Serving Up {Breakfast}: Liege Waffle (Belgium)

This past summer I was in Salt Lake City and I had two different people tell me that I simply had to try an eatery called Bruges Waffles & Frites.  I was excited to try it out for the Belgian Frites (fries) because years ago I had eaten at a Frites Stand in NYC and I still remember the "perfected" fries served with an array of unique dipping sauces.

During my trip I had reason to be downtown one afternoon and so I decided to stop in and get my fry fix.  When I walked in I saw the menu on the wall featuring the Liege Waffle adorned in a number of mouthwatering ways and I new that what I really neede to try was the waffle (I did try the fries as well but they kind of paled by comparison).  I ordered my Leige waffle with vanilla bean ice cream and fresh strawberries and it was AMAZING!

My understanding of the Liege Waffle is that it is the street waffle of Belgium.  The dough is actually a yeast dough with pieces of pearl sugar added right before cooking, so the end product is a very dense, delicious waffle with little pockets of caramelized sugar throughout.  I knew as I left Bruges that afternoon that I needed to find a recipe to recreate that waffle at home.  As I searched online there were a lot of people who felt the same way that I did.  I decided to try this recipe and it turned out delicious.  My only tweak to it was to omit the cinnamon that the original recipe called for, and I was pretty generous with the vanilla (which was the pure vanilla in this case - no imitation flavor for this recipe).

A couple of helpful tips:
* You can coarsely crush sugar cubes in place of the pearl sugar, which totally worked fine, but I figure I will make these waffles enough to justify ordering the real stuff to have on hand. (here or here)
* You don't want to overcook this waffle, so play around with the setting on your waffle maker.  I found that I had to turn down the temperature on my waffle maker from what I usually use.  You want a light golden brown end product.
* This recipe makes a mess of the waffle iron - sorry!  I have read a tip online that a paste of corn starch and water is the perfect cleaning solution to remove the caramel remains.

One Year Ago: Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Crumbled Feta
Two Tears Ago: Whole Bowl
                          Bread Pudding

LIEGE "SUGAR" WAFFLE     

1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbs. granulated white sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
2 cups flour
3 eggs
1 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pearl sugar

Mix the yeast, water, sugar in a bowl and let it rest for 15 minutes. Place the flour and salt in a separate large mixing bowl, making a well in the center of the flour.  Pour the yeast mixture into the well and mix until blended on medium speed.  Add the eggs, one at a time, and melted butter slowly and then vanilla;  mix well after each addition to the batter.  The batter will be thick and VERY sticky.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and let the dough rest until it doubles in volume inside the bowl, about 1 hour.  Gently fold in the pearl sugar and let the dough rest for 15 more minutes. While the dough is resting, heat the waffle iron.

Spoon about a 2″ ball of dough into the center of the waffle iron. Waffles will take 3 to 5 minutes to bake (I use level 3).  Don't overbake!  Eat plain or topped with your favorite combination of ice cream and/or berries.

Serving Up {Breakfast}: Cinnamon Roll Waffles

Without realizing it, we have been on a bit of a Cinnamon Roll kick at our house, all without actually ever making cinnamon rolls!  I will be posting all of our yummy Cinnamon Roll variations over the course of the upcoming week - hopefully something will strike your fancy.

These waffles are transformed from regular old waffles to cinnamon roll waffles thanks to a yummy cinnamon topping drizzle and a cream cheese frosting drizzle.  Delicious!  I am thinking that I want to have a waffle party soon - with a variety of different toppings to choose from.  If so, I know that at least one of my waffles would look like this...

CINNAMON ROLL DRIZZLE FOR WAFFLES     
(recipe from Chef in Training)
printable version

You can use your preferred recipe for homemade waffles.
My favorite recipe is found here.

Cinnamon Topping:
1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs. cinnamon

In a medium bowl, combine the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a small zip baggie and set aside.

Cream Cheese Topping:
4 Tbs. butter
2 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

In a medium bowl, place butter and cream cheese and microwave for 30-60 seconds, or until nearly melted. Stir together until smooth. Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla.

To prepare the waffles to serve, place prepared waffle on a plate, drizzle with cinnamon topping and then drizzle with the cream cheese topping.

Serving Up {Breakfast}: Buttermilk Waffles

 

We are a hot breakfast family.  Pancakes, eggs, waffles, oatmeal - we try to send the kids off with something more than just cereal.  As a result I have a wide variety of recipes for the basics.  One of my favorite "variations" of pancakes and waffles are recipes that call for buttermilk.  And while I spent the first ten years of my marriage believing that dry buttermilk powder was an adequate substitute, I have been converted to having REAL buttermilk always on hand.  It's beautiful and thick and makes delicious batter.  Really, it's the only way to go.

This is a basic buttermilk waffle recipe - kind of my go-to recipe when we aren't going for anything fancy.  What makes them fancy is smearing them with Nutella when they are hot off the waffle iron.  The chocolate melts and seaps through the holes, drips down your fingers and maybe even a dollop will end up on your chin (if you are lucky).  Add a few banana slices and you may just want to go back for seconds.  If it's after 5 p.m. at night then you have my permission to also add a smear of marshmallow fluff along with the nutella.  But if you do that make sure to use up all the marshmallow fluff, otherwise the kids will be eating it by the spoonful when you are not looking :)

 

BUTTERMILK WAFFLES     
(recipe from Martha Stewart)
printable version

8 Tbs. butter (1 stick), melted
2 cups flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs, room temperature and seperated
2 cups buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks, buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla. Pour into dry mixture, and combine.
In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold whites into batter.
Using a measuring cup, pour batter onto preheated waffle iron and cook until done.

Serving Up {Breakfast}: Dr. D's Belgium Waffles

There are hundreds of waffle recipes out there and I'm convinced that 99% of them are a variation of one original recipe.    Flour, egg, oil, and milk - not a lot of variation.  Until this recipe.  Oh, it has all those ingredients you would expect to find, but it also has apple cider vinegar and almond extract.  Crazy and unexpected!  But oh so good!  You do have to be willing to dirty a few extra dishes to make the most out of this recipe, but I vouch that these waffles are worth it.  They bake up so crispy and airy - they practically melt in your mouth upon first bite.

If you are looking for something to shake up your waffle routine, this is a pretty good place to start.

DR. D'S BELGIUM WAFFLES     
(recipe from Melanie B.)
printable version

1 cup milk (I use whole)
1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar

Mix together the milk and vinegar and set aside.

1 stick butter, melted (I have used 1/2 stick and not noticed any decrease in yumminess)
2 egg yolks
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. almond extract

Blend the butter, egg yolks, brown sugar and extract together.  Add the milk.

1 cup + 1 Tbs. flour
4 tsp. baking powder

Sift the flour and baking powder together.  Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until well moistened.

2 egg whites, whipped well

Fold whipped egg whites into batter.

Cook as you would normally would, following your waffle iron instructions.