18^th century

A Quire of Paper

The word ‘quire’ comes from the Latin ‘quaterni’ which means a set of four. It is a term used by printers and bookbinders, meaning a stack of paper that is bound into a book. This recipe is not for a stack of paper but for a pile of rich cream pancakes, thin as paper, served layered as a cake instead of individually. The pancake pile is cut into wedges and served with a dusting of fine sugar and a rich sauce.

The earliest recipe for this ‘quire of paper’ I found in a book from 1714. It is not a dish that often appears, either in the books of the period or those published later, but the author in this early work mentions the dish is ‘call’d a Quire of Paper’ which means it must have been known in this manner for some time. It was, however, a dish privileged for the gentry, as use of eggs makes it too expensive for normal folk.

Thin Cream pan-cakes, call’d a Quire of Paper

Take to a Pint of Cream, eight eggs, leaving out two whites, three Spoonfuls of fine Flour, three Spoonfuls of Sack, and one Spoonful of Orange-flower Water, a little Sugar, a grated Nutmeg, and a quarter of a Pound of Butter, melted in the Cream; mingle all well together, mixing the flour with a little Cream at firft, that it may be fmooth : Butter your Pan for the firft Pan-cake, and let them run as thin as you can poffibly, to be whole; when one Side is clour’d, ‘tis enough; take them carefully out of the Pan, and ftrew some fine-sifted-sugar between each; lay them as even on each other as you can : This Quantity will make twenty

Mary Kettleby, A Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery, 1714

Makes a stack of 12

490 g (1 lb 1½ oz) plain (all-purpose) flour

1½ teaspoons grated nutmeg

2 teaspoons of sugar

300 ml (10½ fl oz) thick (double) cream

6 eggs plus 2 egg yolks, extra

2 teaspoons orange flower water

120 ml (4 fl oz) sherry

200 g (7 oz) butter, plus extra for frying

caster (superfine) sugar, to sprinkle in between layers

Combine the dry Ingredients in a bowl and gradually add the cream and then the eggs, one at a time, including the extra yolks. When thoroughly combined, add the orange flower water and the sherry and whisk until smooth. Warm the butter until just melted, pour into the batter and whisk until it is well incorporated.

Put a frying pan or pancake pan on the stovetop and let it get very hot. Add a little butter, pour in a spoonful of batter and let it spread as you turn the pan to guide the batter into shape. Let it colour golden on one side, and place on a plate with the fried side down. Sprinkle with a little caster sugar. Repeat to make the rest of the pancakes, stacking each one on top of the first and sprinkling a little sugar before adding the next layer. If you bake them thin enough, you should get 12 pancakes out of this batter. For a higher cake of 24 layers, simply double the recipe.

Place the last pancake on the stack with the fried side up. Serve with sack sauce. A squeeze of lemon won’t hurt either and will cut through the rich flavour.

These pancakes are also delicious fried on both sides, as we have our normal pancakes, although they have a slightly more savoury note than regular pancakes today.