Jacob's Cornish Wafers Crackers, 150g
Treat this as a savoury shortbread and everything about it makes sense. There is real fat in the dough, which is why it shatters into crumbs instead of snapping in half, why an open pack actually smells of baking when nothing else on this shelf does, and why it breaks in your hand if you load a wedge of cheddar onto it. So eat it over a plate, slice the butter rather than spreading it, and cut the cheese thin. The cup has to work harder here too: a strong Assam or a properly brewed breakfast blend earns its place because the astringency is cutting through fat rather than keeping the cracker company. Fat is also why it tires rather than merely going soft, so finish a pack instead of keeping it half open for a month. Where it was baked, and the allergen statement, are both on the box.
Jacob's Cornish Wafers Crackers, in brief.
Jacob's Cornish Wafers are a 150g pack of rich, flaky crackers, good enough to eat with nothing but butter.
Two things about the name mislead: it is not a thin crisp wafer, and Cornish is part of what the product is called rather than a statement about where this pack was baked, which is on the label.
Jacob's Cornish Wafers are a 150g pack of rich, flaky, layered crackers.
It is not a wafer in the thin, crisp sense that the word normally implies, and the word Cornish is part of the product's name rather than a statement about where this pack was baked.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Storage, cheese and tea pairings are also published in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
What it is, in our own assessment of how it eats, is a thick, rich, crumbling cracker that behaves more like a savoury shortbread than like a cream cracker. That difference comes down to fat. The practical consequence runs right through the page: it is a pack to eat rather than a pack to build on.
The Story Behind Jacob's
Jacob's is the name most closely associated with the British cracker, and Cornish Wafers is the richer, more generous corner of that range rather than its workhorse. That is company heritage and positioning; it is not a claim about where this particular pack was made, and we are not going to let the word Cornish do that work by implication. If the origin matters to you, it is printed on the box.
The fat used, the flour, the allergen advice, any certification marks and the country of origin must all be read off the current UK pack. This is a new brand for our shelves, and crackers are a new category for us entirely.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
What You Are Actually Buying
- Weight: That sits in the middle of our cracker range, and given how much richer this pack is than a plain cracker it is reasonable rather than generous.
- Not a wafer either: in our own assessment this is a thick, crumbling cracker rather than a thin crisp one. Anyone expecting a delicate wafer will be surprised, and mostly pleasantly.
- Where it sits: the eating end of our cracker range rather than the building end. If you want to construct something, buy a cream cracker and keep this for eating with butter.
Getting It Right in the Cup
- Room temperature: the fat that carries the aroma goes dull when cold, and the aroma is a real part of what you bought.
- Storage: sealed, cool and dry, and this one matters more than most. Fat in a bake is the part that goes tired with age, so a Cornish Wafer has two ways to disappoint rather than one.
- Reviving a soft pack: three or four minutes in a hot oven restores the texture. It cannot restore a tired flavour, so if the aroma has gone the pack has genuinely had its day.
- Best with: cold butter, a strong mug of tea and a plate underneath.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Jacob's Cornish Wafers Crackers, 150g, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Jacob's
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
A rich cracker asks the drink to do something a plain one does not: cut through the fat rather than simply accompany it. That narrows the field considerably, and it puts a properly strong black tea at the top of the list for once on a savoury page.
The Cheeseboard Serve
The Tea Break
Made with this tea
Cold Butter and Nothing Else
How to make Cold Butter and Nothing Else with Jacob's Cornish Wafers.
- 3 or 4 Jacob's Cornish Wafers, at room temperature
- Cold salted butter, sliced thin
- A little flaky salt, optional
- Warm the crackers to room temperature, because the fat that carries the aroma goes dull when cold.
- Slice the butter rather than spreading it, which avoids breaking a cracker that crumbles readily.
- Eat them over a plate. This pack crumbles enthusiastically and that is the trade for how good it is.
- Decide here whether you like the pack, because this is the honest test of it.
The Strong Tea Break
How to make The Strong Tea Break with Jacob's Cornish Wafers.
- 4 Cornish Wafers
- 1 mug assam or strong breakfast tea
- Milk, optional
- Brew the tea properly strong, since the astringency is cutting the fat rather than just keeping the cracker company.
- Add milk if you like, which softens the meeting without spoiling it.
