The batter for these waffles can be made the night before, an especially good thing for brunch entertaining! I have included two fruit sauces that are delicious on waffles and we often add a few dollops of yogurt. We also like using fresh fruit and some maple syrup.
Make the Waffles:
2 cups sifted unbleached flour**
2 tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar
3 eggs
1 ½ cups buttermilk, well shaken
½ cup butter, melted**
You can use 1/2 cup whole wheat flour & 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour.
Equipment: A Belgian waffle maker
Preheat waffle maker.
Sift & measure the flour; sift again with baking powder, baking soda, salt & sugar. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until light & lemon coloured. Slowly mix in the buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients and blend well. Mix in the melted butter. Place ¼ of the batter on the waffle maker, close & bake until lightly browned & crisp. Remove and place on a large baking pan and put in a preheated 180 F oven to keep warm while finishing the rest of the waffles. Continue baking the rest of the batter in the same way.
NB: the waffles freeze very well. Just thaw, pop in the toaster on medium heat until they crisp up.
Here are two of my favourite fruit sauces that I try & make when the fruit is in season to serve with the waffles but you can use really good frozen berries. Or…you can just throw some fresh, in season berries on top. I like to top off the berries with some plain Greek style yogurt. However, if I were making these for my Mom….nothing else will do but heaps of whipped cream with the berries.
Both sauces will keep, in the fridge for about 1 week. Otherwise, freeze for using later.
Strawberry Sauce – can be made up to 4 days ahead & you can reduce the recipe by half. Make sure to use in-season, local strawberries. They simply cannot be beat for both taste & colour!
Makes 6 Cups
8 cups halved fresh or frozen strawberries
¼ cup water
1 tsp. orange peel, finely grated
1 cup sugar*
½ cup corn syrup*
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
* If you think this would be too sweet for your taste, reduce the sugar accordingly.
In a large saucepan, bring strawberries, water & orange rind to a boil over medium heat; reduce heat to medium low & simmer, covered for 10 minutes. Stir in sugar, corn syrup & orange juice, return to the boil, turn heat down a bit and continue to boil, uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning. Remove from heat; place in a bowl & chill until ready to use.
Blueberry Sauce – can be made 4 days ahead & you can reduce the recipe by half.
Makes 8 Cups
8 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
2 ½ cups apple juice
1 Tbsp. lemon rind, finely grated
1 ¼ cups sugar
2/3 cup corn syrup
¼ cup lemon juice
In a large saucepan, combine blueberries, apple juice & lemon rind; cook over medium heat stirring & mashing berries a bit, leaving some whole, for about 15 minutes or until mixtures comes to a boil. Gradually stir in sugar and corn syrup and lemon juice. Return to a boil and turn heat down a bit and boil stirring often, for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat; place in a bowl and chill until ready to use.
** If the sauce is a little too thin for your liking, combine 1 Tbsp. cornstarch with 2 Tbsp. cold water, then slowly stir into the boiling sauce for a minute before removing from the heat.
**If you think this would be two sweet for your taste, you can reduce the sugar accordingly.
To see how to melt butter in the microwave, click Melting Butter in the Microwave.
