Making 17th Century Tudor Wafers with a Modern Waffle Maker

Gervase Markham wrote "The English Huswife" in 1615. Below is the original recipe from his book:

A Similar 15th Century Wafer Recipe

"ORIGINAL RECEIPT:
.xxiiij. Waffres. Take þe Wombe of A luce, & seþe here wyl, & do it on a morter, & tender cheese þer-to, grynde hem y-fere; þan take flowre an whyte of Eyroun & bete to-gedere, þen take Sugre an pouder of Gyngere, & do al to-gerderys, & loke þat þin Eyroun ben hote, & ley þer-on of þin paste, & þan make þin waffrys, & serue yn.
- Austin, Thomas. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Harleian MS. 279 & Harl. MS. 4016, with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1429, Laud MS. 553, & Douce MS 55. London: for The Early English Text Society by N. Trübner & Co., 1888." (Matterer)

Modern Recipe

 
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup cream
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp rose water
3 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

(Myers)

Method

Combine all of the ingredients together. Spray non-sticking spray on to the waffle iron. Spoon out into a waffle maker. Cook until golden brown.

Instructional Video and Further Information

To watch an instructional video on how to make wafers with a modern waffle maker, please visit here. To learn more about the history of Tudor wafers, please visit here.

The main difference between using a traditional wafer iron and the modern waffle maker is that the waffle maker makes the wafers more fluffy like a modern waffle. In the Tudor period, wafers were thinner and crispier than the waffles that we know today. Wafers in the Tudor period were similar to the waffle cones that we associate today with ice cream.

History

"Wafer comes from Old Norman French waufre and French gaufre. Both words had the sense of honeycomb, and confections bearing that name, including wafers and waffles, are duly so patterned to this day... Le Menagerie, about 1393, gives several recipes: one calls for adding flour, wine, and salt to beaten eggs and placing dough in the amount of 'a slide of cheese' between the heated irons." (Hess)

"Wafers were produced by the Yeomen of the Wafery in the ‘Wafery’ itself, a warm dry room in the Hampton Court kitchens that was near the other confectionary offices. Wafers are high-status food, involving specialist skills, great heat, and a quick turnaround." (Worsley)

Works Cited

Hess, Karen. Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery. 1995. Columbia University Press: New York, NY. P. 154.

Markham, Gervase. The English Huswife. Hannah Sawbridge, London. 1615. https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ2KV5vfzqYC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq=the+english+housewife+wafers&source=bl&ots=rIZGdgiY2P&sig=ACfU3U2vBDmXBDV8HXxn9P0lWZReacJf_Q&hl=en&ppis=_e&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjp6bPfic_nAhUDT98KHeKcAl8Q6AEwC3oECA0QAQ#v=onepage&q=the%20english%20housewife%20wafers&f=false. 30 March 2019.

Matterer, James L. "Waffres." A Boke of Gode Cookery. 2000. http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/grec43.htm. 15 May 2006.

Myers, Daniel. "Wafers." Medieval Cookery." 2020. http://medievalcookery.com/recipes/wafers.html. 13 February 2020.

Worsley, Lucy. "How to Make a Tudor Wafer." 2019. https://www.lucyworsley.com/how-to-make-a-tudor-wafer/. 13 February 2020.