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Fruit Wafers, for Dessert
Extract the juice from cherries, currants, or any kind of fruit, by putting them into a jar in the oven, or by standing the jar in boiling water. To every pound of juice add the same weight of sugar, and stir over a slow fire until the juice becomes thick; then butter some papers, and cover with the mixture, which keep in a slow oven until they loosen from the paper, and can be turned. Dry thoroughly, and cut into shapes. Keep in a box, each layer divided by paper; they are best if kept near a fire.
This is fruit leather in its oldest form: juice and sugar boiled to a paste, spread thin, and dried slowly until it peels away. The whole thing hinges on temperature — too much heat sets the sugar and scorches it, too little and the sheets stay tacky for days.
- Extracting the juiceSet a covered heatproof jar of fruit in a pan of simmering water, or in the oven at about 250F, until the fruit collapses and releases its juice — an hour or more for currants and cherries. Strain through a jelly bag or fine sieve without pressing hard if you want a clear wafer.
- "To every pound of juice"Weight, not volume: a pound of strained juice is roughly two cups. Equal weight sugar puts these at about 50 percent sugar before evaporation, which is what makes them keep.
- Cooking the pasteStir over low heat until it thickens noticeably and a spoon drawn across the pan leaves a channel — around 220-225F on a thermometer. Stir constantly at the end; the sugar concentration climbs quickly and the bottom catches.
- Buttered papersParchment or a silicone mat does the job with less fuss than buttered paper. Spread the mixture no more than 1/8 inch thick, or the centre will never dry.
- A slow ovenA Victorian "slow oven" is usually reckoned somewhere around 250-300F, but for drying you want lower still — 150-175F with the door propped ajar, or the lowest setting your oven offers. A dehydrator at 135F works better than an oven. Expect several hours, not minutes.
- When to turnThe sheet lifts cleanly from the paper when the underside has set. Peel, flip, and return it to finish; the second side goes much faster.
- "Best if kept near a fire"This means a warm, dry place. A modern equivalent is an airtight tin somewhere genuinely dry; humidity is what makes these go sticky and eventually mould.
- YieldA pound of juice with its pound of sugar, spread no more than 1/8 inch thick, covers roughly a couple of baking sheets; how many wafers that gives depends entirely on how small you cut them.
Boiled fruit pastes are among the oldest sweetmeats in the English kitchen, descended from the medieval and Tudor quiddany and fruit paste — quince marmalade stiff enough to slice being the ancestor of the whole family, and the origin of the word marmalade itself. By the nineteenth century the technique had split: thick moulded pastes became pâtes de fruits, while thin dried sheets like these were called wafers or leathers. Cassell's places the entry among dessert confections, and the title itself says "for Dessert" — the fruit and nuts at the close of dinner being where something sweet, dry and easy to handle was wanted. The recipe also reflects a practical concern of a house that made its own jelly: after straining, there was always more juice than jars, and a preserve that needed no bottling and only a warm corner to keep was worth having.