Hi guys, I'm Laura Vitale and on this episode of Laura in the Kitchen, I want to share with
you, my sort of, take on Belgian waffles.
Now, I have made some plain old regular waffles here before on Laura in the Kitchen, but I
did mention in that video, that for me, Belgian waffles and regular waffles are a bit different.
Belgian waffles have a yeast dough and regular waffles don't.
Now I know that there's a lot of - you know - mixed feelings about what's a Belgian waffle
and what's not, and I would love to hear your take on it, especially if you're from Belgium,
if this is anything like the waffles you have there.
I don't know, I've never been there, but for years now, these are what I make and I think
they are absolutely fantastic.
They have an amazing texture, they taste delicious and I promise you they are worth every bit
of the effort, which really there's hardly any effort that goes into it, they're really,
really easy.
You're going to start off with some cake flour, I've got cake flour here, I've got a pinch
of salt, I've got a couple of eggs that I've separated into whites and yolks.
I've got some granulated sugar, a little tiny bit of sugar there with some active dry yeast,
vanilla extract, melted butter and whole milk that's been warmed up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
Now the first thing I'm going to do is take my yeast and a little bit of sugar. I'm going
to pour that - or sprinkle that I should say, over the milk, and I'm going to just let that
sit aside there so that the yeast can foam up a bit and activate.
It's really important.
Now, before we go any further, I do want to point out that this has to kind of rest for
about an hour, but you can make this batter the night before and instead of letting it
rise on your counter for an hour, just wrap it really well with plastic wrap, stick it
in the fridge overnight, and it will do a slow cold rise. It's not really going to rise
a whole lot, but it'll do the job just as well as if you were to wait an hour on the
counter.
It makes life a lot easier that way you can have homemade Belgian waffles at any second
in the morning without having to wait an hour for the dough to rest, so keep that tip in
mind for your weekend brunches, or breakfast, and whatnot.
I'm going to use a handheld whisk and I'm going to whisk together my egg whites until
they're really light and frothy and have a nice stiff peak.
My egg whites are nice and frothy, I'm going to set those aside for just a minute, my yeast
as you can see, is just gorgeous. I mean, this might not look gorgeous to a lot of people,
but when I see yeast activated, I get really happy because I know that whatever I'm making
is going to turn out to be wonderful. Because when you're working with yeast, just remember
that you can kill it if the liquid is too hot or if it's too cold it won't activate.
And you also want to make sure it's not expired.
Okay, to that I'm going to add in the rest of my sugar.
Get that out of there.
Vanilla, just a splash!
Egg Yolks.
And, butter.
Everything's better with butter. Isn't it though?
I did just make that up in my head, but isn't it? I mean come on!
Take my little handy dandy half moon whisk, whatever you want to call it, and just whisk
these together to combine. Don't worry if it's not perfect because we are going to be
pouring this into my dry ingredients.
I just want to get every little bit of everything out.
And I am just going to whisk these with that same whisk, I mean why not, I'll probably
just switch to a spatula anyway. Just going to whisk this until combined.
That looks good!
I'm going to just fold in my egg whites.
We want a lot of bubbles, we want a really light, lovely texture on the outside, beautiful
color.
Just fold them until combined, and then you're good to go to let them rest for a bit - well
let it rest for a bit.
Going to cover this with some plastic wrap and I'm going to set it somewhere to let it
rest for around an hour or so.
Now this is the point where you've made your batter, cover it, pop it in the fridge until
tomorrow morning.
It'll do its job perfectly fine.
But, since I want to eat waffles for dinner, I am just going to let these sit out - let
THIS sit out for about an hour or so to relax, I'm going to get my waffle iron ready, and
also make sure that whenever you're making something like a waffle iron or a panini maker
or any kind of machine, I guess, keep the manufacturer's instructions because it's going
to vary from mine to yours. So my manufacturer says, you know, they're going to cook in about
three minutes, yours might say they'll need about eight minutes, so keep the instructions
on hand at all times with each little device you have - each little machine you have - so
that you have all the information on how to pre-heat it and all that stuff.
Just figured I'd pass that up!
Anyway, just going to let this rest and then we'll get going on making the waffles.
That is some gorgeousness right there!
I've got my waffle iron preheated, and I have it sprayed with a little bit of spray.
Now, I'm just going to take my little ladle.
Whoa!
Look at this dough.
You know it's going to be fabulous!
With those bubbles.
Let me just put little tiny dots, it'll - mine takes, to be honest, I don't even know the
amount of dough mine takes, or batter. I'd say maybe a quarter to a third of a cup each.
Something along those lines, and I am making a mess while I'm at it, but that's okay.
Going to put the lid on and let this cook until it turns green and it's ready to be
- they're ready to be taken out and I'm going to continue to cook them. I'll show you what
they look like when they're done and when they're ready to be served.
Ohh. Look at those babies!
Now, quick tip for you:When you take waffles off of - or out of your waffle iron - make
sure that you place them on a wire rack so that they can cool all around. That way the
bottoms don't get soggy, they stay with a really nice texture.
Oohh, I'm breaking this one.
That's okay. I'll put that one on my personal plate.
Take that for myself.
Now those are gorgeous.
Now, if you want to do what I do what I do, tonight, for example, there's just Joe and
I for dinner. Just my husband and I for dinner, so we're just going to have a couple each
and I'm going to take the rest and I'm going to freeze them in Ziploc bags and then whenever
you want homemade waffles, pop it in the toaster, little maple syrup or butter, or whatever
you like, and you've got great homemade Belgian waffles anytime you want!
I like to serve mine with some fresh berries, I've got some strawberries here that I quickly
chopped up so that I can give myself a little taste.
And then I have to have just a small itty bitty drizzle of maple syrup.
That's a small drizzle for me.
Oh, I can tell the texture is going to be fabulous!
I can already tell!
Let me see, hold I want to show you what the inside of one looks like.
See that!?
Look at that, how gorgeous!
Look how airy those bubbles in there are keeping everything really light. That's what I'm talking
about!
[blowing]
Mmm..
So delightful!
You will love this.
They are absolutely fantastic, not too sweet, really wonderful texture. LauraintheKitchen.com
will have the recipe for you. I hope you have enjoyed spending time with me and if you do
make a version of your own, make sure you leave it down below because I love to know
what your take on Belgian waffles are.
Hope you have enjoyed spending time with me and I'll see you next time!
Bye bye!
[music]
[mixer noise]
Cameraman: Ready in 4...
Laura: My yeast is - my yeast.. This is yeast, those are egg whites!
[bang sound]
Ouch!!
[laughing]
Really hurt really bad!
Did you hear that!?
I hope I didn't break anything!
Wow!