Pears rampant

Prepared for TRM as a subtlety at Boar's Head Hunt, DM's baronial investiture feast:


Recipe source: Hieatt, Constance B. and Robin F. Jones. "Two Anglo-Norman Culinary Collections Edited from British Library Manuscripts Additional 32085 and Royal 12.C.xii." Speculum vol. 61, issue 4 (Oct. 1986): 859-882.

Pear sauce: pears peeled, cooked in water, and mashed. Thickened with whole eggs and rice flour (original calls for wheat starch). The texture was, if I do say so myself, PERFECTLY smooth. I was so proud! This represented a serious achievement -- it was a difficult technique, and I pulled it off.

Pastry: did something similar to paest royall, using AP flour, WW pastry flour, butter, egg yolks, and saffron. Printed out stencils for the lions then cut them out basically free-hand using a paring knife. Small pieces of prune for the eyes (somehow didn't have currants on hand). Baked them.

Serving: would have been better on a more flat dish, but this is what I had. Reheated the pear sauce, put the lions on top. One lost his legs, so I made him "swimming."

Reception: Her Majesty seemed to find it quite charming!