A COOKBOOK FOR THE AGES IV - Contents

Enclosed you will find baked goods key to supporting the Knights Templar.  Foods such as Hard Tack were key to maintaining these men during the existence of the Knights Templar in their daily toils, but bakers also provided treats for all the various feasts and just to give the knights some minor enjoyments.  This cookbook shows a sample of the variety of baking goods that the Knights Templars encountered in their wide journeys.

While the Knights Templar were typically from the basic European environment, other areas provided an influence both culinary and environmental that began to fuse into their history and thus western history.  Their extensive travels and interactions brought new spices, tastes, flavors, and cooking techniques as they returned to their homes from the Middle East to the Northeastern lands of Europe and even from the Islands of Ireland.

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Table of Contents

Introduction. 5

Hardtack biscuits. 6

Portugal A long-lasting dried biscuit, easy to carry on crusades. 6

Spiced honey cakes. 8

Jerusalem/Middle East Sweet eggless cakes with abundant honey and warming spices like cardamom, cinnamon, ginger 8

Fruit & nut breads. 10

France/Spain - Rustic country loaves mixing dried fruits, nuts, some olive oil or butter 10

Saffron buns. 12

Sweden - Fluffy yeast breads flavored and colored by precious saffron threads. 12

Ginger snaps. 14

Denmark - ginger cookies, lovingly sent to knights by families back home. 14

Fig tarts. 16

Italy - Flaky lard-based pastries with jammy fig filling. 16

Marzipan confections. 18

Germany - Figures or fruits sculpted from almond paste, often decorated for Christmas. 18

Quince pies. 20

England - Handheld fruit pies with quince jam filling and hot lard pastry. 20

Spiced Lenten Wafers. 22

France - Paper-thin crispy crackers eaten during Lent when sweets were prohibited. Flavored only with ashes to represent fasting and repentance. 22

Anise Sugar Breads. 24

Sicily - Light sweet bread rolls scented with bright anise and dusted with coarse sugar granules after baking. 24

Chickpea Lentil Rolls. 26

Palestine - Hearty, protein-packed savory rolls mixing flours and purees from chickpeas and lentils. Topped with nigella or sesame seeds. 26

Candied Citrus Peels. 28

Spain Thin strips of fruit peels from lemons, oranges or citrons boiled in sugar syrups to candy them as portable treats. 28

Greek Easter Bread. 30

Rhodes, Cyprus Rounded sweet egg bread decorated with red Easter egg dyes in the dough. Baked in monasteries and given as gifts. 30

Apple Potica. 32

Croatia Sweet yeast rolled pastry with apple fillings, hints of nuts or raisins. Denser and less eggy than French brioche. 32

Caraway Rye Loaves. 34

Northern Germany Brown crispy loaves of rye flour mixed with raw sourdough starter and dotted with aromatic caraway seed flavors. 34

Pastirma Rolls. 36

Turkey Flaky savory pastries with tops slit before baking then filled with spicy cured pastirma beef strips, onion, garlic. 36

Pistachio Shortbread. 39

Sicily Crumbly, delicate cookies made with chopped pistachios, scented with orange blossom water. Light dusting of powdered sugar on top. 39

Barmbrack Bread. 41

Ireland Sweet Irish tea bread with raisins and sultanas, marked by wide cracks on the crusty top. Often contained symbolic fortunes or trinkets inside like rings or coins. 41

Cumin Flatbreads. 43

Egypt Round flatbreads divided into wedges after baking, topped with black onion seeds and ground cumin. Served warm. 43

Almond Horns. 45

Hungary - Crescent shaped pastries mixing sweet yeast dough with almond cream or marzipan filling, dusted with vanilla sugar before baking. 45

Pecan Scroll Cookies. 47

Flanders (Belgium) Pecans with traces of cinnamon and anise mixed into cookie dough, rolled up pinwheel style to reveal swirls after slicing. 47

Hazelnut Dacquoise. 49

Switzerland Crunchy-crispy nut meringue discs layered with velvety chocolate to form a multi-textured cake. 49

Baumkuchen. 51

Germany - Layered "tree cake" dessert with rings of golden toasted batter, filled/coated with jams in between rings of dough. 51

Kanafeh. 53

Levant region - Sweet cheese-based pastry combining soft cheese like Nabulsi akkawi enveloped in shredded filo dough, simmered in rose scented syrup. 53

Koulourakia. 55

Greece - Buttery twisted cookie dough formed into loops or braids before baking, topped with glossy egg wash glaze and sesame or poppy seeds. 55

Panforte. 57

Italy - Rich, chewy cardamom and cinnamon spiced cake with nuts, fruits and honey from Tuscany - a fortifying traveling food. 57

Harissa. 59

Tunisia - Spicy bread dough mixed with olive oil, aniseeds, nigella or caraway seeds, shaped into ring forms and topped with golden sesame seeds before baking. 59

Vaniljekranse. 61

Norway - Wreath-shaped, luscious vanilla and almond flavored shortbread cookies from Norway, enjoyed as part of seasonal St. Lucia's Day feasting. 61

Apple Cinnamon Rolls. 63

Denmark - Sweet flaky Danish pastry yeast dough rolled up with apple cinnamon filling, iced and topped with almond slivers once baked. 63

Sweet Pretzels. 65

Austria - Iconic knotted soft pretzels gently sweetened and topped with chunky salt crystals or poppyseeds after boil-baking. 65

Kolaches. 67

Czechoslovakia - Sweet yeast dough pastries with peek-a-boo fruit jam or creme filling dollops, dusted with powdered sugar after baking. 67

Walnut Spirals. 69

Armenia - Crunchy paper-thin cracker bread baked in an offset spiral shape, topped generously with chopped walnuts, sesame and nigella seeds. 69

Tahini Cookies. 71

Turkey - Crisp, tender cookies made fragrant with tahini and lemon zest, drizzled with a lemon glaze and pistachios on top post-baking. 71

Brandy Snaps. 73

United Kingdom - Thin ginger biscuits rolled into cylinders while still warm, filled with lightly sweetened whipped cream and brandy. 73

Peach Cobbler 75

France - Individual ramekins filled with juicy peaches baked under a light cakey batter topping, served warm with creme fraiche. 75

Templar Easter fruitcake. 77

Jerusalem – dried fruits, cinnamon, nutmeg, almonds, pistachios blended in to a Easter cake. 77