Let's bake

The commanding officer's family love to mix food with fun and games during Saturnalia. Auralia is in the kitchen with the children baking cookies. They hide a small bean inside one. The person who eats the cookie with the hidden bean is named King of Saturnalia!  

The Romans cookies were different from those we enjoy now because they didn’t use butter or sugar, and they didn’t have baking soda or baking powder. Instead, they often substituted a sweet creamy cheese for butter and honey for sugar. For leavening they sometimes used eggs. This resulted in rustic cookies with flours, seeds, fruit, and oil. 

Try baking Globuli Pastries, a traditional Roman Saturnalia cookie, recipe below, or make your favourite holiday cookies and share your recipe with us on our Facebook page. 

Roman Globuli Pastries:

• ½ Cup Flour 
• ½ Cup Ricotta Cheese (Whole Milk) 
• ¼ Cup Honey 
• ⅓ Cup Olive Oil 
• 1 Raisin 

Mix the Flour and Ricotta Cheese in a bowl with a fork until it forms a stiff dough. With wet fingers, roll dough into 1-inch balls. Inside one of those balls, hide a raisin. Heat oil in a pan on high, then lightly fry the dough balls until golden brown. When the dough balls are cooked through, roll them in honey. Chill and serve.