Belgian Waffles & Whipped Cream

On Sundays... we brunch! Last year Mike and I went on vacation to Belgium and were fortunate enough to try true authentic Belgian waffles.  These are the kind of waffles you will have dreams about for the rest of your life, they are THAT good!  Belgium is a place that has perfected some of my favorite treats - chocolate, beer and of course, waffles.  In my humble opinion, it is heaven on earth.  I would absolutely love to go back and enjoy these treats once again but for now, I will have to wait.  Thankfully, Belgian beer can be found in most liquor stores and my favorite chocolates can be purchased online. True Belgian waffles, sadly, are not as easy to come by.

My Nana recently sent me this wonderful baking book titled Cook's Baking Book that had a fabulous Belgian waffle recipe. As soon as I saw this recipe I started reminiscing about those unforgettable waffles in Belgium and I was hooked.  So, when I invited my friend Alix and her boyfriend over for brunch, I thought Belgian waffles would be the perfect thing to serve.  In addition to Belgian waffles, I decided to take it to the next level with some homemade lactose free whipped cream.   Never having worked with yeast before, it was huge gamble to try this recipe when entertaining guests.  I’m happy (and relieved) to report that the gamble paid off— they were the best waffles I have had since being in Belgium, lactose free and equally as delicious!

This recipe was surprisingly simple, but it does require some advanced preparation.  The waffle batter must be prepared 12-24 hours prior to baking, which may seem a little tedious. However, it is a great excuse to be prepared when you are having company over. 

To start off I measured 1 and 3/4 cup lactose free milk and set aside. 

Next I cut 8 tablespoons of unsalted butter into smaller pieces.  I then poured the 1 and 3/4 cup of milk into a sauce pan, added the butter and melted it over medium low heat.  Once the butter was fully melted, I turned the heat off and allowed the butter and milk mixture to cool.

The recipe called for 2 eggs whisked together with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. I love the taste of vanilla in my waffles and really wanted that flavor to come through.  After doing a very thorough taste test in Belgium, I noticed that in all the waffles we tried they had a fabulous vanilla flavor to them.  So, with this recipe, I decided to err on the side of more vanilla and added an extra teaspoon. I didn't feel 2 teaspoons of vanilla was over powering at all, but you can make adjustments to taste.

 

I began working on the dry ingredients by measuring out 2 cups of flour and placing it in a large mixing bowl.  I then added the sugar, yeast and salt.

This recipe only calls for 1 tablespoon of sugar (surprising, I know!), which my sweet tooth wasn’t sure would be enough.  The waffles in Belgium had this delicious pearled sugar in them that added a hint of caramel flavor.  I wanted to recreate this same flavor but, having never used yeast before, I was afraid to mess with the sugar to yeast ratio.  You don't want the yeast to have too much sugar to nom on or else your batter might come alive, just kidding (I hope).  The batter actually doubled in size over night with just one tablespoon of sugar, I can't imagine what would have happened had I added more. Also, where I knew I was going to make homemade whipped cream, making really sugary waffles might have created a sugar over load.  In the future I want to experiment with pearled sugar in my Belgian waffles, but for now I decided to take on only what I felt I could handle.

 

Once the butter and milk mixture was fully cooled I slowly added it to my dry ingredients, whisking until they were evenly combined.  I then poured in my eggs and vanilla extract, and stirred until everything was thoroughly incorporated.

After combining all of the ingredients, I covered my mixture with a lid (plastic wrap works too!) and placed it in the fridge overnight.  Do not be alarmed when you wake up the next morning and see your batter—it will likely have doubled in size and lost the beautifully consistency you left it with.  Not to fear, once whisked in the morning it will return back to its original form, but will now have the wonderful ability to rise!

Now for the whipped cream.  Homemade whipped cream is so easy and tastes so much better!  To prepare, I put my mixing bowl in the freezer right when I woke up.  I always chill my mixing bowl in advance when making whipped cream, as I find it helps the whipped cream to form its peaks faster.  For this recipe all I needed was a cup of heavy whipping cream, a little sugar and vanilla extract.  To make this lactose free I pretreated the whipping cream with the lactase drops for 24 hours.  So simple yet so delicious!  

Whip the cream, sugar and vanilla for about 3-5 minutes until soft peaks form.  Whip until desired texture—the longer you whip, the firmer the mixture will become.  We took some extra dollops of whipped cream and put it in our coffee, which was fabulous and I HIGHLY recommend.  

Once the whipped cream is to desired texture, transfer to a bowl and set aside.  If you are going to make this in advance, cover the whipped cream with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.  Depending on how long it is in the refrigerator it may need a quick whisk before serving.

Last and most importantly, it was time to bake the waffles!  I have an electric waffle iron, but the recipe actually recommends using one that goes in the oven.  This worked just fine, so whatever you have will do the job!  Coat one side of the waffle iron evenly with the batter, making sure to fill the whole surface.  Be careful not to pour too much batter on the iron, it WILL overflow and make a huge mess.  My waffles cooked very quickly in about 2-3 minutes so do not walk away from them!  I felt they were ready once they were golden brown.  This recipe yields about 8 waffles, so I cooked up all the batter and they were ready to serve!

Yes, they were as fluffy and delicious as they look!  

We topped our waffles with whipped cream, syrup and fresh strawberries.  YUM!!! I am glad they turned out well, the yeast was worth the gamble!  Seeing as we ate every last bit, these waffles definitely met my Belgian waffle standards. As much as I would love to go back to Belgium, this recipe will tide me over in the meantime.  I also was not able to have whipped cream on my waffles in Belgium but thankfully here at home, I can have all the lactose free whipped cream I want!  Happy brunching!

Recipe Details:

Ingredients

Waffles:

1 3/4 cup lactose free milk

8 tablespoons butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons dry-active yeast

1 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Whip Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream (pretreated to be lactose free)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons sugar

Cut up butter into 6-8 pieces.  Place butter and milk in a medium sauce pan over low heat until butter is melted.  Once butter is melted, set aside to cool.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Mix together until thoroughly combined.  Slowly whisk milk and butter mixture into the dry ingredients until the batter is smooth.  In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Add the egg and vanilla mixture to the batter, whisking until evenly incorporated.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.

Once the batter has been chilled and is ready to cook prepare the waffle iron to the manufacturer's instructions.  When the waffle iron is ready, remove the batter from the refrigerator and give the batter a quick whisk.  The batter will have doubled in size.  Use about 1 cup of batter for a 9 inch waffle iron, cover the iron completely with the batter and cook per instructions or until golden brown.  Once cooked they are ready to serve!

For the whip cream take one cup of lactose free whipping cream and pour into a chilled mixing bowl.    Add sugar and vanilla.  Using a hand beater, beat for about 3-5 minutes until soft peaks form.  Beat to desired firmness.  Ready to serve once desired texture is achieved.