My ancestors came from the French speaking part of Switzerland that borders France. They made something we called "knee patches" It reminds me of a large corn flake. You roll the dough out to about 7 inch circle's and then deep fat fry them. Back in the day the women stretched the dough over their knees....hence the name. They are not sweet, but we sprinkle them with either powdered sugar or sugar and cinnamon.

In the time around carniva here in Switzerlandl, they have something called Fasnachtsküchlein (Carnival cookies) or maybe Chnüblätz. There's a recipe here: http://www.about.ch/culture/food/fasnachtskuechlein.html but around carnival time you see them in all the supermarkets. They are saucer-sized or maybe small plate sized, and very bubbly and wavy. They themselves are not so sweet but they're usually sprinkled with powdered sugar. Also, I never had any kind of layered dessert with them, so I don't know if that's what he means. Unfortunately, I live in the German-speaking part of Switzerland so I don't know what they are called in French.

Is it a Gaufrette? I've had cakes layered with them before, so it could be a possibility! Good luck in your search!!

Hmm... I think they were probably just a bit smaller than a standard 9 inch cake, maybe a bit smaller even. I wonder if there are water crackers that big.
And he just wants to eat them plain, haha.

That sounds a lot like a water biscuit to me. How large are the crackers he remembers? Is he looking for them to eat as one would a cracker, or to use in a dessert recipe? ;o)