The Practical Princess

~ Moving to New Places ~

2010-07-02T18:05:00.002-05:00

Dear Readers:

Still implementing some of the topics I discussed here on "The Practical Princess", I have been in the process of moving to a new blog - which I hope you will enjoy just as much. The new blog can be found here . (You will recognize some of the same posts from this blog as being featured within the beginnings of the new one - this is because I felt they fit with the new theme and have a fondness for the information within.)

Sincerely,

Abigail

Mooncakes

2008-10-19T22:47:00.003-05:00

I love looking at all the beautiful traditional sweets in the Japanese and Chinese bakeries. I have had a long-standing love of Japanese wagashi- which has grown ever since Miss Alice presented me with some delicious lovelies from a NYC shop- but, more recently, my enjoyment of Chinese sweets has increased since being able to enjoy dim sum with my Prince.

All of the sweets were wonderful, and not overly sugary- which is always the problem I have with many a Western dessert... too sweet to eat more than one- and I will say that there is absolutely no shame in having two desserts.

My facination with both mooncakes and wagashi has led me to search through the Internet, as well as my Asian cookbooks, for recipes and how-to's for all those tasty treats that pair ever so well with tea. Luckily, I was able to find some recipes with look as if they will help me in making wonderful mooncakes:

- http://amandalwh.wordpress.com/2008/07/26/snow-skin-lotus-paste-mooncake/
- http://www.moonfestival.org/mooncakes/yancancook.htm

As for wagashi, I will have to search further. For now, for mooncakes, all I need is the proper mold and then... I will be able to make them myself and share with all my friends~

Marie Antoinette and Chocolate

2008-04-26T02:27:00.006-05:00

I was recently e-mailed by a Miss McRae requesting information on Marie Antoinette and chocolate. I thought this the best opportunity to write another small food-related essay. This time it is on chocolate during the 18th century. I will first be writing about general chocolate information within the 1700s and then it will be followed up by a paragraph about the French queen as well as some additional information on making your own Marie Antoinette-themed chocolates.

Firstly, when thinking on chocolate within the 18^th century, one must put aside what they view to be common and popular forms in the modern day. Most chocolate today seems to be in the form of molded candies or dipped truffles. But, during the 1700s, chocolate was primarily consumed as a beverage. Yet the chocolate drink that was consumes was not the hot cocoa of today- one should also note that there is a significant difference even today between hot cocoa and hot chocolate, the primary difference being that hot cocoa is made with cocoa powder, lacking the fat of cocoa butter, and hot chocolate is made from melted chocolate bars mixed with cream. Hot chocolate became famous soon after the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI introduced chocolate to Austria when he relocated from Madrid to Vienna. The style and type of drink presented in the following modern recipe is similar to one that would have been drunk in the 18^th century:

* Make a hot chocolate, let cool slightly;
* Add half an egg yolk per cup;
* Whisk over low heat until thickened, being careful not to let it boil;
* Serve hot, topped with a spoonful of whipped cream.

This rich chocolate drink was drunk primarily in chocolate houses and mostly by the rich upper class. The rich were the primary consumers since chocolate was extremely expensive- costing about three times the price of a cup of coffee. Chocolate was one of the many items that helped to make clear the divisions of class during the 18^th century. The division of class could be seen not only in who could afford to consume this chocolate beverage, but in who was preparing it. Maids to the rich were required to labor though the perpetual whipping process that kept it frothy, rich and smooth. Chocolate's social divisions even came into play in something as simple as breakfast. While noblemen dined on it for their morning meal, the classes below had to resort to coffee.

As I mentioned before, many of the chocolates we seen in stores today come in the form of molded confections and bars. Molded chocolates existed within the 18th century, but they were not popular due to the high price tag. In fact, most of these molded chocolates were actually a combination of cocoa paste and sugar that was molded in chocolate houses to make storage easier. But it is Italy that started promoting chocolate as something other than a drink.

18th century Italian cookbooks contained recipes for main dishes, desserts, ices, dragees, marzipans, biscuits, creams and some mousses. Specific recipes even included fried liver dipped in chocolate, polenta with almond and chocolate breadcrumbs, and chocolate soup (made with milk, sugar, chocolate, cinnamon and egg yolks) served over toast.

But this is not to say that chocolates as we know today were not eaten by a figure such as Marie Antoinette.

