Recipe for An Italian Pudding

Here's another recipe from the Revel that I cooked for late in 2018. The original comes from The Newwe Booke of Cookerie and which I found reproduced on Steffan's Florilegium and also here http://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?nevvb:84  from a later print edition

This is an excerpt from A NEVV BOOKE of Cookerie (England, 1615)
The original source can be found at Thomas Gloning's website

To make an Italian Pudding. Take a Penny white Loafe, pare off the crust, and cut it in square pieces like vnto great Dyes, mince a pound of Beefe Suit small: take halfe a pound of Razins of the Sunne, stone them and mingle them together, and season them with Sugar, Rosewater, and Nutmegge, wet these things in foure Egges, and stirre them very tenderly for breaking the Bread: then put it into a Dish, and pricke three or foure pieces of Marrow, and some sliced Dates: put it into an Ouen hot enough for a Chewet: if your Ouen be too hot, it will burne: if too colde, it will be heauy: when it is bakte scrape on Sugar, and serue it hot at dinner, but not at Supper.

My recipe redaction:
1/2 tsp rosewater
1/2 tsp nutmeg
5 small-med eggs
1 loaf of white bread with crusts cut off
2/3 cup of sugar
250g dried dates, chopped small
1 cup of extra dried fruit of choice (eg. raisins, currants, sultanas)
1/2C to 3/4C of cream, depending on the dryness of the bread.

Make sure all the crust is removed from the bread and dice it small. Beat the eggs and mix in the sugar, cream, rosewater and spices. Mix the bread into the wet mixture gently. The mix should be fairly moist, similar to a bread pudding. Add the dried fruit and mix. Put into a lightly greased dish. Dot butter around on the top if you wish. Cook in moderate oven (about 170 degrees C) until cooked through and golden brown. Serve hot.

I omitted the marrow because so many people would be put off by it and I thought it might make it a bit greasy. Next time I make it I might soak the fruit in port or something similar for a little while before I add it to the mix. I'll have to do some research to see what would be most appropriate.
I am usually not a fan of bread pudding, but I did like this one.

Some of  the comments included:
'I liked it! Would be great with ice cream.''
'This was a generous and delicious dish. Wanted to go back for more. Wonderful texture.'
'I loved everything about this pudding - the taste, presentation and abundance of fruit. A nice pudding.'

This style of recipe appears to have continued to be popular into the next century, as there are several variations in later cook books. Here is an example:

A Baked Pudding after the Italian fashion, corrected
Source: The whole Body of Cookery Dissected, 1661
Take a penny white loaf or two, and cut it in the manner of dice: put to it half a pound of Beef suet minced small, half a pound of Raisins of the sun stoned, a little sugar, six sliced Dates, a grain of Musk, the Marrow of two bones, season it with Cloves, Mace, Nutmeg, salt and Rose-water, then beat three Eggs with about half a pint of Cream, and put it to your bread and other ingredients, and stir it together softly that you break not the bread, nor Marrow: then slice some thin pieces of Apple into the bottom of your dish, that you bake it in, and put your Pudding theron: bake it in an oven not so hot as for Manchet: when its enough, stick it with Cittern and strow it with Sugar.
From: http://www.godecookery.com/engrec/engrec30.html

I am very lucky that I have an adventurous Barony who are very generous with their time and are happy to provide detailed commentary on dishes to help me improve. I thank them all, but I have especial thanks for Baroness Linet and Viscount Aylwin who can always be relied upon to comment and offer detailed suggestions on how specific dishes may have been done in the period.