Rourke McNamara

The partial success of my attempt to reproduce the Sunflower Inn’s raised Belgian waffles prompted to me upgrade my four year old waffler. The Villaware waffler I’ve been using was a gift from Jen that I’ve been using with reasonable success for just about four years now. Jen and I both started lusting after a new waffle iron after staying at a Best Western that allows guests to make their own waffles using a commercial waffler that rotated the waffles 180 degrees. Gravity pushes the batter against all surfaces of the waffle iron and you end up with a crisper, more even waffle. On top of the rotation, I’ve read reviews that seem to indicate that the Villaware irons just don’t get as hot as higher quality waffle irons. When making waffles, heat is everything.

I’ve been making waffles at home for a few years and I’ve tried quite a few mixes and recipes. In every case, the waffles came out thicker tasting, cakier,?and not as crisp as I’d like. I wanted?a waffle that had sharp edges. I wanted a waffle that crackled under your fork. Turning the waffle iron all the way up didn’t work. Thinning out the batter and adding butter didn’t work.

I’ve been meaning to post a couple of related things, so this is going to be a combined post. First, chocolate waffles, then the various toppings I tried. Making a compote turned out to be surprisingly easy, and really worth the effort. Warm berry compote is a really healthy alternative to maple syrup. I think. I don’t really know what’s healthy.

Start by making the waffles. This is similar to normal waffles, but the dry stuff is:

3 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar
1 cup ounces cocoa powder, natural sweetened
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips

Sunday morning I made waffles for breakfast. Not that exciting, I know, but I made them from scratch, and I made piles of them.

The Good Eats! episode on waffles pointed out that if you have extra waffles you can freeze them and then just pop them in the toaster some other day and you have a nice, quick breakfast. I tried this not long ago and found that frozen homemade waffles are way better than the frozen Eggos you pick up at the grocery store. Since we’re normally in a rush to get out of the apartment in the morning, I decided to make a whole pile of waffles and freeze them.