Custard Tart

Dariolles (Daryoles, Daryols or Darioles) arc a custard tart. Most of the recipes I found have the same basic ingredients of a milk product, eggs and spices. Three recipes I found include date and strawberries (if they were in season). Below is a recipe of one of the fruit dariolles.

Source:Harleian MS. 4016, ab. 1450 A.D (from Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books)

Original recipe:

Dariolles. Take wyne and fressh broth, Clowes, Maces, Mary, powder of Gynger, and Saffron, And lete al boyle togidre; And take Creme, (and if hit be cloutes, drawe hem thorgh a streynour,) And yolkes of egges, and medle hem togidre, and powre the licoure that be mary was soden in, thereto; And then make faire cofyns of fyne paast, and putte the mary there-in, and myced dates And streberies, if hit be in time of yere, and sette the Coffyns in re oven, And lete bake a litull while, And take hem oute, and putte the licour thereto, And lete hem bake ynoun.

Translation: (from Take a Thousand Eggs or More)

Take wine and fresh broth Cloves, Maces, Marrow, powder of Ginger, and Saffron, And let all boil together; And take Cream, (and if it be clotted, draw them through a strainer,) And yolks of eggs, and mix them together, and pour the liquid that the marrow was seethed in, thereto; And then make fair coffins of fine paste, and put the marrow therein, and minced dates And strawberries, if it be in time of year, and set the coffins in the oven, And let bake a little while, and take them out, and put the liquid thereto, and let them bake enough.

My Interpretation:

½ cup wine	1 Tbsp. butter
½ cup broth	1½ cups cream
¼ tsp. ground cloves	4 egg yolks
¼ tsp. ground mace	1 cup minced dates
¼ tsp. powdered ginger	1 cup minced strawberries (optional)
8 threads of saffron	1 pastry recipe (see recipe for Paest Royall)

Combine wine, broth, and spices into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil and let cool. Make single serving size tart shells of the pastry recipe. Prick the shell, and evenly distribute the minced dates and strawberries amongst the shells and bake at 425°F for 10-15 minutes (until the shells start to turn brown). In separate bowl, beat together cream and egg yolks. Once the wine mixture has cooled to a warm temperature combine with the cream and egg mixture, the evenly distribute this mixture into the shells and bake at 425° F for 20-25 minutes (until a toothpick inserted comes out clean).

Notes:

The recipe doesn't specify if the cloves and the mace should be whole or ground. I get the impression from later on in the recipe that they should be whole since you are to "pour the liquid that the marrow was seethed in". However, I chose to use ground cloves and ground mace for I see it as a more frugal method, and should have little impact on the overall product.

I substituted butter for marrow in this recipe. I prefer the taste of butter over marrow. Although the type of broth is not specified in the recipe, I chose to use a vegetable broth. I also chose to use white wine in this recipe so as to let the color of the saffron be more apparent.

Sources:

Austin, Thomas, comp. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. N.p.: Early English Text Society, 1888. Google Books. Web. 21 June 2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=t0Te8MaCmpoC>

Friedman, David D., ed. A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks. S.l.: S.n., 1991. Print.compiled by Duke Cariadoc of the Bow and Duchessa Diana Alena

Renfrow, Cindy. Take a Thousand Eggs or More: A Translation of Medieval Recipes from Harleian MS. 279, Harleian MS. 4016, and Extracts of Ashmole MS. 1439, Laud MS. 553, and Douce MS. 55, with More than 100 Recipes Adapted for Modern Cookery. Unionville, NY: Royal Fireworks, 1997. Print.

Curye on Inglysch (Middle English Recipes) (Early English Text Society Supplementary Series) [Hardcover]. Web. 26 Sept. 2012. <http://books.google.com/books?id=aHptQgAACAAJ>. Curye on Inglysch contains the four earliest collections of culinary recipes to be found in English.

Hieatt, Constance B., and Sharon Butler, eds. Pleyn Delit Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks. Toronto: University of Toronto, 1996. Print.