Wafers

A wafer is a very thin, crisp sheet baked between hot plates from a batter of flour, water and a little oil, then layered with cream and cut into fingers or squares. Because the sheets are mostly air, wafers are much lighter than a biscuit and snap cleanly. Sri Lankan bakeries are well known for chocolate and vanilla wafers, Indian brands make wafer rolls and cream wafers, and European wafers with hazelnut cream are sold on the same shelf.

Wafers come in flat fingers, in rolled tubes, and in chocolate coated bars. Flat wafers in a family packet are good with tea or for a plate at a birthday, while single wrapped bars are made for school bags. Rolls are often used to decorate a cake or stuck into a bowl of ice cream or falooda. Flavours run from chocolate and vanilla to strawberry, lemon, orange and coconut, and the filling is usually what sets one apart from another.

Wafers lose their crunch faster than any other biscuit, because the thin layers soak up moisture from the air. Close the packet straight after opening and keep it in a tin, and do not store wafers in the fridge, where they soften. A soft wafer can be crisped again in a low oven for a few minutes, then left to cool. For more filled biscuits, see cream biscuits, for sponge and cake cakes and Swiss rolls, and the rest of the shelf in biscuits and cookies.