- Leave the sugar out entirely. Sugar beside a rich savoury cracker is simply wrong.
- Skip the green and white teas, which will be overwhelmed.
What you'll end up with: One of the two packs in this range that genuinely needs a robust cup, and it rewards one.
Thin-Sliced Cheddar, Not a Wedge
How to make Thin-Sliced Cheddar, Not a Wedge with Jacob's Cornish Wafers.
- 8 Cornish Wafers
- A mature cheddar, sliced thin
- A sharp pickle, on the side
- Apple, sliced
- Slice the cheese thin rather than cutting wedges, because a thick topping will break the cracker in your hand.
- Choose a mature cheddar over a delicate cheese, since a mild brie would simply be flattened by a cracker this rich.
- Keep the pickle on the side so its liquid does not soften the crumb.
- Assemble as you eat rather than in advance.
What you'll end up with: A cheese plate built around the cracker's limits rather than against them. Thin slices, strong cheese, no towers.
The Richest Crumb in the Range
- A handful of Cornish Wafers
- 2 fish fillets or 1 baking dish
- Parsley or thyme
- Lemon
- Crush the crackers to a coarse crumb in a bag with a rolling pin.
- Add far less butter than you would to a plain cracker crumb, or none at all, because the fat is already in the bake.
- Press onto the fish or scatter over the dish with the chopped herbs.
- Bake until browned and squeeze lemon over at the table.
What you'll end up with: Browns better than any other crumb in our range and needs almost no added fat to do it.
Bringing a Softened Pack Back
How to make Bringing a Softened Pack Back with Jacob's Cornish Wafers.
- The softened crackers
- 1 baking tray
- 3 to 4 minutes in a hot oven
- Smell the pack first. If it still smells rich and baked it is worth reviving; if it smells of nothing the fat has gone tired and the oven cannot fix that.
- Spread the crackers in a single layer on a dry tray, with no oil and no butter added.
- Heat for three to four minutes to drive off the moisture they have taken out of the air.
- Cool them completely on the tray, since the texture returns as they cool rather than while they are hot.
What you'll end up with: Texture recovered, provided the aroma is still there. This is the pack where the smell test decides whether to bother.
What’s in it, what to know
Inside the pack
| Typical values per 100g, as published | Per 100g |
|---|---|
| Energy | 533 kcal |
| Fat | 29.1g |
| of which saturates | 14.1g |
| Carbohydrate | 57.6g |
| of which sugars | 0.4g |
| Fibre | 2.7g |
| Protein | 8.9g |
| Salt | 0.8g |
Ingredients and allergens. Per the published ingredient list for this barcode it contains wheat (gluten), and it may contain milk. Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Ingredients, as published for this barcode: Flour (Wheat Flour, Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Vegetable Oil (Palm), Wheat Starch, Salt.
Ingredient and nutrition data for this barcode: Open Food Facts (openfoodfacts.org), ODbL. The pack in your hands is the final word.
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Fat in the dough | the character | The defining component. Fat is what makes the bake crumble rather than snap, what carries the aroma so an open pack smells of something, and what makes this worth eating with nothing on it. Which fat is used is on the label. |
| Savoury baked base | the body | Thicker and deeper baked than a cream cracker, which is what gives it enough of its own character to stand alone and too much to sit under a delicate cheese. |
| The name | not data | Cornish is part of what the product is called rather than a statement about where the pack was baked, and wafer does not describe how it eats. Neither word is treated as information on this page. |
Pack: Best before the date printed on the pack, and best resealed once opened.
Characterising components shown. Our description of the pack as rich is a judgement about how it eats rather than a figure.
Sourcing & blend. Jacob's Cornish Wafers Crackers, 150g is the richer, more generous corner of a range better known for the plain cream cracker, and it sits at the eating end of our cracker selection rather than the building end. The word Cornish belongs to the product's name and not to its origin, which is on the box. The pack you receive is the current UK retail pack rather than an import made to a different recipe.
What is in Jacob's Cornish Wafers Crackers, 150g, and what is not:
- In: thick, rich, crumbling savoury crackers, 150g to the sealed pack.
- Not a wafer as the word is usually meant: our own assessment is a thick crumbling cracker rather than a thin crisp one, and we would rather set the expectation than let the name set it wrongly.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Jacob's Cornish Wafers Crackers, 150g, please cite teas.co.uk.
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