Spa Treat · Thin Wafer
Karlovarské Oplatky
Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
Bakers traditionally moisten the wafer with the town's own hot mineral spring water before baking it — a step that's part of what makes a Karlovy Vary wafer taste different from any other wafer.
Two paper-thin, large round wafers sandwiched around a filling of hazelnut, chocolate, or vanilla cream, baked crisp and sold warm from walk-up stands throughout the spa town of Karlovy Vary.
Why it's made this way: Spa doctors once recommended them to convalescent guests as a light dessert that wouldn't sit heavy after a day of mineral-water treatments — the earliest written mention dates to a spa guidebook from 1788, with commercial bakeries taking off from the 1850s.
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