Cuneiform Cookies

I'm taking a class in Hittite this semester.  That's one of the ones written in cuneiform - that is, an ancient type of writing system using a stylus to make wedge-shaped marks in clay tablets.

Funnily enough, it was right before I knew I was taking Hittite that a friend shared a post on making gingerbread cuneiform cookies, and we decided it Had To Be Done.  So we engaged on the great cookie caper last night, to great effect.

Ours are shortbread, rather than gingerbread.  Neither material is significantly puffier than the other when baked, in my experience, so it didn't seem to me that there would be much advantage to gingerbread in terms of keeping the shape of the marks.  And I already have the perfect shortbread recipe which is so very tasty - it was clear that a functional failure (i.e. totally unrecognizable cuneiform) would be far more palatable if the ruinous results were consolingly delicious.  Not that I dislike gingerbread, in its place, but...well, shortbread.

My Personal Shortbread Recipe:

• 1 C butter

• 1/4 C brown sugar

• 1/4 C white sugar

• 2 C flour

• 2 T cornstarch

Whip butter & sugars, then mix in flour & starch.  Roll out 1/2 inch thick, cut into 1x3" bars, prick with a fork, and bake on an ungreased sheet at 325* for about 20 minutes.   (Though for this experiment, I'll go lower longer for structural integrity, like you do with meringue cookies.)

Anyway, I whipped up the ingredients in a bowl, and chilled it for a while.  Then I got it back out and rolled its crumbly contents into tablets!  I rolled them slightly thinner than I would have rolled for your average shortbread cookie - maybe just over 1/4".  I don't want to have to bake them longer than necessary, so they can keep their shape as much as possible in the oven. 

Then, we went at them with our styli, which we shaped into the characteristic wedges by taking a Leatherman to a pair of chopsticks.  We discovered afterwards that our stylus designs were actually completely different.  In the picture below, the left represents the shape of my Hittite stylus, and the right shows the shape of her Sumerian stylus:

After an initial indulgence in just trying out random Hittite symbols, I chose to practice my vocabulary lists for the majority of my tablets:  

My partner in crime chose Sumerian as her cuneiform script of choice:

Both of us kept our tablets relatively large, rather than cutting out individual cookies at this stage.  We figure (for better or worse) that we'll break them apart after baking - after all, that's how the real thing was done!  And we thought the blog that inspired our endeavor had produced cookies that looked too contrived, and actual broken tablets would be an improvement on that.

  

The writing took a surprisingly long time.  It was after 1am by the time we finished, and the dough had gotten very very soft.  We decided to chill them in the fridge overnight rather than bake them then and there, for two reasons.  First, we were sleepy.  Second, I was planning on chilling them anyway, once again for structural concerns.  So they lie there still, in the fridge, awaiting today's round two: baking.

A few hours later...

The baking has commenced!  I was able to fit all three tablets onto one sheet.  They are much easier to move around when chilled solid.  I preheated the oven to 300* and set them in, still chilled.  Baked them until they seemed quite well done.  They puffed up and aren't as clear as pre-baking, but they've settled down and the end result is pretty great.  

Finally, we broke them apart, and here's the final look:

All in all, success!