16th Century Hippocras: from 1591 and 1596

Historically in Tudor England, hippocras was wine flavored with various spices. Today, spiced wine is typically associated with the holiday season.

One recipe is from 1591 in A Booke of Cookrye. The other recipe is from 1596 in Thomas Dawson's The Good Huswifes Jewell. 

** These two recipes were made non-alcoholic with white grape juice, so that children can follow along in creating this tasty drink!

 

 

 

Original Recipe from 1596: 

Thomas Dawson’s The Good Huswifes Jewell http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/... 

 

Take a gallon of white wine, suger two pound, of sinamon ij d. ginger ij d. long Pepper ij d. Mace ij d. not brused, Graines ij d. Gallingall j d.od. Cloues not brused, you must bruse euery kinde of spice a litle, & put them in an earthen pot all a day, & then cast them through your bags two times or more as you see cause, and so drinke it. 

 

My Modern Interpretation: 

1 gallon white wine = 16 cups / 4 = 4 cups 

2 lbs sugar = 4.5 cups / 4 = 1 cup + 2 Tbsp 

Cinnamon = 2 tsp Ginger = 2 tsp 

Grains of paradise (similar to black pepper) 

Galangale (similar to ginger) 

Long pepper = 3 peppercorns 

Mace = ¼ tsp mace 

Cloves = ¼ tsp clove

 

 

 

Original Recipe from 1591:

A Book of Cookrye by A.W. from 1591 http://jducoeur.com/Cookbook/Cookrye.html 

 

To make Ipocras. Take a gallon of Wine, and an ounce of Sinamon, two ounces of Ginger, and a pound of Sugar, twenty cloves brused, and twenty corns of pepper groce beaten, and let all those soke one night, and let it run through a bag. 

 

My Modern Interpretation: 

1 gallon wine = 16 cups / 4 = 4 cups 

1 ounce cinnamon = 2 Tbsp / 4 = 1 ½ tsp 2 oz 

ginger = 4 Tbsp / 4 = 3 tsp 1 lb 

sugar = 2.25 cups / 4 = ½ cup + 1 Tbsp 20 

cloves / 4 = 5 cloves 20 

peppercorns /4 = 5 peppercorns

 

 

 

 

To make smaller batches with both recipes, I divided the ingredients by 1/4. So, for example, instead of 16 cups of wine, my interpretation is only for 4 cups of wine.