By Anne Faber
I think many Luxembourgers have fond memories of making Wäffelcher at their grandparents’. These thin, buttery wafers are baked individually in a round waffle maker and wrapped around the handle of a wooden spoon while still hot, so that they get a cone shape. While I was rolling Wäffelcher for this book, I suddenly thought it would be really fun to fold them into fortune cookies instead and hide messages inside!
I also jazzed up the traditional recipe by adding black sesame seeds to the batter – the inspiration for this comes from a trip to Thailand, where I once ate thin coconut-flavored wafers specked with black sesame seeds and rolled up just like in Luxembourg. My favorite treat from Luxembourg with an Asian twist!
Makes 25 • Prep 45’ • Resting 30’ • A little effort
- 2 eggs
- 85g sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- 85g butter, melted + extra for greasing
- 85g flour
- a pinch of salt
- 1⁄2 tsp black sesame seeds (optional)
- 25 paper messages, to stick into the cookies
- Put the eggs into a bowl and whisk together with the sugar and vanilla sugar. Add the melted butter, whisk again, then add the flour, salt and sesame seeds and beat to a smooth batter.
- Set aside to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. This will make the batter less runny.
- After 30 minutes, switch on a round waffle iron. Butter the iron, then pour a heaped teaspoon of batter into the center. Close and bake the wafer until golden (every waffle maker is different, it can take between 30 seconds and 2 minutes, just open it from time to time to peek inside).
- Now you need to work quickly: remove the wafer with a spatula, and put onto a wire rack. Place a fortune in the center of the wafer. Quickly fold the wafer in half, then fold the two edges towards each other so that you get a crescent shape. This needs to be done really fast because the wafer will harden and become brittle within seconds.
- Place the folded fortune cookie into a muffin tin so it hold its shape as it cools. Leave to cool completely, then store in a tin for up to a week.
TIPS
- The diameter of a traditional Wäffelchen is about 15cm. As these are fortune cookie wafers, you’ll want the wafer to be on the small side. The diameter I aim for is about 12cm, as the wafers are easier to fold when they’re small.
- It’s very likely that you’ll burn your fingers while shaping the fortune cookies… My solution is to wrap both my thumbs and index fingers in foil so I can’t feel the heat. It may look very odd, but it is a very handy trick indeed!
- You can find plenty of printable fortune cookie messages online.
- Black sesame seeds are available in Asian supermarkets. They are a bit crunchier than white sesame seeds, but their taste is very similar. You can of course use white sesame seeds in this recipe.
Recipe from the book “Home Sweet Home – My Luxembourg”, Editions Schortgen (http://anneskitchen.co.uk/the-book-3/)
Visit Anne’s website at http://anneskitchen.co.uk/