Dunedain Lembas Bread Experiment
Posted: Thu Apr 18, 2013 11:02 pm
Wasn't sure where to put this one, so I thought I'd share it here.
For a while now I've been talking about doing a ranger trek sometime in the later summer/early autumn out here in CO. This has led me to start thinking about practicality in a way I have never had to before. One of the things I've been considering carefully is what rations to bring on the trip, and naturally my thoughts turned to Lembas Bread. I had looked around the web for good recipes, but they can be a bit tricky. What I really wanted to make was something that was indeed extremely filling and sustaining - something light and portable that would also keep a long time, and provide good energy for a long trek. Most people who had posted recipes online seemed primarily focused on the looks of their lembas. For a party food, or some kind of edible prop, this would be fine, but what I really wanted to find was someone who treated it as if it really was an energy bar in biscuit form. Anyway, I eventually come upon this site: http://wastedlandsfantasy.blogspot.com/ ... world.html
I know this particular link has been shared around these forums before, but I can't quite recall where or when. At any rate, it took me a bit to track it down again, but I found it, bought the ingredients, and last night tried it out for the first time. My results were quite pleasing overall, although I may decide to alter the recipe a bit further next time I try. What I used was as follows:
7/8 cups of whole wheat flour
2 5/8 cups of white flour (This strange ratio of wheat-to-white flour was because in the article he said you should use wheat pastry flour, but I could only find regular wheat flour, so a friend recommended using half white all-purpose and half regular whole wheat as a substitute for whole wheat pastry flour. The original ratio was 1 3/4 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, and 1 3/4 cups of white all-purpose flour)
2 Teaspoons baking powder (I cut this slightly from the original recipe because of the high altitude)
1/4 teaspoon salt (actually, I just took a pinch or so and threw it in)
8 Tablespoons cold butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Teaspoons cinnamon (this was cut considerably from the original recipe, because 2 full tablespoons seemed an awful lot)
2 Teaspoons vanilla (I cut this, same as the cinnamon, however I now wish I had used the original ratio, because I ended up adding a bit more at the end anyway)
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup pressed apple juice (I added this instead of the last 1/4 cup of milk called for in the original recipe. I thought it might give a nice flavor, and I was right)
1/2 fresh, peeled, finely-chopped apple
1/4 cup almonds (I have heard great things about almonds and their high protein content)
I then followed the recipe on the website basically verbatim (except for leaving them in the oven a bit longer, and using a slightly lower heat setting), with only a couple minor hiccups. While mixing I ended up adding a dash more apple juice, which made the dough too soft, so I then compensated by adding more flour (have I mentioned I don't bake? Haha... yeah...). After all that the dough still came out to be a pretty sticky mess. The first batch I tried to make (which I did not take any photos of) ended up fine, except I couldn't really cut them uniformly, because the stuff was sooooo soft and gooey. For those I basically just balled them up and threw them onto the cookie sheet like chocolate-chip cookies, and then sort of formed them into a square shape right there. For the second batch, however, I decided to chill the dough, which worked quite nicely. I was able to roll the dough out flat and cut it into fairly uniform squares, which looked quite nice in the end.
Below I have attached some photos of the final product, both before and after baking. The final result was delicious - not too floury at all, and with a distinctive apple flavor. While this is not exactly what I think Tolkien had in mind when he described Lembas bread, I propose that these may be viewed as a sort of Dunedain adaptation of the true Elvish waybread. While the rangers might not have been as skilled in the art of making the stuff as the elves, they may have taken the idea, and then adapted the basic recipe to fit their own needs, adding things like fruit and various spices as they saw fit. Since apples grow well in northern climes, I figure they are a good type of fruit to use - something a ranger would be familiar with.
These definitely came out more like "apple cakes" than "honey cakes," but personally I quite like that. I would also like to try some with dried cranberries, apricots, etc. Basically, turn it into a sort of dense, nutty, fruitcake. In future I would love to continue to adapt the recipe to add more nourishing and energy-providing substances. I remember one person somewhere saying they thought adding a bit of cocoa powder might be good, just to add a small caffeine boost. I had also considered using a little instant coffee or something of the sort for that same purpose, I just wasn't sure if that would ruin the flavor. I realize these aren't European in nature, but neither are Almonds, Vanilla, or Cinnamon. I'm fairly open to New World ingredients, as long as the bread seems vaguely plausible given a Middle Earth context (even if we have to explain some of the ingredients away as "Elvish magic"). The cakes I made definitely taste good, and are somewhat filling, but they're far from "One small bite is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man." I'd like to possibly move closer towards this description in the future (however improbable it is in reality).
Anyway, what do you guys think? Would you add anything? Change the recipe in any way? I'd love to hear some opinions on how to make this stuff better!
