Period Brussels Biscuits or Rusks

[Anna Elizabeth Henry]

This recipe originally from The Cook's Guide by Charles Francatelli published in 1862 is for a simple biscuit (more commonly called a cookie in the US) that came into popularity in the Georgian period in England. Initially it was given to very young children who were just starting on solid foods, but later on towards the start of the Victorian era it was used as a light table refreshment in the evenings to nosh on after dinner and even appeared on the tea tray in the morning. Queen Victoria herself even mentions them in her journal as "a sort of a light rusk...extremely good; they can only be made at Brussels." Here uncle, King Leopold of Belgium had batches especially made for young Victoria as a girl and brought over to England for her. Today you're more apt to find the biscuit in the cookie aisle paired with rich chocolate sandwiched between two cookies from Pepperidge Farm.


https://archive.org/stream/cooksguideandho01frangoog#page/n340/mode/2up/search/brussels

A modern interpretation can be found over at Martha Stewart's website - http://www.marthastewart.com/949650/brussels-cookies

 

[donna]

These sound good. Time to have with tea.