Ancient Roman Libum

This one was one of the best recipes I came across, and one of the easiest to make.  It is literally 5 ingredients - honey, flour, ricotta cheese, eggs and bay leaves.  I mixed the eggs, ricotta and flour into a dough, divided it out into 4 round loaves and placed them on a baking stone, each with a bay leaf underneath.  I baked them until golden brown and removed them from the oven.  In a separate bowl, I heated up the honey then put the warm buns in it so they absorbed some of the honey.  Let stand for a half hour or so and enjoy! (Remove the bay leaves prior to eating...  They just peel right off.)

These were absolutely incredible!  They were dense little sticky cakes that were originally used as sacrificial items in ancient times.  They were given to household gods on occasions like childbirth or weddings.  The recipe comes from Cato's On Agriculture, which was full of simple recipes for farmers or citizens out in the country.