Waffle me this.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not much of a baker. Aside from my first experiments with baking soda and vinegar bottle rockets when I was a kid, baking, mixing, leavening, and measurements never had much interest for me. But I do respect how subtle variations in combining flour, sugar, butter and leavening can create such a vast array of different results. So I felt it best to wade into the wide world of baking with one of the simplest yet sublime and versatile creations ever imagined, the waffle.

My internet research led me to recipe after recipe, all precisely calculated. It seems that waffles (and I suspect, every other baked good) begins not as a recipe, but as a science experiment. I decided that what turns a baking experiment from science into a recipe is the flavorings that are added during construction, and also the techniques involved in bringing the ingredients together. This is why I decided to try two waffle recipes.

The first “application” (taking a cue from Alton Brown, I won’t call this a recipe) using a low-protein cake flour, and the “muffin method” (sounds like a nursery rhyme to me), with the added step of beating egg whites into the mix. I added pecans, nutmeg, and cinnamon for flavoring, so I feel comfortable calling it “my” recipe (though I have no doubt that countless others have likely come up with something similar before, it’s not exactly rocket science).

The result of experiment #1 was a very light, and not surprisingly, cake-like waffle with a light texture, but little to no crispness to the waffle exterior. It reminded me of strawberry shortcake really, with waffle impressions in it. The strawberries and cream were a welcome addition (but then again, I haven’t seen too many baked goods where Strawberries and whipped cream were persona non grata.)

For my second experiment, I was hoping to end up with a waffle that had more “oomph” to it. Something that was more than just a cake. Crisp exterior and soft, but not chewy interior would be nice. And since it was Valentine’s day, why not make it a little special. So I went with CHOCOLATE waffles. For these I followed a similar muffin method procedure, but I just combined all the ingredients together without beating the egg whites.

The difference in texture was very noticeable. The waffle had a nice body to it, but it was not chewey like a baguette. I think this was the AP flour’s doing, (but it may have been because I tossed in the whole eggs instead of whipping them first ?). And I think that French vanilla Ice cream never had a better friend than a warm chocolate waffle. Add a little shaved milk chocolate and some coacoa powder, toss on some strawberries and cream (why not?) and WOW. This was a dessert to remember.

This waffle thing is definitely worth the little bit of work that goes into prepping it. And it’s a good start for wading into the pool of baking without jumping into the deep end! I like the difference in textures that the different methods offer, and I may even include waffles in savory dishes if I get daring enough!
482 recipes to go!