French Wafers -- a Pinedo recipe

It is definitely time to play with the Pinedo book and to try a recipe.  (For more details on Pinedo's book and other recipes of hers I have tried, search this blog under the key word "Pinedo.")

Today I chose to make French wafers.  The recipe made me think this would be like a thin ice cream cone, like a sugar cone or a waffle cone.  

Her recipe:

Pages 28 - 29

My translation:

My redaction:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 beaten eggs

12 ounces whole milk

butter for the mold

powdered sugar for dusting

Start heating the mold over medium heat (5 of 10).  

Mix dry ingredients together in one bowl.

Beat eggs with a whisk until foamy and light.

Mix eggs, milk, and dry ingredients together.  You might need to adjust the amount of milk according to what your flour needs.  The result should be a thin batter.

Lightly butter both sides of the mold.  Pour a little batter into the center of the mold.  Close the lid and hold it closed until the squealing noises are through; holding it a little longer is fine as the batter is probably still spreading in the mold.

Continue to cook on that side for another 10 to 15 seconds.  Flip the mold and check the wafer's color -- if it is not a golden brown, flip it back and cook it for a few more seconds.  Cook the second side of the wafer until it is a good color, too. 

Remove the wafer and place it on a cooling rack if you want to keep it flat.  Or roll it around a dowel or other cylinder and place it on a plate.  Dust it liberally with powdered sugar.  Makes 30 or more wafers.

My Notes

Eggs are foamy

Batter is thin.

I have what I believe is a pizzelle iron, and I found using one tablespoon of batter worked quite well.  Adjust your quantity as suits your iron.

Just the right amount in just the right location.

It took me several tries to get the right amount of batter and placing it in just the right location on the iron.  I noticed that my original wafers were very thick on one side (the handles side) and very thin on the other (the hinge side).  That observation inspired me to hold the handles to resist the puffy batter from pushing the iron's sides apart.  It does still push it somewhat, but the difference in thickness was reduced and the batter spread out more across the iron.  This gave me a bigger, more uniformly thick wafer.

I love the scalloped edges, like fancy lace.

After I got the hang of putting in the batter and holding the handles, I paid more attention to how often I put butter on the iron -- every three or four wafers seemed right.  I used a silicone brush and put a very light coating of butter each time.

I also got a better sense of when the wafer was ready to be flipped and then removed.  A few times the thinnest part got too brown, and I could tell by the scent it had cooked too long.  It was worth it to check the wafer for doneness several times on both sides to get it right.

I tried rolling them with my fingers and was not satisfied with the uneven result.  So I used a dowel and that worked out much better.  Mine was about 1 inch in diameter.  I used both the uniform diameter part and the tapered part and liked both results.

Rolling on the tapered end of the dowel

My disappointment was that I fully expected them to be crispy and stay crispy -- just like a sugar cone for ice cream.  They were crispy for a short while but then got soft.  Just like my waffles, unfortunately.  But they did look good rolled and overlapped on a plate, and I dusted each layer with powdered sugar as I went along.

At one point I decided to keep them flat and I wanted them crispy, so I immediately put them on a cooling rack.  This worked well to keep their steam from making them soft.  

The Verdict

We tried them plain, and they were plain.  Notice there is no sugar or other flavorings like vanilla in the batter.  I think they are intended to be a neutral base to support and convey other flavors in the meal.

The powdered sugar made them better.

Buttering them wasn't really interesting, even though butter tastes good.

The best way of eating them was to spread them with jam first.  We tried pomegranate jelly (good), aronia berry jam (better), and Dorie Greenspan's Lemon Goop (best).  The goop does not have sugar in it, and the tartness of the lemon with its slightly salty background was just excellent.  

We declared it a success!  At least, we tried to say "success", but our mouths were full.  

I froze most of the flat ones with the idea of using them to accompany a savory stew (no powdered sugar) or to serve with ice cream.  You can see the way I served a stew with them below.

I'm not sure how to serve the wafers "very hot" because I could only make one at a time.  Perhaps they were all put on a tray in the oven until the batter was used up, then served.

The internet gives many opinions on how to get the wafers crispy and have them stay that way.  It suggests using non-stick cooking spray instead of butter on the iron.  Or to add sugar to the batter.  Or to cook it on a higher heat.  I'm not sure.  The original recipe does not state that the result will be crispy.  Perhaps they are supposed to be soft after they are rolled.  The result I got was somewhere in between a crispy ice cream cone and a softer crepe.  

Yum!  What filling should go inside there?

Savory stew with plain wafer.  Excellent!

I made a stew for dinner and served it with a single wafer.  After defrosting the wafer, I put it into the toaster oven for a very light toasting, which got it hot and made it crispy.  Not only did it look good, the wafer soaked up the stew's liquid base.  It also added a pleasant chewy starch to the meal.