A thin wheat wafer from Liège, baked in a fine-grid waffle iron, split horizontally and filled with a secret-recipe orange-blossom sugar-candy syrup; the signature sweet of the October Fair and Antwerp's Sinksenfoor, eaten warm or cold.
In 1903, Désiré Smidts—known as 'Désiré de Lille'—invented this thin syrup-filled wafer while working for the Lille-based fairground stall of the Lacquemant family; he first sold it at the Antwerp fair before it became a Liège institution. He named the treat after Berthe Lacquemant, his former employer, and kept the orange-blossom candy-sugar syrup a closely guarded family secret. The word 'lacquemant' later entered the Petit Larousse dictionary (2010 edition) as a recognized Belgian term.
The wafer offers almost no resistance—a whisper of crisp wheat—then the orange-blossom syrup floods across the tongue: honeyed, floral, with a gentle trailing warmth of cinnamon.
The fine-grid waffle iron applies simultaneous conductive heat from both plates, flash-baking the thin dough; steam escapes through the grid channels, leaving a dry, crisp shell without a chewy crumb. The filling is a supersaturated sucrose-honey syrup: heated past its saturation point and stabilized with honey's invert sugars, it sets semi-solid on cooling but reliquefy when the warm wafer heats it. Orange-blossom water contributes aromatic esters—linalool and geraniol—that survive the low-heat syrup stage and perfume the finished sweet.
Variations
Some vendors add cinnamon directly to the wafer batter. Others dip the filled wafer into a second hard-candy coating for a glassy exterior shell. Home-purchased boxes of six can be microwaved briefly to reliquefy the syrup. Antwerp's Sinksenfoor stalls produce them in higher volume than Liège's October Fair.
On the Palate
Where Lacquemant sits in the Belgian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 10
How it's made
7 steps · 50 min active + 40 min waiting
- 110 min
Prepare the syrup: combine brown sugar, honey and a small amount of water in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until dissolved; simmer until syrupy, remove from heat, stir in orange-blossom water and ground cinnamon, and cool completely.
Watch outSimmer the syrup only to a pourable syrupy thread — too thin and it soaks the wafer soggy; too thick and it sets hard and won't melt into the warm biscuit.
- 245 min
Make the dough: combine flour, softened butter, egg yolk, warm milk, fresh yeast and a pinch of sugar; knead until smooth and cohesive. Cover and proof at room temperature for 40 minutes until noticeably puffed.
- 35 min
Divide the dough into 20-gram balls; roll smooth and rest 5 minutes to relax the gluten.
- 44 min
Preheat a fine-grid waffle iron to medium-high and brush lightly with butter. Press each ball flat inside the iron and cook 3–4 minutes until pale golden and dry.
Watch outPress each ball flat in the iron and cook just to pale gold and dry — you want a crisp shell, not color; overbake and it turns hard and won't soak up the syrup.
- 52 min
Immediately transfer the warm wafer to a board and slice horizontally through the middle, keeping the two halves aligned.
- 62 min
Spoon or brush the cooled orange-blossom syrup generously over the inner surface of the bottom half; press the top half back into place.
- 75 min
Serve in a paper cone or box; allow a minute for the syrup to soak in. Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
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