Lázeňské oplatky

Ingredients

Batter

• 300 gplain flour
• 500 mlmilk
• or milk and mineral water
• 2eggs
• 50 gbutter, melted
• 2 tablespoonssugar
• 1/2 teaspoonbaking powder
• a pinch of salt

Filling

• 150 gcaster sugar
• 100 gground hazelnuts
• or ground almonds
• 1 teaspoonground cinnamon
• a pinch of vanilla

Equipment

• an embossed wafer iron
• or a pizzelle iron
• oil, for the plates

To serve

• warm from the iron
• at a spa colonnade
• with mineral water

Directions

1. Put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add the baking powder to it as well. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl. Add the milk to the beaten eggs. Combining them takes some care. Pour the wet into the dry gradually. Whisk it as you pour to avoid lumps.
2. Add the melted butter last of all. Whisk it all together until smooth. Pour the batter through a fine sieve. Lumps show as thick spots in the wafer. Cover the bowl and let it stand. Give it at least thirty minutes. Add more milk if it seems heavy. Mix the caster sugar with the ground nuts.
3. Add the cinnamon and the vanilla. It is a dry powder rather than a paste. Grind them fine or buy them ground. Heating the iron takes attention. Heat the wafer iron thoroughly. Give it a good five minutes to heat. Brush both plates with a little oil. Use a brush or a folded cloth. Pour a small ladle onto the hot plate. Put it in the centre of the plate. Firm pressure spreads the batter thin.
4. Hold it closed as the wafer cooks. Cooking it takes a minute or two. Adjust the heat between wafers. Lifting it out takes some care. Lift the wafer off with a knife point. Lay it out on a flat cool surface. Lay them flat and they set flat. Weight them lightly if they curl. Work while the wafers are still hot.
5. Lay one hot wafer down flat first. Scatter the filling evenly over it. Use a thin and even layer only. Too much stops the wafers meeting.
6. Lay a second hot wafer on top. Press them firmly together now. Press evenly across the whole wafer. Hold the pressure for a few seconds. This only works while they are hot. Work quickly as they come off the iron. Have the filling ready beforehand. Set the filled wafers on a wire rack.
7. Let them cool down completely there. A warm wafer still feels slightly soft. Serve mineral water alongside them. They keep two weeks in a sealed tin. Keep the tin somewhere cool and dry.

Technique

• Two wafers are pressed together while still hot with the filling scattered between; the sugar in that filling melts and acts as the glue, which only works while they are hot, so cold wafers will not bond at all. Work quickly as they come off the iron and have the filling ready beforehand.
• The batter is closer to a crepe batter than a dough and should pour like single cream, since that thinness is what gives a thin wafer; a thick batter gives a thick chewy one instead.
• Karlovy Vary wafers carry a European geographical indication restricting the name to wafers made there; a domestic pizzelle iron is smaller than the nineteen-centimetre original and carries a different pattern, so the result is good but not the same, and the atlas says so plainly.

Substitutions

• A pizzelle iron stands in for an embossed wafer iron at a smaller size.
• Ground almonds work in place of hazelnuts in the filling.

Variations

• Some makers use the local spring water in the batter as part of the product’s identity.
• The filling is flavoured with cinnamon, cocoa or vanilla in different versions.
• Some makers press the filled pair briefly back in the iron to melt the sugar.

History

A Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně speciality baked for spa visitors since the early nineteenth century.

Frequently asked questions

What is Lázeňské oplatky?

Lázeňské oplatky is a snack from Czechia: wide thin embossed wafers with sweet filling, sold warm at spas. A Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně speciality baked for spa visitors since the early nineteenth century.

How long does Lázeňské oplatky take to make?

Lázeňské oplatky takes 30 minutes plus resting of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 12 wafers. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Lázeňské oplatky?

Yes, within limits. A pizzelle iron stands in for an embossed wafer iron at a smaller size. Ground almonds work in place of hazelnuts in the filling.

What is the most important thing to get right in Lázeňské oplatky?

Add the cinnamon and the vanilla. It is a dry powder rather than a paste. Grind them fine or buy them ground. Heating the iron takes attention. Heat the wafer iron thoroughly. Give it a good five minutes to heat. Brush both plates with a little oil. Use a brush or a folded cloth. Pour a small ladle onto the hot plate. Put it in the centre of the plate. Firm pressure spreads the batter thin.