What flower flavored the medieval cheesecake-like sambocade along with rose water? Elderflower.
Sambocade was a medieval English cheese tart recorded in the late-14th-century cookbook Forme of Cury, usually dated to around 1390. Its filling used strained curds, sugar, egg white, elderflower blossoms, and rose water, then was baked in a crust. The combination created a lightly floral flavor very different from the vanilla-and-fruit profiles common in modern cheesecake.
The name sambocade is connected with sambucus, the Latin name for the elder plant. The recipe’s wording refers to elder blossoms, meaning the flowers rather than the dark berries that later readers may associate with elder trees. Modern recreations therefore usually describe it as an elderflower cheesecake or elderflower curd tart.
Sambocade is not identical to today’s cream-cheese cheesecake. It used fresh curds and medieval pastry techniques, but its baked cheese filling makes it a clear historical relative. Rose water was another common medieval flavoring and should not be mistaken for the floral ingredient being asked about.