The Best of Belgium

   

It's really special when you know how to make your own Belgium waffles. It's amazing how we thought having Eggo's for breakfast was a gourmet treat at the age of 10 years old. I'm happy to say my taste buds have evolved since then. I'm always on the hunt for a different and exciting way to make breakfast. Yes, this is what my free mornings consist of. Pinterest is so great for that. It's the mecca of recipes. Anything you want to find, it's on there. The place is a goldmine. As I was searching through for some new waffle recipes, everything kind of looked to similar and nothing really caught my eye. Finally, I found what a was looking for. 

Leige Waffles. Never heard of them but they sounded delish. After reading what they actually were, it's basically the waffles that they actually make in Belgium. Not the Americanized version of waffles you get in your local diner. These are better. They're like having dessert for breakfast. Picture a croissant, brioche bread, and a waffle all in one. It's like being able to make a homemade pastry right in your own kitchen, just in waffle form. The difference between this and the americanized version is that this is not a mix, it's a dough. A beauitful mound of buttery dough pressed into a waffle iron with specks of pearl sugar that are caramelizing as it bakes. Yea, it's as good as it sounds. It was even better when I topped it with some tiramisu gelato. Thanks Talenti.  

Making the dough is a little time consuming. If your planning on having them right when you wake up, I suggest making the dough the night before. If your having them for brunch then you just have to wake up a little earlier to get them started. It's well worth it. 

Liege Waffles

1 packet of dry yeast (7g, 1/4oz)
1/3 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 tbsp white sugar
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups plain flour
3 eggs
220g unsalted butter, softened (1 cup)
1 cup of pearl sugar

Place the flour into a large bowl or into the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Make a well in the flour and pour in the yeast mixture. Begin to knead.

Still kneading, add the eggs, one at a time. Then add the butter about 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing until each addition is incorporated. The final dough will look like a mixture between cake batter and bread dough.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it doubles in size. I let it rise from about an hour to hour and a half. 

After it's done rising, gently mix in the pearl sugar and let it rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat your waffle iron. 

Pearl Sugar can be found in your local health food store or somewhere like Sur La Table. It's a little tricky to find so if you rather make it at home, you can do that do. It's really just clumped up sugar. Heat a cup of  sugar with one tablespoon of water over low heat and stir until small clumps form. Let it sit over heat about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let it cool. 

When ready, take an ice cream scoop and scoop a couple of tablespoons of dough onto each section of the waffle iron. Close and let cook for about 5 minutes. Check waffles every once in a while to make sure they are not burning and everything is cooking evenly. This recipe makes about 12 waffles. 

If you're anything like me, you can have ice cream at any time of the day. My personal favorite is Talenti Gelato. Each flavor is so smooth, rich and creamy and it blows regular ice cream out of the water. 

I took Talentis' newest flavor, Tiramisu, and scooped it in between two of my Liege Waffles. This is what breakfast is all about.