Medieval Desserts Versus Modern Ones

Life in medieval times was infinitely different to life now and the food they ate was also very different, yet it can be fun to recreate medieval dessert recipes. Medieval foods and desserts depended on class. For example, medieval people living in manor houses would have had plenty of meat to choose from and also fish if they lived near the water.

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.

Popular Ingredients in Medieval Desserts

Nuts and berries were used in medieval soups as well as desserts. Fruit was used to make some desserts and examples include pears in syrup, pears in compote, apple stew, fig stew and raisin pudding.

These medieval desserts would have been spiced and sweetened with sugar or honey and they seem a far cry from modern day desserts such as strawberry whip cream jello dessert.

A common thickening agent in the medieval world was almond milk and this liquid was created by soaking ground almonds in wine, water, or broth. Saffron and “powder douce,” which is a combination of sugar, fennel, ground hyssop and aniseed, was also used to flavor medieval dessert recipe.

How Medieval Foods Changed During the Crusades

English, French, and German soldiers who fought in West Asia during the Crusades became accustomed to West Asian foods and, upon their return home, they missed the citrus fruits. In the late Middle Ages, citrus and other kinds of Mediterranean and Asian ingredients, were added to a lot of savory recipes and dessert recipes.

Medieval Tarts and Pastries

Fruits such as apples, oranges, and lemons were cooked with sugar, honey, cinnamon, and perhaps rosewater and then cooked inside a pie shell or on top of a piecrust made with water, butter, eggs, and flour.

You can still make desserts like this today, since the ingredients are available, but modern ingredients make it simpler to make a wide range of delicious recipes. For example, you can use jello to bind the fruit topping or to decorate a cake or cheesecake. This is timesaving and gives a great texture to your dessert recipe.

Today we have plenty more choice with dessert recipes than our medieval ancestors had. We have more cooking methods to choose from and, thanks to the internet and recipe search engines, it is simple to access thousands of dessert recipes including easy ones like jello recipes.

In medieval times, cooking would have been slow and time consuming. Refrigerators were nonexistent and cooking methods were basic, making things harder. Today we have plenty of delicious jello recipes and other dessert recipes to make cooking easy and fun.

The best strawberry jam recipe is the one that gives you delicious strawberries to enjoy year round. It should be easy to make and easy to store. When you open a jar, it should taste as fresh as the day you picked the strawberries. Use your jam on toast, bagels, ice cream, and pancakes.