Manuscript Location

Folger Shakespeare Library, Manuscripts

Place of Origin

England

Date of Composition

ca. 1707-ca. 1735

Description

This receipt book of approximately 38 leaves, many of which are written both on the front and back, is inscribed "Rachel Kirk book 1707" on the inside front cover. It appears to be in three principal hands. One hand, possibly that of the inscriber, wrote recipes for wines and meads on the rectos of leaves 2 through 5 and recipes for fruit preserving, dessert creams, little cakes, and other items on the rectos of leaves 16 through 21. These recipes include an unusual one for "Paste Jenkin" (leaf 19r), a very sweet tart pastry made with ingredients usually associated with confectionary: "gum dragon" (gum tragacanth), orange flower water, and essence of ambergris.

A second hand has written recipes in free spaces on leaves 1 through 7, mostly for fruit preserving, sweet dishes, and cakes. The recipe for "York Gingerbread," on leaf 6r, appears verbatim in The New Experienced English Housewife, published in 1795. However, the recipe must have been copied from an earlier published source, as the recipes in the second hand appear to date from the second quarter of the eighteenth century. 

The remainder of the book, from leaves 21r through 38r, is in a third hand, which is attractive but sometimes difficult to read. Recipes for fruit preserviing, confectionary, and dessert creams are written through leaf 28v, recipes for general cooking start on leaf leaf 30r, and three pages of pudding recipes begin on leaf 37r. This part of the book includes several uncommon recipes, including "Chocolate Dropps" (leaf 23v), three recipes for "dry leach" (a sort of spiced marzipan, leaf 24r), and "Sago Cream to eat hot" (leaf 28r). The recipes in this part probably date from the second quarter of the eighteenth century.