I have been making up for lost time with waffle breakfast every week. Every batch was a different recipe and a delicious confirmation of my long awaited waffle maker purchase. I never even realized the vault of waffle recipes sitting undiscovered among my cookbook library. I learned something about myself too. I happily eat my waffles plain without a smidgen of topping or syrup. That means the quality and unique taste of the batter recipe are important. Waffles are not simply delivery vehicles. They are the star of my breakfast.
Recipes that I tried so far:
- Crunchy Cornmeal Waffles: love it
- Carrot and Corn Flour Waffles: it’s okay. Using carrot juice is neat.
- Gingerbread Waffles: would love a stronger gingerbread flavour but leftovers toasted beautifully
- Malted Waffles: where have you been all my life?
- Yeasted Buckwheat Waffles: very light and airy but barely browned
Just because I prefer my waffles plain doesn’t mean others do too. Yesterday three friends and I ran a waffle bar at a backyard party for 50 people. It was a huge success but needless to say, we overdid it just a tad.
| Waffles | Creamy | Fruity | Saucy |
| Yeasted Regular | Nutella Ice Cream | Bourbon Butter Niagara Peaches | Coffee Dulce de Leche |
| Yeasted Buckwheat | Bourbon Brown Butter Almond Praline Ice Cream | Mixed Berry Compote | Salted Vanilla Caramel |
| Crunchy Cornmeal | Roasted Marshmallow Cream | Herbed Apple Sauce with Bacon | Cardamom Cream Syrup |
| Malted | Bourbon Whipped Cream | Salted Caramel Ganache | |
| Niagara Dark Maple Syrup | |||
| Speculoos Spread |
As added bonus, we ran two waffle makers side by side churning out regular and Belgium style waffles, with or without lumpy pearl sugar baked right in! Except for a few jarred sauces, everything was homemade from scratch. Can you even imagine the countless combinations?
Our set up encouraged everyone to mix and match, and boy, did we ever! Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted plates piled high with toppings. The whole backyard was perfumed with sweet eggy aroma of freshly made waffles. It was awesome.
The decadence of topping could not distract the plain waffle connoisseurs among us. We discovered our ultimate favourite combination. Behold the handsomely bronzed Malted Belgium-style Waffle with Pearl Sugar (aka Faux Liege)!
A quick glance at the Malted Waffles recipe from BAKED Explorations explains the caramelization. With 1 cup of malted milk powder in the batter, it contains plenty of sugar to encourage browning. This magic ingredient also added a depth of flavour to the waffle. I used a mix of full fat buttermilk and yogurt which explained the soft texture.
Boneats' homemade ice cream and roasted marshmallow cream were swoon-worthy. Foodpr0n’s sweet and savoury apple sauce with bacon offered the palates a break from sugar overload. And Jo was not only the hostess with the mostest, but wowed us with her salted caramel ganache and Belgium waffle expertise. It’s always a great time collaborating with the girls. We knew the waffle bar was a success when a little girl asked her mom to have her own waffle party at her next birthday!
Don’t you want to run out and get your own waffle maker now? Trust me, it is an endless source of joy.
(photos by Renée Suen. And fuelling the party with those addictive Belgium pearl sugar)
