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Making Ratafia Biscuits thedreamstress.com

Recipe: To make Ratafia Biscuits (aka, Ratafia Cakes)

Every couple of years this blog skips off on a little tangent, and I publish a recipe.  Back in 2022 I transcribed Roach’s famous 40 Orange Cake from Our Flag Means Death, and in previous years I’ve shared recipes for vegetarian ‘Kate Sheppard’s’ pie, and a gluten-free Plum Cake. I also share lots of posts with links to recipes which people tell me they have used.

Today’s recipe is my most-requested recipe ever: ratafia biscuits.  It’s easy, it’s delicious, and it’s gluten and dairy free, so it fits a lot of dietary requirements.  Plus, it’s historical!  Ratafia biscuits were all the rage in the 18th and early 19th century, and are perfect for your fancy historical tea party.

Making Ratafia Biscuits thedreamstress.com

 

Ratafia biscuits are made with almond flour and egg whites, and are an ancestor to modern macarons.  Eliza Smith’s influential 1727 cookbook The Compleat Housewife includes a recipe ‘To Make Ratafia Bisket’, and they are included in other 18th century recipe books.  I used a slightly more recent recipe as my starting point: 1789’s The Complete Confectioner, by Frederick Nutt.  It goes as follows:

Take half a pound of sweet almonds, and half a pound of bitter almonds, and pound them in a mortar very fine, with whites of eggs; put three pounds of powdered sugar, mix it well with the whites of eggs, to the proper thickness into a bason; put two or three sheets of paper on the plate you bake on; take your knife, and the spaddle made of wood, and drop them on the paper, let them be round, and about the size of a large nutmeg; put them in the oven, which must be quick, let them have a fine brown, and all alike, but be careful they are not burnt at bottom, else they will not come off the paper when baked; let them be cold before you take them off

Frederick Nutt was a confectioner once apprenticed at the famous The Pot and Pineapple confectionary shop on Berkeley Square.  While my recipe isn’t quite the same as his, there must be some of the magic of that noted shop in it, as the reviews from the many friends I have tested these on say they are so good that a nightingale will indeed sing as you eat them!

Making Ratafia Biscuits thedreamstress.com

Ratafia Biscuit Ingredients

  • 250 grams almond flour
  • 200 grams powdered/icing/confectioners sugar
  • 3 large egg whites
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract (3-5 drops)
  • 1 tsp orange blossom water or rosewater

18th century ratafia recipes used bitter almonds, which contain cyanide.  Since poisoning your guests is generally considered bad manners (although, it is, admittedly, sometimes tempting… (insert Morticia Addams sipping tea gif here)), modern recipes use almond extract as a flavouring.

To Make Ratafia Biscuits

  1. Preheat oven to 160c/320f
  2. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
  3. Sift together the almond flour and powdered sugar.
  4. Beat the egg whites just until soft peaks begin to form.  Add the almond essence and orange blossom water, and beat to soft peaks.Making Ratafia Biscuits thedreamstress.com
  5. Fold the egg white mixture into the almond flour and sugar mixture, blending the mix together until you have a smooth paste.Making Ratafia Biscuits thedreamstress.com (you may find that ‘folding’ is a bit of a euphemism, as it’s impossible to get them well mixed without a bit o, but of blending that’s more like beating than folding, but don’t worry, they will still puff and have a lovely texture)

    Making Ratafia Biscuits thedreamstress.com

  6. Using a spoon and clean, damp hands, shape the dough into balls ‘the size of a large nutmeg’ – or about 1 1/4”/3cm across, and arrange on your baking sheets.Making Ratafia Biscuits thedreamstress.com
  7. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the biscuits are just touched with golden brown.Making Ratafia Biscuits thedreamstress.com
  8. Let cool on a baking rack, and then store in an airtight container.  If, that is, you can keep them from being gobbled up as soon as they are cool!

Making Ratafia Biscuits thedreamstress.com

Serve with tea on your finest china, while dressed in your most elegant hostess gown.

Or have them with a mug of anything while wearing pyjamas with your feet up on the couch.  I don’t judge and they are delicious either way!

