WARNING: This recipe uses unblessed communion wafers or hosts. If you are offended by my use of ingredients, please skip this recipe.
One of my favorite childhood snacks was aparon. It was made from the leftover cutouts of the hosts or communion wafers drizzled with caramelized sugar. The clear plastic packaging was emblazoned red and yellow with two cherubs. If my memory serves me correctly, it was first made by a religious order. They made hosts for the church, but needed to find a way to reuse the scraps.
My earliest recollections of aparon had no sesame seeds included. Aparon has made a comeback and is now being made in Bulacan, though their recipe includes sesame seeds. I have yet to find some in Manila, so I’m sharing my recipe for it.
This is one recipe where it’s a bit more assembly than it is creating. You start with unblessed hostia (communion wafer or hosts) and sugar. I have included the steps for sesame seeds for those who prefer it. The best hosts to use are the big ones, as the smaller ones are a little bit on the thin side. Whatever you find, it’s sure to be delicious. You can find unblessed hosts in some supermarkets and Catholic stores.
Ingredients:
- ¼ cup sesame seeds (optional)
- 1 pack hosts or 2 packs communion wafers (hostia)
- ½ cup white sugar
Procedure:
- Toasting sesame seeds. Skip this step if you are not including it. Get a heavy frying pan and place on low-medium heat. Add sesame seeds. Heat until lightly toasted. Remove from heat and place in sesame seeds in a cool, dry bowl. Set aside.
- Preparing the hostia. Get a baking sheet. If you have silicone paper, you can line the pan with it so that the caramel won’t stick to the pan. Distribute the hostia on the tray evenly.
- Toasting hostia. Preheat oven to its lowest setting. For most ovens, this will be about 200ºF or 100ºC. If your oven cannot go this low, just use its lowest setting and reduce the time by 5 minutes. Place hostia on baking tray into oven. Toast for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
- Preparing the caramel. Get a small saucepan. Add sugar and place saucepan over low heat. Wait for sugar to begin to liquefy. If the sugar starts to brown too quickly, move the heat to another part of the saucepan. Gently move the saucepan to melt the rest of the sugar.
- Once all the sugar has melted, carefully drizzle the all caramel over the hostia. Make sure to work quickly as the caramel will harden when cold.
- If adding sesame seeds, drizzle the sesame seeds over the caramel.
- Using a wooden spoon, mix the hostia. You want to make sure that the caramel is covered as much as possible by the hostia.
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container.
Photo by Louise Hagedorn