Queen Marie Antoinette greatly disliked the taste of medicine. So, to solve this problem and since chocolate was considered as a healthful item at the time, the royal family chemist, Sulpice Debauve, created the Pistole de Marie Antoinette- coins of 99% cocoa that were flavoured with almond oil, bitter coffee, vanilla, Orgeat cream, or orange blossom- amongst these flavours it is said that the Queen favored almond milk and orange flower blossom. (These chocolates are still available today, but many of us probably are not willing to pay the $200 price tag.)

So, since I was asked about a Marie Antoinette themed molded chocolate, I think the best option is to buy molds with a Fleur de Lis pattern, like these:
-Square Fleur de Lis mold
OR
-Oval Fleur de Lis mold

Then, using a favourite chocolate candy recipe, infuse the ganache with almond or orange flower blossom.

For a Marie Antoinette-themed chocolate party, one could serve the 18^th century hot chocolate along with things like the molded chocolates above, mini chocolate tarts, and- even though I would not say it is historically accurate- chocolate Parisian macarons.

[Recipe for Viennese-style hot chocolate is from this website.]
[Marie Antoinette chocolate can be purchased from Debauve and Gallais. ]

* Also, for those interested, the disks of chocolates with fruit and nuts embedded within them are called "mendiants". Recipes for these tasty confections can be found here, here. For those who enjoy white chocolate, recipes can be found here and here. But by far the most informative article on these chocolates is the one I have linked from La Tartine Gourmande- which goes into the history of these chocolates and their relation to Christmas.

Inspiration: Wagashi

2008-02-05T17:39:00.000-06:00

What princess can say she does not enjoy things that are cute? You will probably be hard-pressed to discover one who doesn't enjoy some cute thing or another. Whether it is food or maybe a toy, it is enjoyable either way. There just seems to be something wonderful about cuteness. When one is feeling down, looking at cute treats, animals, nostalgic cartoons and other such things easily lifts the spirit.

Even though I greatly enjoy Victorian and Rococo things, every once in a while I have to turn to Japan. It seems to come up with quite a few cute items- from Hello Kitty to various girls' cartoon characters. But what fascinates me most and I would love to learn more about is wagashi.

Wagashi are traditional Japanese sweets. They are cute as well as extremely elegant. These treats seem to be able to wrap cuteness and the elegance of being able to have such a delicious combination of flavors in one tiny bite- this makes me think of Western petit fours, which also go as well with tea as wagashi.

Wagashi are sweets served during the Japanese tea ceremony before drinking matcha- powdered green tea. These delicious treats are made primarily of beans, sugar, rice flour and other starches. Their taste and texture is quite different from most Western desserts, but it just as delicious. Even within the main category of wagashi there are different types.

TYPES

The four main types are: jelly (yookan) , sugar (higashi), rice cake and baked. But this category is based mostly on items which are simply made of mostly one particular ingredient. For example, jelly-like sweets with fruit within them (called anmitsu) are their own "type" as are sweet rice balls wrapped with anko (an edible mashed paste - can be any kind of bean, red, kidney, white, etc.), called botamochi.

More specifically, the types of wagashi are as follows:
- Jyo namagashi: sticky rice cake with anko kneaded into a dough
- Higashi: made of rice, red beans, soy beans, sugar, and agar-agar pressed into special shapes and molds
- Daifuku: sheets made from rice flour and sugar wrapped around anko
- Dango: (Don't you remember these from various anime? If these are wrapped around a stick they are called kushidango.) Rice flour and sugar wrapped around anko and steamed
- Manjyu: made from rice or soba flour wrapped around anko and then steamed/ grilled
- Monoka: sticky rice flour dough sandwiching anko
- Yookan: anko and agar-agar mixed to make a jelly
- Sanbei: steamed sticky rice that is flattened, dried, grilled then seasoned with soy sauce and salt.
- Kawarasenbei: flour and eggs mixed and baked
- Taiyaki: anko put into a dough and formed/ shaped in a red snapper shaped iron. It can also found in the shape of pancakes, etc.

CATEGORIES

Wagashi are categorized by the amount of water found within. Namagashi have 30% and over, han namagashi have 10-30%, and higashi contain 10% or less. From this you can guess what the various textures are like: ranging from a soft cake to a hard sugar much like a sugar cube.

