Apricot Cream
 from Eating
Shakespeare
Betty & Sonia Zyvatkauskas
Elizabethan recipes translated for today's kitchen. Alas, there are no
dishes from which two dozen blackbirds emerge from a crust. $26.95.
Go bind thou up yon dangling apricocks,
Which, like unruly children, make their sire
Stoop with oppression of their prodigal weight.
-- Richard II
Pairing seasonal fruit with velvety cream was already an established
tradition in Shakepeare's day. Ours is a lighter version of Hannah Woolley's
recipe, which calls for the apricots to be boiled in cream.
To make Cream Apricoks
from the Accomplisht Ladys Delight by Hannah Woolley
First boyl your Apricocks with Water and Sugar, till they are Tender,
and afterwards boyl them in Cream, then strain them and season it with
sugar.
Our Version
2 cups dried apricots
1-1/2 cups white wine
Sugar, to taste
1 cup 35% cream
In a small covered saucepan, cover the apricots with wine and cook them
until soft (about 40 minutes). Add sugar to taste. Transfer the mixture
to a blender and purée. Let cool. Whip the cream and fold it into
the apricot purée.
Cream for the Queen
Entertaining the queen for the weekend enhanced your social standing
but put a considerable strain on your wallet. For one such visit in 1561,
Sir William and Lady Petre spent in excess of £2500. Among the items
purchased were 7 gallons of cream, 200 oranges, and nearly 600 birds (including
cygnets, herons, gulls, bitterns and shoveler ducks).
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