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Nut Rolls
Cream half a cupful of butter, one cupful of fine sugar, one-half cupful of sweet milk, one and one-half cupfuls of flour, one-half teaspoonful of vanilla (no egg), one cupful of nuts chopped fine. Spread on bottom of baking tin as thin as paper, sprinkle on a layer of nuts, bake quickly, cut in squares, and roll as quickly as possible.
This is a thin nut wafer in the tuile family, and everything depends on speed once it leaves the oven. Read the last line first: the squares have to be rolled while still hot and pliable.
- The hinge: roll hot, in batchesA paper-thin sugar wafer sets brittle within seconds of leaving the oven. Bake one small sheet at a time, cut and roll around the handle of a wooden spoon immediately, and slide the pan back into the oven for a few seconds if the squares stiffen before you finish.
- "Bake quickly"The book asks for speed rather than naming an oven setting. Nineteenth-century "quick oven" is usually glossed somewhere around 400-450F, so for a wafer this thin something near 425F for roughly 5-8 minutes is a sensible starting point: pull it when the surface is evenly light gold, since the edges will darken first.
- "As thin as paper"Take this literally. An offset spatula and a heavy sheet pan lined with parchment or a silicone mat give the best chance; the batter is stiff, and dipping the spatula in water helps it spread. Any thick patch will stay soft and will not roll.
- No egg, no leaveningThe parenthetical "(no egg)" is deliberate, and there is no baking powder either. The wafer gets its structure from sugar and flour alone, which is exactly what makes it crisp and rollable. Do not add either ingredient to "fix" the batter.
- Sweet milkSimply fresh whole milk, as distinct from the soured or buttermilk that older recipes call for by name.
- Fine sugarPeriod usage is not wholly consistent, but "fine" sugar most often indicates a fine granulated sugar, close to today's caster or superfine, rather than the pulverized sugar usually called "powdered". Ordinary granulated works but dissolves less readily into the creamed butter.
- The nuts, counted twiceA cupful goes into the batter and a further unspecified layer is sprinkled on top. Chop the batter nuts genuinely fine or they will tear the thin sheet; keep the sprinkled layer sparse and press it down lightly so it adheres. Walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts all suit.
- Yield and keepingExpect roughly three to four dozen small rolls, depending on how thin you get the batter. Store airtight the same day; they go limp quickly in humid air, and a few minutes in a low oven will re-crisp them.
Rolled wafers of this kind belong to a wide European family: the French tuile and cigarette russe, the Scandinavian krumkake and Italian pizzelle, all built on the same principle that a very thin sugar batter can be shaped for a moment while hot and will hold that shape once cool.