Never been to Belgium.
Excluding my teenage passion for Jean Claude Van Damme (born Van Verenberg, Belgian) and the pleasant viewing of “In Bruges” (great movie and splendid location), my attraction to Belgium doesn’t go beyond that.
I’m not even attracted by the cuisine, as it’s too similar to French cuisine, so I’d rather enjoy French dishes. However, I would love to be proved wrong and convinced that Belgium is worth my next trip, so I’ve included it in the section “Around the World in 80 Dishes” and also because one of its most famous culinary specialties has been “adopted and modified” by my beloved United States…
This is the (the) Brussels waffle, often known by the name of Belgian Waffle, and it was the Pilgrims who brought the recipe to America.
There are two types of waffles: Brussels and Liège.
The Brussels waffle is characterized by its rectangular shape and its deep and large indentations.
They are served with a dusting of powdered sugar or with any type of cream, from chantilly to pistachio cream or fresh fruit.
It’s a relatively light dessert (thanks to the whipped egg whites and little sugar), served hot, dusted with powdered sugar or with a cream.
The Liège waffle is much smaller, oval-shaped, with rounded edges, and the ingredients are slightly different and sweeter than the Brussels version: flour, eggs, milk, butter, yeast, a pinch of salt, vanilla sugar, and pearl sugar.
The batter doesn’t fill the entire waffle iron but stays in the central area with an irregular result.
It’s rich in sugar because it contains sugar nuggets, and it can be eaten both hot and cold.
It is traditionally served without any additions.
The first is usually served at the table and requires utensils to be eaten because it’s almost always enriched with a generous topping and then covered with powdered sugar.
The second is offered in a paper napkin, freshly cooked, and can be enjoyed while walking.
The Brussels waffle is a Belgian dessert with international fame, recognized as a Belgian product by the New York World’s Fair in 1964.
A Belgian tradition is to give waffles on Sint Maartens Dag, Saint Martin’s Day (November 11), and to serve them with chocolate, hazelnuts, butter, almonds, cream, syrups, powdered sugar.
In the photo, the waffle you can taste at Alessio’s gelateria and creperie “Il Papero” in Pietra Ligure.
In the video, however, the preparation of the Liège version by fellow blogger and TikToker Martina from the blog “The Spadanos” and you can find her recipe here.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Cheap
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 6 waffles
- Cooking methods: Other
- Cuisine: Belgian
Ingredients
- 8.8 oz flour
- 1.5 cups milk
- 2 tsp sugar
- 7 tbsp butter (melted)
- 0.5 oz fresh yeast
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/4 vanilla pod
- to taste powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Waffle Maker or waffles
Preparation
Heat the milk.
Mix the yeast with a little warm milk and the sugar.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Whip the egg whites with an electric mixer or a whisk.
Sift the flour and add the rest of the warm milk, mixing everything vigorously.
Add the yolks, melted butter, dissolved yeast, vanilla, cover the batter with plastic wrap, and let it rest for half an hour in the refrigerator.
Preheat the waffle iron and brush the surface with butter to prevent the batter from sticking. Pour a ladle of batter spreading it with a spoon over the entire surface and cook the waffle for about 3-4 minutes. When it takes on a golden appearance, it means it’s cooked inside.
Decorate with powdered sugar (or fill as desired)
NB. The lightness of the Brussels waffle is mainly due to the whipped egg whites. Therefore, mixing the whites must be done with the utmost care to avoid undoing the foam!
Difference between waffle and waffle:
Same in shape, but different in batter, both are cooked on the classic honeycomb iron; for waffles, a sort of semi-liquid batter with baking powder is prepared (sometimes even without, but with only whipped egg whites), while waffles, richer in butter, require yeast and a key ingredient to get a product as close as possible to the original Belgian (Liège): pearl sugar. Pearl sugar resembles granular baking sugar but has irregularly shaped grains that are quite hard. The “sucre perlé” does not dissolve inside the batter until it begins to melt at 302°F, leaving the inside of the waffle very tender and the outside caramelized.
The name waffle comes from the ancient Belgian language, where “sweet” was said “wafla“.
The name waffle comes from the ancient Belgian language, where “sweet” was said “wafla“.
