This is probably the very first worked-out recipe that Taddea di Giorgio and I put together– back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth and we were Therese and Adele.
Markham’s recipe for jumbals
To make Jumbals more fine and curious than the former, and neerer to the taste of the Macaroon, take a pound of Sugar, beat it fine. Then take as much fine wheat flowre, and mixe them together. Then take two whites and one yolk of and Egge, half a quarter of a pound of blanched Almonds: then beat them very fine altogether, with half a dish of sweet butter and a spoonfull of Rose water, and so work it with a little Cream till it come to a very stiff paste. Then roul them forth as you please: and hereto you shall also, if you please, adde a few dryed Anniseeds finely rubbed, and strewed into the paste, and also Coriander seeds.
Gervase Markham, The English Hous-wife, 1615
Notes, I have a few…
Markham is quite explicit about the ingredient quantities, so there wasn’t a lot for us to do but decide how big a dish of butter should be. We baked several test batches to decide where we thought the sweet spot lay.
Our recipe
- 4c flour
- 2c sugar
- 70g ground almonds (about 1/3c)
- 180g unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tsp rosewater
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg white
- about 1/2-2/3c cream
Method
Preheat the oven to 190C (375F) and grease some baking sheets or cover them with baking paper. Combine the flour, sugar, and almonds in a bowl. Add the butter, egg, and rosewater and work everything together with a fork (or fingers) until it resembles crumbs. Add cream a little at a time until you have a fairly stiff dough. Roll the dough into “snakes” and shape into scrolls, spirals, knots or whatever you like. Bake 10-15 min, or until slightly browned, then cool on a rack. Makes 5 dozen.
