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HISTORIC FORT YORK
RECIPE FROM THE MESS ESTABLISHMENT
OFFICERS' BRICK BARRACKS
JUMBLES, No. 115.
ORIGINAL RECEIPT
Anonymous, The Cook Not Mad; Or, Rational Cookery,
(James MacFarlane: Kingston, Upper Canada, 1831; Toronto: The
Cherry Tree Press, 1972 and 1982), page 40, number 115.
"Two cups of butter, two of sugar, three eggs, as much flour
as will make it thin, and any good spice you like.”
HISTORIC BACKGROUND
Receipts (recipes) for jumbles first appeared in medieval cookery
books. The word "jumble" is derived from the Latin
gemel, meaning "twin". It was the shape, not the
flavour, that characterized early jumbles. Originally, thin ropes
of the dough were twisted into figure eights, circlets or knots,
and then boiled, either in water or oil. (Boiled in water,
jumbles are possibly linked to the development of pretzels and
bagels, but boiled in oil, they are ancestors to doughnuts.) By
the late 18th century, the word was being applied to dough rolled
flat and stamped with circular cutters. Today, this flat type of
jumble is more likely to be called a "sugar cookie".
There are four different jumble receipts in The Cook Not Mad.
The phrase "as much flour as will make it thin" makes
the assumption that the cook knows that jumbles are to be rolled,
so the texture requires just the right amount of flour - too much
makes a crumbly, dry dough but too little makes a sticky dough.
The Cook Not Mad, although credited with the status of
being the first cookery book published in Canada, was not
Canadian written. It was a copy of an American book with the same
title published in 1830 in Watertown, New York.
From: Food and Cooking in 17th
Century Britain, Peter Brears, (English Heritage, 1985), p.
11
OUR MODERN EQUIVALENT
The texture is delicate, so handle gently. Feel free to adjust
the spices to suit your own taste.
| 500 mL | soft butter | 2 cups |
| 500 mL | white sugar | 2 cups |
| 10 mL | nutmeg | 2 tsps. |
| 10 mL | cinnamon | 2 tsps. |
| 10 mL | ginger | 2 tsps. |
| 3 | medium eggs | 3 |
| 1.5 mL | white flour | 6 cups |
Cream: butter and sugar until
very light
Add: spices
Whisk: eggs to a pale yellow cream
Blend: whisked eggs into the butter and sugar
mixture
Sift in: flour, one cup at a time until a tender
but not sticky ball of dough is formed; add more flour if
necessary
Roll Out: with a rolling pin on a floured
surface, about 5 mm (1/4") thick, and then cut into shapes
with cutters
OR
Slice: pieces off with a knife, roll them with
your fingertips into ropes about 2 cm (3/4") in diameter and
then twist them into 15 cm (6") rings
Bake: in a moderate oven at 180°C (350°F) on
ungreased baking sheets for 12 to 15 minutes, without turning
Yield: about 6 1/2 dozen, depending on size
revised May 1993
Published with the permission of Heritage Toronto. Jessup Food & Heritage acknowledges the excellent research and experimentation performed in the historic kitchens of Heritage Toronto at Fort York, Spadina House, MacKenzie House and Colborne Lodge under the leadership of Curator Fiona Lucas. Our thanks go to Fiona and her expert staff in allowing us to share with you their work.
Jessup Food & Heritage, Limited
P.O. Box 446, 356 East Street
Prescott, Ontario K0E 1T0
telephone: 1-800-882-6704
fax: 613-536-0456
This page was last updated: Sunday, December 01, 2002
