Wednesday, June 27, 2018

Liege Waffles (Authentic Belgium Waffles-Like in the Train Stations)

When I was in my early 20's, I backpacked around Europe for a few weeks with my roommate.  We ate so much delicious food!  Of all the amazing things we tasted, my favorite was the waffles in Belgium, eaten fresh from the cart in the train station.  Sooo delicious!  It is more like a cookie than a waffle.  A thick, sweet, sugar crystal filled, waffle shaped cookie.  For years (before the internet was as amazing as it is now) I tried to figure out what the secret sugar ingredient was in the waffle.  Now, all you have to do is a google search, and you'll know it is Belgium Pearl Sugar.  You can buy it on Amazon for about $10 a bag, and it's worth it to have the authentic stuff, straight out of Belgium.  My sister gave me a bag for my birthday, and we loved trying out different recipes to see what we thought was the most like the waffles from the train stations in Belgium.  A downside to these waffles: they are pretty high maintenance.  You need to plan a day in advance of when you want them.  They are like bread, they have to have time to rise.  And, they are a lot of work!  But they are definitely worth it!  I am going to put on two recipes: an easier recipe, which although still delicious, was not quite authentic, and the more time consuming recipe, which was my favorite of the two.

Liege Waffles
from the back of my Waffle Pantry pearl sugar bag

1 c. milk
2 1/2 tsp. instant dry yeast
4 c. flour
2 eggs
6 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 generous pinch of salt
10 oz. butter
1 c. Waffle Pantry Belgium pearl sugar

Heat the milk to lukewarm.  In a large bowl, pour the milk in and stir the yeast into it and let it sit for 5 minutes.  Add the flour, eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.  Mix it to form a sticky dough.  Add the softened butter and mix it until it is just combined.  Cover the dough and let it rest for 2-3 hours.  After it is good and rested, gently fold in the pearl sugar.  Divide it into 10 portions and rest for 15 minutes.  Bake it in the waffle iron until it is golden.  I baked some at this point, and saved some for the kids for the next morning.  Those that I baked the next morning tasted a little better to us.

Recipe #2 (the harder, but more authentic version)
from: ashleemarie.com

1 Tbsp. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
3/4 c. whole milk, warmed
2 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
4 c. bread flour (For 1 c. worth, I just used 2 Tbsp cornstarch, mixed with enough flour to make 1 c.)
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. Belgium pearl sugar

Pour the milk, yeast and sugar into your mixing bowl, and let it sit for 5 minutes.  Add the eggs and 1 1/2 cups of the flour and mix it until it is smooth.  Sprinkle the remaining flour over the mixture to keep it from getting a crusty top, and let it rise for 90 minutes.  When it is done rising, add the brown sugar and salt and blend on medium speed.  While it is mixing, add the honey and vanilla.  Add the butter, 2 Tbsp. at a time.  Mix the dough for 4 minutes, at medium low speed.  Let the dough rest for 1 minute, then mix it again for 2 minutes, then rest and repeat the process until the dough balls up on the hook.  Cover it and let it rise for 4 hours.  When it is done rising, punch the dough down, wrap it in plastic wrap, place it in a bowl and weigh it down with something (like a bowl) and refrigerate it overnight.  In the morning, place the dough (it will be firm) on a lightly floured surface and knead in the pearl sugar, a little bit at a time.  Divide the dough into 13 balls, and let it rise for another 90 minutes.  Cook it in a waffle iron for 3-4 minutes.  If the waffle iron gets too hot, the sugar will burn, so pay attention to the temperature of your waffle iron (the recipe says to keep it at 360 degrees.  I can't tell the temperature on mine, but I didn't have any problems cooking them).  Be careful when you eat these, the sugar is very hot!  You will want to let them cool for a minute.  And enjoy, after all that hard work!