Here are the pics! First, the pre-baked squares:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... 802d6a.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... 200e0a.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... a90c45.jpg
And now, after baking:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... a0cebb.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... d7a14e.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... 435a4d.jpg
For a while now I've been talking about doing a ranger trek sometime in the later summer/early autumn out here in CO. This has led me to start thinking about practicality in a way I have never had to before. One of the things I've been considering carefully is what rations to bring on the trip, and naturally my thoughts turned to Lembas Bread. I had looked around the web for good recipes, but they can be a bit tricky. What I really wanted to make was something that was indeed extremely filling and sustaining - something light and portable that would also keep a long time, and provide good energy for a long trek. Most people who had posted recipes online seemed primarily focused on the looks of their lembas. For a party food, or some kind of edible prop, this would be fine, but what I really wanted to find was someone who treated it as if it really was an energy bar in biscuit form. Anyway, I eventually come upon this site: http://wastedlandsfantasy.blogspot.com/ ... world.html
I know this particular link has been shared around these forums before, but I can't quite recall where or when. At any rate, it took me a bit to track it down again, but I found it, bought the ingredients, and last night tried it out for the first time. My results were quite pleasing overall, although I may decide to alter the recipe a bit further next time I try. What I used was as follows:
7/8 cups of whole wheat flour
2 5/8 cups of white flour (This strange ratio of wheat-to-white flour was because in the article he said you should use wheat pastry flour, but I could only find regular wheat flour, so a friend recommended using half white all-purpose and half regular whole wheat as a substitute for whole wheat pastry flour. The original ratio was 1 3/4 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, and 1 3/4 cups of white all-purpose flour)
2 Teaspoons baking powder (I cut this slightly from the original recipe because of the high altitude)
1/4 teaspoon salt (actually, I just took a pinch or so and threw it in)
8 Tablespoons cold butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Teaspoons cinnamon (this was cut considerably from the original recipe, because 2 full tablespoons seemed an awful lot)
2 Teaspoons vanilla (I cut this, same as the cinnamon, however I now wish I had used the original ratio, because I ended up adding a bit more at the end anyway)
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup pressed apple juice (I added this instead of the last 1/4 cup of milk called for in the original recipe. I thought it might give a nice flavor, and I was right)
1/2 fresh, peeled, finely-chopped apple
1/4 cup almonds (I have heard great things about almonds and their high protein content)
I then followed the recipe on the website basically verbatim (except for leaving them in the oven a bit longer, and using a slightly lower heat setting), with only a couple minor hiccups. While mixing I ended up adding a dash more apple juice, which made the dough too soft, so I then compensated by adding more flour (have I mentioned I don't bake? Haha... yeah...). After all that the dough still came out to be a pretty sticky mess. The first batch I tried to make (which I did not take any photos of) ended up fine, except I couldn't really cut them uniformly, because the stuff was sooooo soft and gooey. For those I basically just balled them up and threw them onto the cookie sheet like chocolate-chip cookies, and then sort of formed them into a square shape right there. For the second batch, however, I decided to chill the dough, which worked quite nicely. I was able to roll the dough out flat and cut it into fairly uniform squares, which looked quite nice in the end.
Below I have attached some photos of the final product, both before and after baking. The final result was delicious - not too floury at all, and with a distinctive apple flavor. While this is not exactly what I think Tolkien had in mind when he described Lembas bread, I propose that these may be viewed as a sort of Dunedain adaptation of the true Elvish waybread. While the rangers might not have been as skilled in the art of making the stuff as the elves, they may have taken the idea, and then adapted the basic recipe to fit their own needs, adding things like fruit and various spices as they saw fit. Since apples grow well in northern climes, I figure they are a good type of fruit to use - something a ranger would be familiar with.
These definitely came out more like "apple cakes" than "honey cakes," but personally I quite like that. I would also like to try some with dried cranberries, apricots, etc. Basically, turn it into a sort of dense, nutty, fruitcake. In future I would love to continue to adapt the recipe to add more nourishing and energy-providing substances. I remember one person somewhere saying they thought adding a bit of cocoa powder might be good, just to add a small caffeine boost. I had also considered using a little instant coffee or something of the sort for that same purpose, I just wasn't sure if that would ruin the flavor. I realize these aren't European in nature, but neither are Almonds, Vanilla, or Cinnamon. I'm fairly open to New World ingredients, as long as the bread seems vaguely plausible given a Middle Earth context (even if we have to explain some of the ingredients away as "Elvish magic"). The cakes I made definitely taste good, and are somewhat filling, but they're far from "One small bite is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man." I'd like to possibly move closer towards this description in the future (however improbable it is in reality).
Anyway, what do you guys think? Would you add anything? Change the recipe in any way? I'd love to hear some opinions on how to make this stuff better!
Here are the pics! First, the pre-baked squares:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... 802d6a.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... 200e0a.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... a90c45.jpg
And now, after baking:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... a0cebb.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... d7a14e.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e173/ ... 435a4d.jpg