Making Ratafia Biscuits thedreamstress.com

 

An interview on whakarongo – Der Neuseeland Podcast!

Perfectly timed as a follow-up to my post about pretty pink Schloss Benrath, here’s what I did after touring the palace!

The first few minutes are in German, and then it switches to English* and me meandering through how I met Ripeka, how I ended up doing what I do, WWI from a New Zealand perspective, STDs, the Fortnight in 1916 experience, bad moustaches, the cultural universality of socks and sandals, where to shop in Wellington, and things I loved in Germany…
So kind-of everything!
Here’s the dress we talk about:
In the Roman baths in the Cluny Museum, thedreamstress.com
I bought it specifically for the trip, because it’s rayon crepe can be bundled up without needing ironing, is easy to wash, has pockets, and is long enough and covers my shoulders and arms enough that I felt comfortable going in to churches whilst wearing it.***
I’m sitting in the Roman bathhouse in the lowest story of the Cluny Museum in that photo.  The oldest human-built thing I saw in Europe!
The Scroop Patterns Ettie Petticoat View A Scrooppatterns.com

The Scroop Patterns Ettie Petticoat View A Scrooppatterns.com

* Because my German vocabulary is pretty much limited to nein, danke, lecker, fledermaus, and schadenfreude**…
**Fledermaus & Schadenfreude is my indie band name.  Or the main characters in my offbeat comedic detective novel series, which is written so you can never actually tell if the characters are all human, or if Fledermaus is actually a bat (or a vampire…) and Schadenfreude is actually a mole.  Schadenfreude is blind.  Like Justice.  His girlfriend is Carlotta, but her daughter calls her Car-ma instead of mother.
***Although I needn’t have worried about that bit!  In Paris I watched Italian† women in hot pants and off-the shoulder, midriff-baring tops pose provocatively for social media snaps in front of the altar in the oldest cathedral in Paris.
† There were lots of women in very skimpy attire in the cathedral, but the ones where I could definitively identify the country they were from were Italian.  It very much surprised me – another one of my preconceptions about how people from a particular country would behave shattered!  I have a very ingrained, and clearly outdated, image of Italy being one of the places where women very much cover their shoulders when entering a church.
Cassandra Stays by Klara Posekana @klara_posekana Scrooppatterns.com

The stunning Cassandra Stays tester makes!

It’s the absolute best part of a pattern launch: time to show off the tester makes!

The Cassandra Stays Scrooppatterns.com

Pattern testers are super fabulous from our end, because they help us ensure we deliver you the best possible pattern.  They ask about instructions that are confusing.  They provide feedback on the fit on a whole range of bodies.  Based on their input we’re able to smooth off any final rough corners, and adjust the fit to make sure it will work for as many people as possible straight out of the packet – and that we have good fit and alteration guidance for when it doesn’t.

Pattern testers are super fabulous for you because their photos show what the pattern looks like styled in a whole range of different ways, on a whole range of bodies, in different fabrics.  There are always testers who do gorgeous things with the pattern that never even occurred to me!  So inspirational! 💛

So we are so very, very grateful to the people who are willing to pattern test, because their input makes our patterns so much better in ever way.  Thank you so much!

Testing stays is a particularly big ask, and our testers for this round were not only phenomenally helpful with feedback – they made the most stunning collection of Cassandra Stays.  Here they are!

View B:

Mem of @starandscissor

We always like to have a mix of new testers (for new perspectives) and testers we have worked with before (so we know our instructions and fit are consistent), and when Mem applied to test we were very excited to have her, because she did such a beautiful job with her Aidah Gown.  She did an equally beautiful job with here Cassandra Stays, and sent us so many excellent photos showing the lovely shape they create:

 

Mem of @starandscissor in her Cassandra Stays

Mem of @starandscissor in her Cassandra Stays

Mem of @starandscissor in her Cassandra Stays

Mem of @starandscissor in her Cassandra Stays

Not only did Mem provide images of the stays, she also took photos of them worn under her Aidah gown, so you can see how they look under a garment.  So helpful!

