Paper-thin, light and delicately curled, wafers date back to the Middle Ages, where they were served at banquet meals and hawked on street corners throughout Europe. These early versions were likely thicker than today’s wafers – more like waffles. They were made using a long-handled wafer iron that stamped an image into the discs of spongy dough, which were then baked over an open fire. The designs ranged from the whimsical such as flowers or landscapes to a cross or other religious symbol when the wafers were used for communion.

In Medieval France, wafers were known as oublies (from the Greek obelios – meaning a flat cake cooked between metal plates). The wafer makers (or oubloyeurs) would often slip five of these oublies together and sell them as a tidy bundle.

Over time, wafer batter became thinner, producing an airy, lightweight cookie that was rolled into a cylindrical shape by curling around a wooden rod or rolling pin while still warm. Once cooled it was like a petite, crispy-textured crepe or cannoli. In the nineteenth century it became popular to serve these feather-like delicacies alongside cool, creamy ice cream and rich puddings. A prime example of this typical pairing can be seen on James Parkinson’s Thousand Dollar Dinner menu in 1851. Wafers a la Francaise (French wafers) were included as part of the pastry course at this seventeen-course feast. Their crunchy texture perfectly complemented the velvety coconut pudding, lemon pudding, blanc mange and Italian cream also served in this course.

The wafers served by Parkinson were likely very similar to those featured in The Complete Confectioner, the cookbook published by his mother Eleanor in 1844. The ingredient list for Eleanor's wafers is short and sweet: basically just flour, sugar, butter, milk, egg and orange-flower water, which gives the wafers a light, delicate taste. No need for leavening since they were not expected to rise. It is interesting that she mentions that the batter could be tinted, as I didn’t see that in any other period recipes. In the 19th century, natural colorants were obtained from plants and spices such as saffron and marigold (to make yellow), spinach and raw coffee grains (to make green), and the dried, pulverized bodies of an insect called the cochineal (to make red). 

Eleanor’s recipe is as follows:

“Wafers.—four ounces of sugar, four ounces of butter, eight ounces of flour, the yolk or white of one egg, and half a tea-cupful of milk or water. Melt the butter in the water; mix the egg, sugar and flour together, adding, by degrees, the melted butter and water; or, instead of the butter, it may be made into a thin batter with cream, and a little orange-flower water, or any other essence, to flavour it. The mixture may be coloured. Make the wafer-tongs hot over the hole of a stove or clear fire. Rub the inside surfaces with butter or oil, put in a spoonful of the batter, and close the tongs immediately; put them on the fire, turning them occasionally until the wafer is done, which a little practice will soon enable you to ascertain; roll the wafers on a small round stick, stand them on their ends in a sieve, and put them in the stove to dry; serve them with ices.”

I adapted her recipe to modern specifications, swapping the wafer iron for parchment lined cookie sheets.

Wafers

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
  
• ½ cup milk
  
• 2 egg whites
  
• ½ cup sugar
  
• 1 cup flour
  
• 1 tablespoon orange-flower water (or rose-water, lemon essence or vanilla)
  

Heat oven to 350 F and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside. Have ready some rolling pins, bottles or thin glasses (I used champagne flutes). Melt the butter and combine with the milk. Whisk the egg whites until frothy and then stir in the sugar and flour until well mixed. Add the butter/milk mixture a little at a time, and then stir in the orange-flower water. The batter should be thin, like a crepe - if it seems too thick, add a little more milk to thin it out. Drop tablespoons of the batter one at a time onto the paper-lined baking sheets. Spread each portion with a spoon or tip of a knife to a diameter of about three inches. Bake for 10- 12 minutes until cookies begin to brown around the edges, rotating once during baking. While still warm, carefully remove from the baking sheet and drape over the rolling pin, bottles or glasses so that they curve around the container, creating a rolled shape. When cool, transfer the rolled wafers to a wire rack to harden completely. Serve with ice cream or pudding.

Sources: Larousse Gastronomique, Dictionary of Gastronomy by Andre L. Simon and Robin Howe, The Royal English and Foreign Confectioner (1862) by Charles Elmé Francatelli, The Complete Confectioner (1844) by Eleanor Parkinson, and Joy of Cooking: All About Cookies  by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and  Ethan Becker

