baking would chime in regarding the flour choice, that would be a Good Thing.

I wonder how these would taste warmed and buttered? That will be tested in the morning, maybe.

cheers,

gary