Mem of @starandscissor in her Aidah Gown over Cassandra Stays

Mem of @starandscissor in her Aidah Gown over Cassandra Stays

Mem of @starandscissor in her Aidah Gown over Cassandra Stays

And now I love this dress even more than I did when she first made it!

Mem made View B, Theatrical, in Size 46 Curvy, with 5/8’’/1.5cm added to the top edge of the stays. She used cotton coutil for her stays in white – a perfect neutral base for her fabulous outfits!

Spencer of @thimbleraven

You’re going to see a lot of pink and purple in this post, because those were the colours of the season when it came to the Cassandra Stays testing group (I approve.  Cassandra is a pinky-purple name).  First up is this delightful peach pair by Spencer:

Spencer of @thimbleraven in Cassandra Stays

Spencer made View B, and combined the instructions, doing the hand-worked eyelets and hand-sewn binding from the Historical instructions, and doing everything else by machine.  And, as you can see, the result is lovely!

Spencer of @thimbleraven in Cassandra Stays

Look at that perfectly even lacing gap!

Spencer of @thimbleraven in Cassandra Stays

Spencer made a Size 52.  Her outer fabric is linen, and the support fabric is two layers of cotton canvas.

She said of the pattern “It’s a great pattern! I’d even recommend it to advanced beginner or intermediate sewists as a first stays pattern. The boning channels are straightforward and easy to sew after marking just the guideline channels. The shape of the panels makes it fairly straightforward to tweak with any fit issues if needed. Having a front lacing option is wonderful for those who struggle with (or don’t enjoy) lacing themselves in from behind. ”

Be sure to check out her instagram to see her beautiful Sophia Mantle, and Aidah Gown, and Marie Mantle, and Amalia Jacket, and Persis Corset (I think she’s working her way though all our patterns!)

Nina of @ninavirgo 

Nina was both a tester, and a model.  And she’s my pattern editor!  And general partner in crime…

Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays by @ninavirgo

She’s the best kind of friend: the kind who supports you, but also tells you when you can do better, so I absolutely trust her to point out anything that could be improved with a pattern.  Which she did!

Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays by @ninavirgo

And she made a beautiful pair of Cassandra Stays, with a teeny bit of help from me (I did her front eyelets because I love doing eyelets) and then we got to have a delightful and hilarious, if very sticky, photoshoot on a day that set temperature records for Wellington (only for them to be broken the next day!)

I’m not kidding about hilarious.  Here’s a few of Nina playing ‘My precious’ and ‘What’s she got in her pocketses’ with a pinecone.’

Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays by @ninavirgo

Scroop Patterns Cassandra Stays by @ninavirgo

She just really loves pinecones…

(and we really love her sneaky weather appropriate shoes!)

Nina is wearing View B: Theatrical in Size 46 Straight Fit in saxon blue linen bound with cotton tape.   Nina is 5’2” and her stays have been shortened 1/2”/1.2cm.  Her stays are worn laced open over a stomacher for a comfortable fit.  They can be laced fully closed for a more high-fashion fit.  She has mixed the Historical and Theatrical pattern and instructions, with the Theatrical pattern, machine sewing, but hand-worked eyelets and tape binding.

View A

Cecilia of @cecilia_theresa_design

Cecilia is another repeat tester who made the Aidah Gown, but this time she wasn’t sewing for herself.  She collaborated with her friend Jasmin of @mangaliker148 and made her this utterly stunning pair of Cassandra Stays:

Cassandra Stays by Cecilia @cecilia_theresa_design Scrooppatterns.com

Based on their glorious photos by Lars of @till.0.36, they had just as much fun as Nina and Jenni and I had at our shoot!

Cassandra Stays by Cecilia @cecilia_theresa_design Scrooppatterns.com

The yellow and purple combination is so striking, and the fit and finish of her stays is perfection.

Cassandra Stays by Cecilia @cecilia_theresa_design Scrooppatterns.com

Jasmin and Cecilia’s stays are View A: Historical in Size 38 Curvy Fit, with straps.  She added 3/8”/1cm to the front bust upper edge.  The stays are made from purple linen, and bound in purple linen tape.  They have been made with a larger lacing gap, so they can also be worn by the model in a smaller size.

