Image: Hannah Woolley · Public domain
The Ladies Delight
- Year
- 1672
- Era
- 17th century
- Origin
- England · Europe
- Language
- English
- Category
- English pre-1800
The Ladies Delight, issued in 1672, gathers Hannah Woolley's instructions in cookery, the preserving of fruits and sweetmeats, and domestic physic into a single compendium aimed at the gentlewoman's household. As one of the earliest English vernacular manuals authored by a woman writing professionally on domestic arts, it consolidates material Woolley had developed across earlier works and helped establish a durable model for the household guide.
Cooking from this book
Marchpane
Signature dishA celebratory almond confection of medieval pedigree, marchpane was the crowning sweet of the early modern English banquet course. Moulded into elaborate shapes, gilded, iced or studded with comfits, it served as both centrepiece and edible showpiece at feasts. Its presence in Woolley's compendium reflects her keen attention to the still-room and the genteel arts of sugarwork, situating the book within the polite domestic tradition she did so much to shape for English housewives.
An editorial note on a dish associated with this book, written for The Coquinist. It is not a reproduction of the book's recipe.
