Recipe Manuscript

To Make Nuns Bisketts

Name: To Make Nuns Bisketts
Prep time: PTPT35M
Cook time: PTPT15M
Yield: 18
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 450g white sugar; 340g sweet almonds (or blanched almonds if available); 115g plain (all-purpose) flour; 7 large eggs

1703

From the treasured pages of The Lady Cravens Receipt Book

Written by Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven

Culinary Enlightenment (1700 - 1800)European Intermediate Dessert Snack

Original Recipe • 1703

Original Manuscript(circa Culinary Enlightenment, 1700 - 1800)

As inscribed by the original author's hand, transcribed with care by Lost Kitchen Scrolls

To Make Nuns Bisketts

"Take a pound of Sugar 3 quarters of a pound of Sweet almonds and a quarter of a pound of flower, blanch your almonds & beat them very fine, then take Seven Eggs & put to your Sugar & beat it for half an hour, then put in your almonds & beat it a quarter of an hour when they are in, then put in your flower & give it 2 or 3 stirs Just to mix them, So bake them in pans butterring your pan that they may come easely out, your Oven may be as hot as for penny bread, Set up ye Oven & let it stand a quarter of an hour"

Note on the Original Text

The recipe uses measurements and instructions common to its time—weights in pounds and quarters, with no precise baking times or temperatures, trusting instead to the cook’s experience. Spelling like 'bisketts' reflects a lack of standardized orthography: today we’d say 'biscuits’ or ‘biscuits (cookies)’. Directions focus on the order and intensity of mixing, pointing to textures and techniques integral to the result rather than detailed descriptions or step-by-step formatting familiar in modern cookery writing. The recipe demonstrates the oral, hands-on nature of historical cookery, meant for those who already had kitchen skills.

Modern Kitchen Interpretation

Recipe's Origin

The Lady Cravens Receipt Book - Click to view recipe in book

Title

The Lady Cravens Receipt Book (1703)

You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome

Writer

Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven

Era

1703

Publisher

Coome Abbey

Background

A delectable manuscript brimming with 18th-century English delights, Lady Craven's receipt book whisks readers from luscious cakes and puddings to savory feasts and creamy cheeses. Elegantly organized and sprinkled with recipes from an illustrious social circle, this culinary collection offers a sumptuous taste of aristocratic home economics.

Kindly made available by

Penn State University

Historical Background of the Recipe

Learn about old traditions

This recipe comes from the manuscript receipt book of Lady Elizabeth Craven, dated between 1702 and 1704, in England's early 18th-century. During this period, manuscript cookbooks circulated among the gentry, featuring both treasured family recipes and those gathered from friends and prominent acquaintances. Sweets like these ‘Nuns Bisketts’ would have graced the tables of affluent households, perhaps served at tea or as part of a dessert assortment. The manuscript reveals the social web of recipe sharing among elite women, as seen in the personal attributions and the mix of both English and continental European culinary influences evident in almond-based sweets.

Culinary Tools when the Recipe was Crafted

Tools and techniques from kitchens of old

In Lady Craven's era, cooks would have used a large, sturdy mortar and pestle to grind blanched almonds to a paste. Eggs and sugar were beaten in a wide, shallow bowl with a whisk or bundle of twigs—muscle and stamina required for the prolonged mixing! Baking pans might be shallow metal trays or small ceramic dishes, all carefully greased with butter to prevent sticking. The oven would be a brick structure, heated with wood, and tested for temperature by experience (hence the 'as hot as for penny bread' direction). Removal from pans would be done with a knife or spatula, and cooling on wooden trays or boards.

Modern Kitchen Adaptation

Ingredients and techniques for today's cooks

ounces, cups, Fahrenheit

Prep Time

35 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Servings

We've done our best to adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, but some details may still need refinement. We warmly welcome feedback from fellow cooks and culinary historians — your insights support the entire community!

Ingredients

2¼ cups white sugar
12 oz sweet almonds (or blanched almonds if available)
1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
7 large eggs

Instructions

Begin by blanching 12 oz of sweet almonds—cover them briefly in boiling water so the skins slip off easily—and grind them to a fine paste (a food processor will help here).
Next, whisk 2¼ cups of white sugar together with 7 large eggs in a large bowl, beating vigorously for 30 minutes (or use an electric mixer for about 8–10 minutes untill thick and pale).
Add in the ground almonds and continue beating for another 10 minutes.
Sift in 1 cup of plain (all-purpose) flour and gently fold it in with just a few turns—do not overmix.
Generously butter small baking pans, or use muffin tins, to prevent sticking.
Spoon the batter into the pans.
Bake at about 350°F (180°C)—a moderate oven—for 15 minutes or untill lightly golden and set.
Allow to cool slightly before unmolding.

Estimated Calories

230 per serving

Cooking Estimates

Blanch and grind the almonds, then mix with sugar and eggs. Most of the time is spent beating the mixture with a mixer, folding in the flour, and spooning into pans. Baking takes about 15 minutes. Each muffin-sized serving is about 230 calories.

As noted above, we have made our best effort to translate and adapt this historical recipe for modern kitchens, taking into account ingredients nowadays, cooking techniques, measurements, and so on. However, historical recipes often contain assumptions that require interpretation.

We'd love for anyone to help improve these adaptations. Community contributions are highly welcome. If you have suggestions, corrections, or cooking tips based on your experience with this recipe, please share them below.