No. 3363

Wafers with Almonds or Hazel-Nuts and with Brandy—Thin

Gaufres Minces aux Amandes ou aux Noisettes et au Cognac

Grind eight ounces of peeled sweet almonds with four egg-whites; pound them to a pulp to obtain a very fine paste, then add twelve ounces of powdered sugar, part of it flavored with vanilla (No. 3165) four ounces of flour and two egg-whites. Mix the whole well, and when the paste is quite smooth add to it four partly beaten egg-whites. Dress this paste in rounds two and a half inches in diameter with a spoon on waxed baking tins, and bake in a hot oven; when of a fine golden color remove from the tins and roll them on half-inch diameter cylinders.

For Hazel-nut Wafers.—Substitute the same quantity of roasted nuts for the almonds.

Rolled Wafers with Brandy.—Lay twelve ounces of sifted powdered sugar in a bowl and wet it slowly with ten half-beaten egg-whites, then add six ounces of flour and six ounces of corn starch, two ounces of melted butter, and two tablespoonfuls of brandy. Mix thoroughly to a smooth paste; add a pint of milk and stir until a flowing paste is obtained. Heat two flat, round, wafer irons (Fig. 608), cover one side with a thin layer of the paste, close the irons, and cook the wafers to a fine golden color. Pare the edges as soon as they are done, then roll each one upon a small inch-diameter roll.

FANCY CAKES (Petits Fours).

Sixty to the Pound.

← No. 3362 Chocolate Waffles and Cigarette Waffles with Tea Cakes No. 3364 Africans →

For the Modern Kitchen

Two related batters: a ground-almond tuile baked on sheets, and a thin brandy batter cooked in wafer irons. Both are shaped hot, and that is where the recipe stands or falls.

Shape them hot, one at a timeA baked wafer stays pliable for only ten or fifteen seconds off the heat. Bake six to a sheet at most, and if a wafer sets flat before you reach it, return the sheet to the oven for a few seconds to soften it again.
"Hot oven"Ranhofer gives no temperatures; for thin wafers of this kind a hot oven is usually read as somewhere around 400-425F. The rounds are thin and go from golden at the rim to burnt quickly, so watch the second batch closely once you know the timing of the first.
Powdered sugarIn 1894 this means finely ground granulated sugar, not modern confectioners' sugar with its cornstarch. Superfine (caster) sugar is the right substitute; modern powdered sugar will work in the almond batter but makes it slacker.
Egg whitesThe almond version uses ten whites in three stages -- four ground with the nuts, two with the flour, four partly beaten and folded in last. Eggs of the period were not graded and may well have run smaller; reckon on roughly 9 to 10 fl oz of whites in total and adjust the last addition to reach a spreadable, not pourable, paste.
"Waxed baking tins"Heavy tins rubbed with wax or clarified butter. A silicone mat or parchment on a heavy sheet is the modern equivalent and makes lifting the wafers far easier.
No. 3165, vanilla sugarThe cross-reference is to Ranhofer's vanilla-flavored sugar. Use vanilla sugar, or add half a teaspoon of extract to the batter.
Wafer ironsFig. 608 shows the flat, round irons that close over the batter; a pizzelle or krumkake iron does the same job. The brandy batter is a thin crepe-like liquid -- a pint of milk into that much dry mix -- so use only a spoonful per iron and expect the first two to be tests.
Rolling cylindersA half-inch dowel for the almond wafers, an inch for the brandy ones. A wooden spoon handle or a chopstick works; the wafer holds its curl within about half a minute.
Yield and storageThe almond batter makes roughly four to five dozen wafers two and a half inches across; the brandy batter somewhat fewer but larger. Both go soft within hours in humid air -- store airtight the same day, and re-crisp briefly in a low oven if needed.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer put these in The Epicurean (1894), the enormous record of his years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, in a run of wafer and waffle recipes leading into the petits fours. Gaufre is the French word for waffle and is used loosely here for wafers as well, and it covers two quite different techniques: the almond paste spooned into rounds and baked, which is essentially a tuile, and the thin brandy batter cooked between hinged irons, the older method associated with medieval wafer-making and surviving in the pizzelle and krumkake irons still sold today. The rolled shape was a common accompaniment to ices and to tea; a similar batter rolled tighter and thinner is close to what confectioners call a cigarette russe, and the neighbouring recipe in the book is headed "Cigarette Waffles." The note "Sixty to the Pound" that heads the following section indicates the expected size: petits fours small and uniform enough that sixty weighed a pound.