At the end of this quest, my question really was “What is a waffle?”

This is not, apparently, as simple as it seems…this started as a simple chat about breakfasts…this recipe was one that I found at Minimalist Baker; it sounded pretty delish…how complex could waffles be…? Really..?

It turns out that waffles live in a complex world indeed, with many versions and variations. It amazes me, that for all my time working in Brussels, I never once tried a waffle from even one of the dozens of waffle vendors I would walk by every day…

If waffles are meant to be light and crispy, this recipe doesn’t deliver that: these waffles are heavy and chewy but not unpleasant, more so when they are primarily a delivery vehicle for the toppings…

Like I care but this is a vegan recipe (less the cream at the end) I’m interested to see how these alternate recipes work especially replacements for staples like eggs.

Ingredients

• 1 flax egg (http://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-a-flax-egg/ )
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice:
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • Directions
  • In a small bowl, mix together cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. Store in an airtight container.
• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/3 cup very strong brewed coffee
• 1 1/4 cups spelt or whole wheat pastry flour (I just used normal flour – this alternate stuff only goes so far)

Instructions

• Make a strong coffee mix – I used a teaspoon of Jed’s #5 in a 1/3 of a cup of water.
• Prepare the flax egg by combining water and flaxseed in a large bowl and letting it rest for 5 minutes.

Flax ‘egg’ and and strong coffee mix

• Add the pumpkin puree, coconut oil, brown sugar, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice and whisk together.
• Add the almond milk and coffee and stir once more.

• Lastly add flour and stir until just combined. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes while preheating your waffle iron.
• Once preheated, spoon about 1/2 cup of the batter onto the centre of the iron and cook according to your machine’s instructions.

• Once done, remove and place on cooling rack to let steam roll off and crisp up a bit.

I keep the toppings simple:

• Original maple syrup – the real stuff not the maple-flavoured stuff you waste on the kids.
• Brandy cream – about 100ml of cream with a nip of brandy, beaten til it’s stiff.
• Four berry coulis – three large strawberries, and a small handful or blueberries, blackberries and raspberries, blended to a cream.

Insights

I need to review my waffling technique – my waffles kept splitting when i opened the lid – I don’t think the ;light on the waffle iron really doesn’t anything useful – it just cycles randomly between red and green.

One nip of brandy for 100mls of cream isn’t enough – I could taste the brandy but it was beaten up by the maple syrup and berry flavours.

I’m not sure if the pumpkin puree actually does anything other than add weight. I am getting a bit dubious about this pumpkin puree thing because it didn’t add much to the pumpkin spice latte we had with dinner a couple of weeks ago…

On the other hand, even a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice adds a delightful hint of spice the weaves itself in and around the more domineering toppings.

The coffee adds a real kick!! These are definitely waffles for breakfast as they hit you right in the motivator!!

The bitter-sweet of the berry coulis worked really well with the cream, despite the weak brandy flavour, but a tad of sugar in the cream would not have gone astray…

The flax egg seems to have done the business in lieu of a conventional egg – the only way I can really tell is to remake the recipe using a real egg…which I may do…one day…