What were the cooking conditions in the Elizabethan time era?

aaaaaaaah: What were the cooking conditions in the Elizabethan time era?
Im doing a cooking project for shakespear day and one of my questions was…compare the level of difficulty you would have prepareing the recipe versus tne amount of difficulty someone in the elizabethan times would have had

here is the recipe for an english trifle

1 Sara Lee pound cake (10.75 oz), thawed
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1 cup coarsely broken Amaretti (about 16 cookies)
1/4 cup Triple Sec
2 pkgs (3.125 oz) vanilla Jello Cook ‘n Serve Pudding and Pie Filling
4 cups milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups heavy or whipping cream, cold
3 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
3/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
Candied red cherries or fresh berries for garnish
Directions:

Cut the cake into 1/4-inch slices and spread out flat on a surface to dry for several hours. Spread a thin layer of the jam on half the cake slices. Top with the remaining cake slices. Cut the cake sandwiches into 1-inch cubes and scatter in a large glass bowl.

Add the Amaretti crumbs and toss together. Sprinkle with the Triple Sec and toss to coat.

Prepare the pudding mixes, using the milk, according to package directions. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla. Let cool completely.

Pour half the cooled custard over the cake mixture.

Whip the cream in a chilled bowl until soft peaks form. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar and almond extract and continue beating until stiff. Spoon half of the whipped cream over the top of the custard. Layer the remaining half of the custard over the whipping cream. Add a second layer of whipped cream decoratively over the top of the custard.

Scatter the almonds over the top. Refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, until ready to serve, up to 3 days.

Spoon the trifle into glass bowls and garnish with candied cherries or fresh fruit.

Notes: Any favorite liqueur such as Grand Marnier, Amaretto, etc. may be substituted for the Triple Sec. To substitute for the pudding, Bird’s Imported English Dessert Mix makes an easy, excellent custard low in fat. Make custard according to package directions using 5 tablespoons dessert mix, 5 tablespoons sugar and 4 cups of milk.

This recipe is adapted from The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook recipe, “Olde English Trifle.”

Makes 10-12 servings

Answers and Views:

Answer by Gavin R
In the first place measures for cookery were by the handful, half handful, and pinch rather than by the cup or ounce, and most people didn’t even have spoons, and certainly not standardized ones. Vanilla extract would have been extremely expensive, if available at all, and the same for almond extract and almonds themselves. Confectioner’s sugar didn’t exist. Triple Sec didn’t exist either as distilled spirits had progressed as far as brandy, but not as far as whiskey or gin. Jello Cook ‘n Serve Pudding would have been unavailable at any price. There was gelatin, but you had to make it yourself. Custard was popular and cheap. But for the most part this product would have been very expensive to make.

Answer by Librarian P.Johnson
I think you will find the Old Elizabethan Recipes site of interest. Your local library may subscribe to a database called “Daily Life Online” – check out the library web site and find out!

Answer by anumber1cooks2000
Right up my alley! I’m a chef and an historic reenactor.
#1 you have to make your own pound cake. Not easy to do over a wood fire but possible
#2 You have to have made your own jam in season or traded for it.
#3 you would have to have baked your own amaretti cookies. You would have to buy the almonds for it since they were an import item
#4 Triple Sec was not invented yet. Sherry, Port of Brandy would have been used. These were also imported.
#5 Jello Pudding was not around at the time. Look up a recipe for “Pastry Cream” or in French “Creme Anglaise”
#6 Skim cream from the top of your raw milk and pulverise some sugar in a mortar and pestle to make it very fine. Then you can whip your cream
#7 Candied fruit would have been used for garnish most of the year since berries were only in season during the late spring and early summer. Almonds might have been too expensive so walnuts are a good substitute in a trifle.
So, as you can see it was a whole lot more complicated to produce a delicacy like trifle. That is why it was prepared only on special occassions in those times.