Cake Baxters in Early Modern Scotland with Aaron Allen

We kick off the new season with a fascinating chat with Aaron Allen at Edinburgh University about cake baxters in Early Modern Scotland – usually women – who were unfree, and how they fit into society at this time. Making and selling of baked goods were highly controlled, and – quelle surprise – it was not in their favour. We also discuss the ways oatcakes and wheaten bread were baked, beehive oven tech, horse bread and many other things.Find Aaron on Twitter at Mary’sChapelProject: @MchapelprojectA list of Aaron’s research: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/persons/aaron-allen‘Baking on the Margins: Pastry Women and Cake Baxters in the Early Modern Bread Market’, in History Scotland (May/June 2023), 20-5, available at: https://www.historyscotland.com/store/back-issues/history-scotland/history-scotland-vol23issue3-mayjun23-issue-131/Building Early Modern Edinburgh: A Social History of Craftwork and Incorporation: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-building-early-modern-edinburgh-hb.htmlThings from the web mentioned in this episode:Neil’s recipe for seed cake: https://britishfoodhistory.com/2021/05/23/to-make-a-seed-cake/ Neil’s recipe for peasebread: https://britishfoodhistory.com/2017/04/09/forgotten-foods-6-pease-bread/ Hodmedod’s website: https://hodmedods.co.uk/ Video of Josh Townshend making a clay oven: https://youtu.be/i0foHjPVbP4 Other bits:Neil’s Raffald talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9SyiYvHq-Q Neil’s media page where you can see his Country Life article, as well as links to the podcasts he’s guested on, radio spots or TV shows: http://britishfoodhistory.com/media/ Don’t forget to catch up on Neil’s blog posts published over the last few months. British Food: a History: http://britishfoodhistory.com Neil Cooks Grigson: http://neilcooksgrigson.com Order Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper at your favourite bookshop, or from the publisher Pen & Sword History: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Before-Mrs-Beeton-Hardback/p/22437 Neil’s other book A Dark History of Sugar is available now from all bookshops as well as from the publisher Pen & Sword: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/A-Dark-History-of-Sugar-Hardback/p/20481 Don’t forget there will be postbag episodes, so if you have any questions or queries about today’s episode, or...