Let’s talk about the most important part of your Madrigal Dinner. The performance? The music? The transporting atmosphere? No, DESSERT. Everything else is a supporting actor to the sugar.
Now, you may be wondering what an authentic Renaissance dessert might be. After all, these poor saps didn’t have a culinary torch or a double boiler, so how good could their desserts actually be?
If you look up desserts for that time period, there are a lot of recipes of bread soaked in wine, bread soaked in cream, flower petals in pudding, and just wine with a lot of sugar. (And now we know how they made it through the 16th century.)
Modern administrations will frown on alcohol at a high school event. Luckily, there are a lot of affordable, simple desserts for your Madrigal Dinner that your audience will love that will still feel authentic. Here are a few ideas:
Baked Apple Crisp
The advantage of a baked apple crisp is that it is super easy to make and takes hardly any ingredients. You can class it up with a side of ice cream and give your patrons that hot apple/cold vanilla taste explosion that is so popular.
This Easy Baked Apple Crisp serves six and is simple to multiply up for a big dinner theater.
Simple Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce
Although it was the Romans who first invented bread pudding, the cooks of the Middle Ages get all the credit because they invented custard. Before that, bread pudding was just a milky, runny mess. So, as you bring out steaming bowls of bread pudding, it will transport your audience to ancient England.
The fluffy bread in the pudding takes up a lot of space, so you can make the portions look big without them actually being so. Plus, a drizzle of vanilla sauce really sells it.
For a Bread Pudding with only 13 ingredients, you can check out this Simple Bread Pudding recipe.
Custard
The Medieval population rocked the custard tart. They would whip up a shortcrust and fill it with a dairy fiesta: cream, milk, eggs, and sweeten it with honey. So, a hot bowl of custard is a perfect call back for your Medieval Dinner.
This Simple Custard Recipe takes 15 minutes to make and serves eight. It’s painless to scale up for a big banquet, and there are only six ingredients!
You definitely want to finish strong at the end of the night. There are many options that will satisfy that sweet tooth for your audience. Just make sure that it is manageable for you, and please, please don’t stuff rose petals in anything. Unless your cast is selling single roses to patrons, then they can add them on the side.