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Brandy Snaps
Mix together half a pound of flour, three-quarters of a pound of moist sugar, two ounces of butter, and half a pound of treacle. Roll out on a floured slab to the thickness of a shilling; cut them into shapes about five or six inches in diameter; put them into slightly greased tins, and bake in a moderate oven for ten minutes.
A very lean brandy snap — no ginger, no brandy, no cream — relying on sugar and treacle to spread and set into glass-thin wafers. The whole trick is in the timing after they leave the oven.
- The hinge: curl them warmThe recipe stops at baking, but a brandy snap is not finished flat. Lift each wafer as soon as it firms enough to move, roll it around a wooden spoon handle or cream-horn mould, and slide it off once set; once fully cool they shatter rather than bend. If they harden too fast, return the tray to the oven for a few seconds to soften again.
- Moist sugarVictorian "moist sugar" is unrefined or partly refined brown sugar, sticky rather than free-flowing. Light or dark brown soft sugar is the direct substitute; granulated white will give a paler, less chewy result.
- TreacleBritish treacle in recipes of this date usually means the dark, bitter-edged syrup sold as black treacle rather than golden syrup, though the word was used loosely. American cooks should use dark molasses, avoiding blackstrap, which is harsh in this quantity.
- Weights, in cupsHalf a pound of flour is about 1 3/4 cups; three-quarters of a pound of moist sugar about 1 2/3 cups packed; 2 oz butter is 4 tablespoons; half a pound of treacle is about 2/3 cup. Weighing is far more reliable with syrup.
- Thickness of a shillingA shilling was roughly 1.5 mm — thin enough that the dough will resist rolling cold. Warm the butter and treacle together first, or let the mixed dough rest at room temperature, and roll between sheets of paper if it sticks.
- OvenA moderate oven is conventionally reckoned at about 350F (175C), though the recipe itself gives no temperature. Ten minutes is about right, but watch the colour: these go from bubbling and lace-like to burnt very quickly, and treacle darkens deceptively.
- Spacing and sizeFive- or six-inch rounds will spread considerably and run together. Cut smaller discs, three to four inches, and leave at least two inches between them; bake only a few at a time so you can shape them before they set.
- Yield and keepingThe quantities are generous and will give a large number of small wafers. Store them airtight the moment they are cold -- they draw moisture from the air within hours and go limp.
Brandy snaps belong to a long English family of treacle wafers sold at fairs and markets, thin gingerbreads baked crisp and often curled while hot; the name is generally traced to the brandy sometimes added for flavour, though as this Cassell's version shows, plenty of recipes contained none at all, and none of the ginger later cooks think essential either. What makes the wafer work is chemistry rather than flavouring: a high proportion of sugar and treacle to flour means the dough liquefies in the oven, spreads into lace, and sets glassy as it cools. The recipe is an object lesson in what sugar does when heated. The cream-filled cornet familiar today is a later refinement.