SC - Wafer recipes
Stefan li Rous
stefan at texas.net
Sun Jul 30 22:43:33 PDT 2000
Drake replied to me:
> >> If you can get your hands on a wafer iron, I have a great "coeliac friendly"
> >> saffron wafer recipe.
> >
> >Please post this! I'd love to have another wafer recipe. Is this, even
> >better, a period recipe? The only other "saffron" wafer recipe I have
> >is from the Polish cookbook discussed here recently. And I never got
> >it to stick together in one piece. Lots of crumbly, good tasting, pretty
> >fragments. But a pain to clean off the wafer iron and not exactly
> >a "wafer".
>
> Um, O dear. That was the recipe I used!!! I just modified it so it used Rice
> flour instead. Spank me for being naughty and modifying a period recipe for my
> nefarious purposes. I found the wafers crumbly too but the recipe is skewed
> wrong so it ends up with the wrong consistancy. Wafer batter should be stiff
> like waffle batter. I can look at the recipe tonight if you wish...
Well, apparently the recipes in that book are not recreations of any particular
period recipe. So I don't see doing some modification as a problem. However,
I'm not experienced enough to know how to modify the given recipe. While I
might have solved the problem with some more trial and error, I was short
of time. It was easier just to use Adamantius' and another's recipe since
they, at least, came out crisp.
I would love to see your recipe. Maybe I can make this version work
after all. Did you vary the sugar/flour proportions? I think the one
in the book was about 1:1 while the others that worked had a smaller
proportion of sugar.
> Did you lightly brush the iron with butter?
Yes, or olive oil. I can't remember which. But the iron has a teflon
coating anyway. Actually adding the oil to the batter, which is called
for in the recipe, should take care of the need to lubricate the iron.
> I also found that no matter how little a dollop I put in the middle, I also got
> mixture squirting out the side and I noticed that there are two ways of cooking
> the wafer.
Yes, I sometimes had that problem. I thought I could become expert enough
to drop just the exact size dollop of batter in just the exact spot on
the wafer iron to prevent the overflow. I never did.
> 1) Put a dollop of batter on and press down really quick and hard. Makes a
> very thin wafer.
> 2) Put a dollop of batter on, wait 20-30 secs and press down slowly for a
> thicker wafer (and not so much shooting out the side). Works for looser
> batters.
Interesting idea. I'll have to consider trying these two and see how it
works. I was afraid to let it sit too long and usually closed it as soon
as I got a good dollop on each wafer area.
> What kind of wafer maker do you have? I have one of the swedish cast iron ones
> with a scroll pattern. I produces a 4-in diameter circular wafer. My pelican
> has about 3, handed down to her from her Norwegian Mother.
It's an electric one ordered my mail order. It was only a little more
expensive than the simple iron one. (~$55 vs. ~$45) and I thought the
heat would be a little more controllable or at least repeatable.
It is a Prego brand unit and makes the four inch diameter wafers.
> Cheers,
>
> Drake.
>
> ps. Anyone else out there have a wafer iron and some funky wafer recipes. How
> common was it to serve wafers at a feast?
Apparently it has not been uncommon in the East Kingdom. I don't know if
it has
ever been done at an Ansteorran feast. And I have only done it for a
Yule pot
luck local feast and for the Royalty and entourage at a small luncheon.
I'd like
to spread the idea around some in Ansteorra. It was apparently fairly common
at some period feasts.
I never got the savory recipe to work either. If anyone has a recipe for a
savory (ie: with cheese) wafer recipe that has worked for them, I'd like to
get it.
> pps. At Lochac's Midwinter, I spent all Sunday morning cranking out Rosewater
> wafers. They were a huge hit. We actually had 6 year old, in total gales
> of tears. When asked by two ladies, he said 'I didn't get a pancake'.
> After being regaled of this story as we were cleaning up, I cranked out a
> small batch of batter and made him a couple. Never seen a set of eyes
> light up when he was presnted with 3 'pancakes' just for him. A magical
> moment (which are rare for me in the SCA these days).
Very nice. I'm afraid such moments have been rather rare for me in the
SCA for awhile, too.
- --
Lord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at: http://www.florilegium.org ****
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