Angel food is my absolute favorite of all cakes. Light and airy, it is so versatile - easily paired with fruit or whipped cream, cut into blocks and dunked in chocolate fondue or even toasted and spread with jam. My mom used to hollow out the inside, fill the cake with a light chocolate whipped cream, and then "frost" the outside with the rest of the mixture - this was often my requested birthday cake - yum! But in the past ten years or so I usually use this delicious cake to make a trifle - chunks of cake layered with berries and fluffy whipped cream - heavenly! The sponge-like texture perfectly complements the luscious berries and cream. (Stay tuned for a future blog post on this amazing dessert!)
It also seems appropriate that I talk about this fluffy, delicate cake since I recently blogged about its polar opposite - the wickedly decadent Devil's Food Cake. Just as Devil's Food sparks images of a sinfully rich and dark chocolaty dessert, Angel Food Cake gets its name from its white color and feathery-soft texture, reminiscent of an angel. As nineteenth century New York Cooking School instructor Juliet Corson eloquently stated, "The pure white of the interior contrasts prettily with the golden brown surface, and the delicacy of its substance well merits its name." 
The characteristic white color comes from using pure white flour, sugar and a whole carton of egg whites, which need to be thoroughly beaten in order to incorporate air into the batter and give the cake its distinctive height. This laborious task was made much easier when the rotary egg beater came on the scene around 1870, and the sky-high snowy-white cake began appearing in cookbooks not long after. 
However, Angel Food Cake as we know it today was actually not the first dessert with the name "Angel's Food."  There is a recipe for "Angel's Food" in the 1865 cookbook Mrs. Goodfellow's Cookery as it Should Be (said to be written by a student of Mrs. Goodfellow), which sounds like a deliciously rich apple pudding. As per the instructions: Stew tart apples, strain them, sweeten with white sugar, mix four whites of eggs, (saved from the custard,) add the stewed apples, and the eggs beaten to a stiff froth; make a boiled custard, pour it into a glass dish, and drop on the custard the beaten apples and eggs.
Another recipe for Angel's Food - from The Godey's Lady's Book Receipts and Household Hints (1870)
by Sarah Annie Frost  - is also custardy, but calls for jelly instead of stewed apples, as well as layers of sliced cake - similar a trifle or charlotte. Ms. Frost calls it " A New Dish" —Make a rich custard, pour it in a glass bowl, and put a layer of sliced cake on it. Stir some finely-powdered sugar into quince or apple jelly, and drop it on the cake. Pour syllabub* on the cake, and then put on another layer of cake, and icing. Then there was Angel Pie, made with a meringue crust filled with rich lemon custard - a dessert that became popular in the late nineteenth century.
The earliest reference I found to a recipe fora tall, fluffy Angel's Food Cake was in an The Cooking Manual of Practical Directions for Economical Every-day Cookery (1879) by Juliet Corson. According to Ms. Corson, this receipt came from Washington, D. C., as it was a favorite of Mrs. Lucy Hayes, wife of Rutherford B. Hayes and first lady at the time. Apparently the press claimed she was so fond of this cake that she had it sent to the White House from St. Louis. Mrs. Hayes said this was an exaggeration, but she did like the delicate cake, which was made especially for her in Washington. Ms. Corson was "pleased to include the directions for making it" in her cookbook's new chapter. It is similar to the modern recipe I used:  Eleven egg whites, sifted flour and powdered sugar, cream of tartar and vanilla, mixed well and poured into an unbuttered cake tin. 
The best version of this cake that I have tried is from Greg Patent's Baking in America. He calls it "Amazing Angel Food Cake", and it really is amazing (and quite simple to boot!). It calls for covering the cake with foil and baking for 10 minutes at a high temperature; then the foil is removed, the oven temp is lowered and the cake is baked the rest of the time uncovered. Let me tell you, this method worked perfectly and produced a flawless cake - better than any mix.
Amazing Angel Food Cake

• 1 cup sifted cake flour
  
• 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
  
• 13 large egg whites
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 475F. Have ready a grease-free 10x4-inch tube pan with a removable bottom (not nonstick).
   
2. Resift the flour with the confectioners sugar; set aside. 
   
3. Beat the whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Add the salt and cream or tartar and continue beating until the whites are thick and fluffy and form soft billowy mounds that droop at their tips. Beat in the sugar 2 tablespoons at a time, beating for a few seconds after each addition. Add both extracts and beat for 30 seconds, or until the whites form slightly stiff peaks that curl at their tips and move slightly when you tilt the bowl. 
4. Gradually fold in the flour mixture, sifting about 3 tablespoons at a time evenly over the whites and using a large rubber spatula to fold the two together with a few gentle strokes. Using the spatula, gently transfer the batter to the tube pan. To remove any large air bubbles, run a long narrow metal spatula in 3 or 4 concentric circles through the batter, beginning at the tube and working outward. Smooth the top with the rubber spatula.
5. Cover the pan tightly with heavy-duty foil. Bake for 10 minutes. Quickly open the oven door and remove the foil. Close the oven door and reduce the temperature to 425F. Bake for 15 minutes more, or until the cake has risen to the top of the pan, is well browned, and springs back when gently pressed. The cake may have a few cracks. Immediately invert the pan onto a narrow-necked bottle. Let cool completely upside down, 2 to 3 hours.
6. Loosen the sides of the cake from the pan using a narrow thin-bladed knife. Run the knife between the cake and the central tube. Lift the cake out of the pan by its tube, and release the cake from the bottom of the pan with the knife. Carefully turn the cake out onto a wire rack. Cover with a cake plate and invert the two so that the cake is right side up. To serve, cut into slices with a serrated knife. 

*  Syllabub is a sweet drink made of thickened milk or cream

Sources: Baking in America by Greg Patent; American Cookery by James Beard; Mrs. Goodfellow's Cookery as it Should Be by a pupil of Mrs. Goodfellow; The Cooking Manual of Practical Directions for Economical Every-day Cookery by Juliet Corson; The Godey's Lady's Book Receipts and Household Hints by Sarah Annie Frost