SC - Adventures with wafers - part the second (long)

[Kerri Canepa]

In the continuing testing of wafers, today's endeavors involved Scully's
redaction of one of the wafer recipes from Menagier. Thanks, Bear.

Scully's redaction of Menagier's recipe from Early French Cookery:

Wafers  (makes about 30 4-inch round wafers)

(Imperial measure)

4 eggs
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp dessert wine
2-3 tsp oil or fat
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1-2 tbsp sugar

The dessert wine was Madeira (it's what my apprentice had on hand) and the oil
was soybean (also, what was available).

Beat eggs lightly.
Whisk in salt, wine, oil and sugar.
Whisk in flour 1 tablespoon at a time until a smooth runny paste is reached.
Drop 1 tablespoon at a time onto a hot sandwich grill or Krumcake iron.
Close grill and press on lid.  Cook until lightly brown--about 1 minute.
Sprinkle with sugar.

The final measures were as stated except for 1/2 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp flour and 2
tbsp of oil.

The batter was clearer than the from the previous recipe but then there was less
flour and more egg in it, but it had the right consistency.

Learning from the first trials, I set the burner on 8 and let it heat up until
water sizzled off the top. Put about a tablespoon or so of batter on the iron
and closed it. I thought there was much whooshing of steam and squirting of
batter the last time; this was downright explosive. It was also quite a workout
on the hands (need to build up your grip? Make wafers...).

This recipe made exactly 2 dozen 5 inch wafers in about an hour and 15 minutes.
These wafers are also much softer than the previous recipe and there's plenty of
time to roll them before they harden. In fact, you'd have to hold them for a
minute or two in whatever shape you want before they'll keep that shape. The
texture is spongier and the wafers tear more than they break. I suspect the eggs
in the recipe contribute greatly to this.

As for taste, I place them more in the savory category than sweet. Again there's
less sugar than the previous recipe but also there's the addition of salt which
is absent from the first. My husband, after having been on a long distance
motorcycle trip returned home tired and hungry, snagged one of the wafers upon
walking into the kitchen and said "I don't like these as much." Well, they
aren't the subtle cookie/wafer the first batch was. However, I think the second
batch would hold up to hypocras in flavor. I don't particularly care for the
texture but then who knows what wafers were really like?

Thankfully, there were no interruptions during this test. Both the kittens
crashed and slept until I had only 3 wafers left and I thoughtfully pulled down
the smoke alarm even before turning on the stove.

I set aside four wafers from each batch to test how well they hold up to
storage. Tuesday my apprentice comes over and we'll see what the verdict is.

Kerri
Cedrin Etainnighean, OL
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