In case you are wondering what Watrouskis is . . . I am too. So is Google. And ChatGPT. Seriously. This word seems to only exist in the Fanny Farmer cookbook and a random 1960 cookbook (which has almost the same ingredients but a completely different cooking method). I may or may not have partially picked this recipe because it called for mace which, if you’ll recall, I had to buy for Mincemeat, and I have no idea what else I’ll use it for since no modern recipes call for it. The recipe itself is relatively boring, so make sure to check out the Instagram version.
Watrouskis
Fannie Farmer Cook Book:
The Boston Cooking School
1896
Step One: Mix 1/2 a cup of grated “mild” cheese with salt, cayenne pepper, and mace. For the cayenne pepper and mace, it literally said “a few grains”. After way over-analyzing it, I finally decided that just meant a little pinch. So, I didn’t get to use much of my mace, but at least I used a little. It did feel a bit superfluous mixing it though.
Step Two: Lightly beat an egg and an egg yolk. Easy enough.
Step Three: Mix in a tablespoon of melted butter. Thankfully, I knew enough to be whisking the egg as I poured the butter in so it wouldn’t cook since the butter was still hot from being melted.
Step Four: Mix with the cheese and pour into buttered ramekins. Of course, it didn’t tell me how many ramekins. Or how full it was supposed to be. Considering the tiny amount this made, I decided on two ramekins and even that seemed like almost too much.
Step Five: Bake for fifteen minutes in a moderate oven. I felt like it was reasonable to assume a moderate oven was 350 degrees. And based on how perfectly they came out, I’m pretty sure that was accurate.
Verdict:
Tianna (and then I) got to try them instead of Daniel since Daniel was occupied trying to get Flynn down for a nap. . .and honestly, it was really good. It was kind of like. . .baked cheesy goodness. I’m not sure in what setting these would have been served, or how I would serve them since they clearly need to be eaten straight from the oven, but I would totally make them again.
Okay, tell the truth. Did you google Watrouskis after I said I couldn’t find anything? What did you find?
Forest Idylls 
Yes, I googled Watrouski’s. The closest I could come up with was that it might be a spelling alternative to vatruska. Vatruska is similar to a Danish pastry, only Russian. The cheese filling is cheese, egg, and mace… sound familiar? Perhaps Fannie Farmer was using a variation of this to make something akin to a baked custard?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeBebBoNExoAnother way to use up some mace is to make Czech kolache recipe, similar to Russian vatruska. My Czech ancestors loved kolache with mace in the dough, and prune or poppyseed filling.