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!