Raised Waffles
Two pounds of flour, one pound of butter, one quart of milk, eight eggs beaten very light, one-half cake of compressed yeast.
This is an ingredient list in the shorthand style of 1900, when a cook was assumed to know what to do with a yeast batter. The proportions are sound but enormous, and the method has to be supplied.
- Weights to cupsTwo pounds of flour is roughly 7 to 7 1/2 cups; a pound of butter is four sticks; a quart of milk is 4 cups. The batter is exceptionally rich, closer to a brioche than a modern waffle mix.
- Compressed yeastCompressed cakes were sold in more than one size, so the equivalence is approximate: if the cake was the small 0.6 oz size, half of it is roughly a teaspoon of active dry or instant yeast. Crumble it into milk warmed to about 110F rather than adding it dry to cold liquid.
- The hinge: the riseNothing here works without time. Mix flour, melted butter, warm milk and yeast into a loose batter and let it stand covered 1 to 2 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator; the eggs go in at the end, just before baking, or their structure is spent.
- Eggs beaten very lightBeating the eggs well, or separating them and folding in whipped whites, is what makes these waffles tall. Fold gently into the risen batter and bake at once.
- YieldThis makes something like 24 to 30 waffles, sized for a large household or a hotel griddle. Halving or quartering it is sensible; the full batch scales down cleanly.
- The ironA period recipe assumed a hinged cast-iron waffle iron heated over a range and greased each time. On an electric iron use a medium-high setting.
- Consistency checkAim for a batter that pours thickly, like heavy cream. Flour weights varied then, so hold back a little milk or add a little flour to reach that point.
Raised waffles are the older form of the dish: before chemical leavening was cheap and reliable, a waffle batter rose with yeast or on beaten eggs alone, which is why this recipe uses both. The name descends from the Dutch wafel, and yeast-risen waffle batters travelled to American kitchens through both Dutch and English cooking, where they were long a supper or breakfast bread rather than a dessert.