Favorite Foods from 2011-Part 4

I was very fortunate earlier this year to travel to Europe with my sister and best friend. My sister had never been to Europe, and was about to embark on a 3-week total immersion program to learn Dutch, in Belgium. Since my sister did not speak a word of Dutch (or at least she didn't prior to picking up a Dutch dictionary before we left), French or German (the three official languages of Belgium), we started our trip in London, where they do speak English (sort of). On this trip, after London, we went to the Netherlands (Holland), before heading over to Brussels in Belgium.

Now, when most people think of Belgium, they probably think of beer, chocolate and WAFFLES! We were very excited for all three (well, two out of the three). Turns out there are two major differences in the Belgian waffles, by way of types. There are Brussels waffles and Liege waffles. I found a great blog post (and may have already posted this) on the differences.

Having tried both waffles on this trip (both covered in Belgian chocolate, of course!), it was decided that the Liege waffle is preferable. It is denser, and sweeter than the Brussels waffle. While researching recipes, it has come to my attention that making Liege waffles is time consuming, and requires special ingredients and tools. If you are able to find the Belgian Pearl sugar, and a Liege waffle iron, you are in for a treat. If you are able to find these items, here is site that offers an authentic recipe. For those of us that do not have the special equipment, I have found several sites that mention crushing sugar cubes for the pearl sugar. Here is one site that has a simple enough recipe, listed below.

1 package yeast
1/3 cup lukewarm water (about 105 degrees F- too hot will kill the yeast)
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
3 eggs
1 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Belgian pearl sugar*

1. Mix the yeast, water, sugar and salt in a bowl and let it develop or sit for 15 minutes.
2. Place the flour in a separate large mixing bowl (we use the bowl of our kitchen aid stand mixer) and make a well in the center of the flour.
3. Pour the yeast mixture into the well and mix until blended on medium speed.
4. Add the eggs (one at a time), melted butter a bit at a time, and the vanilla and cinnamon. Be sure to mix well after each addition to the batter. Keep in mind the batter will be thick and VERY sticky (this is normal).
5. Remove the bowl from the mixer and let the dough rest until it doubles in volume inside the bowl.
6. Gently fold in the pearl sugar and let the dough rest for 15 more minutes.
7. While the dough is resting, heat the waffle iron (we use a Waring Pro Belgian Waffle Iron and I recommend Belgian waffle irons because they have the deep pockets).
8. Spoon about a 2" ball of dough into the center of the waffle iron (this should yield a waffle that is about 4" in diameter). I know that sounds small, but these rich waffles pack quite a punch. Waffles will take 3 to 5 minutes to bake (in our waffle iron, they take 3 minutes and 15 seconds on level 3).

Liege Waffle with Belgian Chocolate, Strawberries and Whipped Cream

* Recipe author note on pearl sugar:

It has been our experience that Belgian pearl sugar is difficult to find in the U.S. so we buy C&H sugar cubes (normally for coffee), place about 60 of them in a plastic Ziploc bag and 'crush' them with a meat tenderizer (you could use a rolling pin or heavy sauce pan as well). Then put the sugar through a sifter maintaining only the 'pearls' of sugar for the waffles. You need about 1 cup of pearls. The fine sugar that goes through the sifter can be put in your kitchen sugar jar or used to sweeten the strawberries if you are using them for the topping. I was able to find an online source at L'Epicerie. See the pearl sugar photo to the right so that you know what you are trying to obtain.

The addition of pearl sugar in the batter is what gives these waffles that special caramelized Liege waffle taste. However, that same sugar makes them sort of sticky so be careful not to burn yourself when removing them from the waffle iron.

The pearl sugar also makes clean-up of the waffle iron tricky. As the sugar melts, it runs in the crevices of the waffle iron. So my biggest tip is that after you finish baking your waffles, clean the waffle iron while it is still warm. If it cools completely, the caramel sugar mixture can be nearly impossible to get off the iron.
These waffles freeze extremely well so consider making a double batch. We just let the waffles cool, wrap them individually in Saran wrap, and then place them in a large Ziploc freezer bag. When we want one, we remove it from the freezer and put it in the oven on a baking sheet to heat it up.