Summer @summers.stitchery

You just get to see one photo of Summer’s stunning stays, but it’s glorious enough that that’s enough.

Summer @summers.stitchery in Cassandra Stays

I’m delighted that one of the testers did laddered ribbon ornamentation down the front of their stays!  The effect is just gorgeous, and a lovely nod to some of the extant stays we based the pattern on.

Summer made View A with the View B ’Theatrical’ construction methods. Her sea green fashion fabric is flatlined with black cotton sateen, with a layer of coutil for more strength and a cotton lining.

She made the Size 38 Curvy, with an extra 1’’/2.5cm added to the front panel, and 3/8’’/1cm cut away under the arms.

Rebecca of Duchess of Downs Street

Not only did Rebecca make the most glorious pink brocade View A stays:

Rebecca of Duchess of Downs Street in Cassandra Stays

She styled her hair to absolute perfection, had the most delightful accessories, AND got photographs of herself with her cat!

Rebecca of Duchess of Downs Street in Cassandra Stays

Rebecca of Duchess of Downs Street in Cassandra Stays

Truly, that is the way to my heart!

And not only that, but she included progess shots all the way through, and final interior images:

The interior of stays with bust rail by Rebecca of Duchess of Downs Street

The interior of stays with bust rail by Rebecca of Duchess of Downs Street

Rebecca’s stays are made of linen with a silk outer.  She used the Historical instructions, but sewed her boning channels by machine, and made Size 32, Straight, without straps.

Irwin of @irwin.tseing

Remember how I said that pink and purple were the themes for the Cassandra Stays testers?  Well brace yourself for the epitome of pink brocade stay gorgeousness:

Irwin of @irwin.tseing in Cassandra Stays

Utterly divine!

Irwin of @irwin.tseing in Cassandra Stays

Like us, Irwin was coping with the Southern Hemisphere summer swelter, so he styled his stays with shorts (very smart!), but if you head over to his IG you can see them with a beautiful pink silk petticoat (and enjoy all the other gorgeous things he’s made).

Irwin of @irwin.tseing in Cassandra Stays

He made View A, but using the Theatrical construction methods for faster sewing, and his stays are Size 40, Curvy. And look at the curves they give!

Jessica of @scotchirish1775

For the final entry in the parade of pretty pinks and purples, Jessica’s charming stays in a lovely mauve made from linen dyed with logwood – totally accurate to the 18th century, and one of the ways they achieved purple in-period.

Cassandra Stays by Jessica @scotchirish1775 Scrooppatterns.com

Her stays are bound in yellow lambskin, so you can see how the leather binding techniques in the pattern look on a finished bind (so tiny and neat!)

Cassandra Stays by Jessica @scotchirish1775 Scrooppatterns.com

Jessica had to take her photos inside because of the weather, but made up for cramped interiors by including images of the interior of her stays before lining. And who doesn’t love a shot of the guts of a garment so you can see how it is all put together!

Leather bound stays by Jessica of @scotchirish1775

Leather bound stays by Jessica of @scotchirish1775

Klára of @klara-posekana

Klára may be the last entry in the tester roundup, but she is definitely not last in how beautifully made and finished her stays are, nor in how helpful her feedback was.  She has the most amazing editor eye, and caught everything in the pattern that was confusing, or mislabelled, or coloured wrong in the instruction images.

Cassandra Stays by Klara Posekana @klara_posekana Scrooppatterns.com

Her exquisite stays are testament that her eye for detail isn’t just confined to paper.

Cassandra Stays by Klara Posekana @klara_posekana Scrooppatterns.com

Every element is perfect and precise.  They are entirely hand sewn.  She made Size 48 Straight Fit, with straps.  Her stays are made from brown linen, and bound in ivory kid leather.

Cassandra Stays by Klara Posekana Scrooppatterns.com

She even took photos at totally appropriate locations: an 18th century living history museum, and a church built in the early 18th century (which also happens to look like the perfect fairytale location)

Once again, a massive, massive thanks to all the testers for their work and feedback and the glorious inspiration they provide!

Get the Cassandra Stays at ScroopPatterns.com!