SEASONS

Traditionally, the shape and style of these sweet follows the seasons. Winter calls for the steamed cake variety of sweets and many summer sweets are of the jelly variety. The motifs vary in each season: plum, green and cherry blossoms (in Spring); hydrenga blossoms, pink and water (in Summer); autumn leaves, mums and bellflowers (in Autumn); and camellia, daffodil, white and snow (in Winter).

HEALTH

Traditional Japanese sweets are healthier on the whole than their Western counterparts. They don't contain a lot of fat from animal sources. The only thing that some many object to is that there is often 60% sugar to the amount of beans within each sweet.

You may find yourself wondering how you can make these delicious Japanese confections. Look no farther than these links:

- Urasenka Midorikai
- Lovescool
- EGullet Forums
- Konny's Website

For more information on wagashi:

- Metropolis
- Chanoyu.com
- Kitchoan
- Wikipedia

And you can find an amazing number of cute wagashi here.

Since I've mentioned that I had the opportunity to dine on some wagashi due to the kindness of Miss Alice, I thought I would finish this post with a photo of three of the four I was able to taste. I accompanied mine with a delicious green tea flavored with cherries.

These four treats were from Kitchoan's store in New York City and were called: hanatsubomi, taiyaki, and yookan. (Not pictured is a kachiguri.) The hanatsubomi is the candied whole skin of a yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit) that was filled a white bean jelly. The taiyaki was filled with red bean and chestnut pastes and shaped like a fish. My yokan was a citrus-flavored jelly with some bean paste mixed in. And then the kachiguri was a chestnut paste surrounding a whole chestnut.

I would definitely recommend trying these delicious, though pricy, treats at your next tea gathering. They offer something different from traditional cakes and petit fours along with the chance to pair it with delicious types of green tea .

History Lesson: Rococo Makeup

2008-01-27T13:45:00.000-06:00

If you haven't been able to tell, I have a fascination with home-made beauty items. And this is something that was inspired by researching historical beauty in general. Through this, I discovered the various rituals Victorian and Georgian-era women went through to achieve what they found to be a beautiful complexion.

For this lesson I'm only going to discuss the rituals of beauty surrounding makeup in the Georgian/ Rococo era. What I'll be discussing is focused on beauty in France and England during the 1700s so other countries' will not be mentioned. (Maybe at a later time though.)

When one thinks of Rococo makeup, what comes to mind? Ladies with pale faces, rouged cheeks and painted lips paired with various beauty marks. Makeup has come a long way since this era in time, but I find it helpful to know makeup skills of old if one would like recreate the look of a proper lady during the time of Marie Antoinette.

Cosmetics came in the form of pomads, and red and white paints. To scent these items, scented waters similar to rose and orange water were added. But, all makeup came in the form of a powder. Mixing into a solid form often made the product spoil quickly. So powdered were packaged into pots or into solid pellets. But if a more creamy texture was desired as that for a lip tint, it was mixing with items like lard or cocoa butter.

Sadly, much of the makeup of the Georgian woman (or man) wasn't very safe to use. The white paints and powders were filled with metal oxides. Commonly found pigments were: bismuth white, mercury white, pewter white, and lead white. Unfortunately, safer substances that provided the needed coverage weren't available.

Red paints were safer but this safety often disappeared since most people at the time didn't want a the bright red of the pure pigment and mixed it with white powders. The red paints were the equivalent of modern blush or rouge and made from more natural sources than their white counterparts. These rouges were first only available in powders. Eventually, they were made into solid lip paints and then into lipsticks (where they were mixed with plaster of Paris).

There was nothing in the way of mascara, powders available in skin-colored shades, and eyeshadow. And, it was actually considered attractive is one's skin has a slight shininess.

Despite the lack of these products, there was something like a Georgian blemish covering makeup. Many Georgian peoples suffered from pockmarks so there was a need to cover them prior to makeup application. So many opted for affixing small pieces of silk, taffeta, or sometimes leather to their skin. If one didn't want to do this, they always had to option of applying a thick layer of the lead-filled powder.

Since some of you may be curious, here is a recipe for the lead-based powder (which I do not recommend using as use would result in lead-poisoning):

"several thin plates of lead
a big pot of vinegar
a bed of horse manure
water
perfume & tinting agent

Steep the lead in the pot of vinegar, and rest it in a bed of manure for at least three weeks. When the lead finally softens to the point where it can pounded into a flaky white powder (chemical reaction between vinegar and lead causes lead to turn white), grind to a fine powder. Mix with water, and let dry in the sun. After the powder is dry, mix with the appropriate amount of perfume and tinting dye."

