Waffles

A plain baking-powder waffle batter of the kind that filled American breakfast books through the first half of the twentieth century. It works in a modern iron with two adjustments: how the leavening goes in, and how long you leave the lid down.

• Add the baking powder with the flourThe instruction to fold baking powder in at the end, loose, over beaten whites is the one place this recipe fights itself — it streaks and gives uneven rise. Sift or whisk the 3 teaspoons into the 2 cups flour before it meets the liquid, then fold in the whites last.
• Mixing orderBeat yolks with sugar and salt, add butter and milk, then stir in the flour just to combine. Lumps are preferable to overworking; a beaten batter toughens.
• SaltA full teaspoon reads high to modern palates, especially with salted butter. Half a teaspoon is closer to current practice if the butter is salted.
• The ironThe recipe assumes the cook knew when the plate was hot; with a stovetop or unregulated iron that was judged by a drop of water skittering across it. On a modern iron use medium-high and let the indicator show ready before the first waffle; the first one is always the test piece.
• TimingNo time is given because the cook watched the steam. Close the lid, wait until the plume from the seam thins to almost nothing, then lift — roughly 3 to 5 minutes. Opening early tears the waffle in half.
• Batter consistencyEqual cups of flour and milk give a pourable batter that spreads on its own. If your flour is dry, hold back a few tablespoons of milk; if it mounds and sits, thin it slightly rather than pressing it out with the lid.
• YieldAbout 6 to 8 waffles in a standard square iron, or four Belgian-depth ones. Serve straight off the iron, or hold in a single layer on a rack in a 200F oven — stacking steams them limp.