But there are some, safer non-lead-based recipes for Rococo makeup out there.

(For talc white...)
"Pick out the best and whitest pieces ofthe talc, which is a kind of soapstone, and grind them in a warmed brass mortar, and passed through a silken sieve or let it dust through dense linen fabric. Hereafter, you pour distilled vinegar over the powder in a stoppered bottle, shake it well, and let it stand for some weeks, shaking it well a few times each day. Then you let the powder settle and decant the vinegar. Then you pour clear water over the powder, shake it well, let it settle and decant the water - rinse it thus 6-8 times. When it is all white, let it dry, and pwder it in an agate mortar and store it. Should the powdered talc be too shiny, anneal it in a crucible."

(For red lip gloss...)
"Into a clean copper pan put half a pound of fresh, unsalted butter, and two ounces of beeswax, let it melt over mild heat, add some ounces of rinsed, dried and squashed raisins, and one to three loth alkanna root, and let everything simmer gently for 10 minutes. Then pour it on a mounted piece of dense linen and let the liquid run off, and when it begins to cool, add a spoon of strong bitter orange flower water. Stir until it has completely cooled and keep it in a well-covered pot."

(For carmine red paint...)
"The most beautiful and excellent red is the real carmine which must be prepared with great care it if is to turn out well. Take two ounces of powdered cochenille and boil for 5 minutes it in a pure tin pot with 4 maaß distilled water, or simply rain water. The water must be brought to the boil before you add the cochenille. Now add a drachme of powdered Roman alum, take the pot off the fire, and strain the liquid through a cloth into a clean porcelain bowl. Put it in a cool place and cover it with blotting-paper. Now add 2 drops of tin solution every two hours, so that all in all 16 drops of tin solution go into it, and let it rest for some days. After such time, the carmine will have settled on the bottom and the sides of the vessel. Carefully decant the clear liquid, let the carmine dry in the vessel, and brush it onto smooth paper with a clean feather. Zwo ounces of cochenille usually give two drachmen carmine."

But one doesn't have to use these historical recipes to achieve the same look. There are numerous modern makeup manufacturers that make all shades you could possibly need in the form of lip tints, pace powders, and blushes. You may find that getting the perfect pale tone you are looking for may require with use of a liquid foundation also.

Here is what you would need to complete your Rococo look:

red lip tint/ lipstick
red-based pink blush
white/ pale powder
(optional if you skin is already very pale) white/ pale foundation

I find that the best shades come from Amphigory. They offer a line of pale foundations and powders in the Illusion line. Also available from them are equally pale powders. I have used their Illusion White foundation and it goes in silky smooth without being too greasy.

Image from MadamePompadour.com

Recipe: Champagne Blush Cupcakes & Rose Buttercream Icing

2008-01-01T12:57:00.000-06:00

Champagne Blush Cupcakes
by Princess Abigail

Difficulty Level: Easy/ Medium

1 box Betty Crocker moist cake mix
1& 1/4c champagne
1/3c vegetable oil
3 eggs
(Optional) Star-shaped Sprinkles

1) Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2) In a large bowl (or stand mixer), mix together: cake mix, champagne, oil, and eggs (If using star-shaped sprinkles to create a funfetti cake effect, add the whole container now- if using the pre-packaged bottles found in most grocery stores). Mix 30seconds on low then 2minutes on high.
3) Portion into pan lined with cupcake liners, filling 2/3-3/4 of the way full.
4) Bake for 17-22minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean from the center.

Rose Buttercream Icing
by Princess Abigail

Difficulty Level: Easy

1c butter (2 sticks)
1c vegetable shortening
4c (1lb) confectionary sugar
2tbs+1tsp rose water
Red food coloring

1) In a large bowl (or stand-mixer), cream shortening and butter.
2) Add: 1tsp rose water then mix.
3) Slowly add: confectionary sugar- scraping bowl down after each small addition.
4) Add: 2 tbs of rose water and red food coloring; then, mix.
5) Mix on high until light and fluffy.

To assemble the cupcakes, you first must wait for the cupcakes to cool completely. Then, pipe the buttercream on in whatever design you like- I piped shells and rosettes on mine. You can then feel free to decorate however you like with sprinkles etc.