Waffles originated sometime in the Middle Ages in what is now Belgium. They were thin wafers cooked on a "wafer iron" heated in the fire. They arrived to the colonies in the New World in the 1620s with the Dutch Pilgrims. It is even known that Thomas Jefferson bought a waffle iron in France during his long stay there during the Revolutionary war working to get the French on board for our new war against the English. Waffle parties were popular in those early times!
Now the Belgium Waffle didn't actually arrive to America until the Century 21 Expo in Seattle, Washington in 1962 and then again in 1964 at the World's Fair in New York City. I actually went to this World's Fair in NYC during the summer of "64. I don't remember the Belgium Waffles- but I do remember the Italian Gelato- and I have been in love ever since!
Belgium Waffles use yeast- and have to be "started" the day before. Well, we all know about the impatience of the New World so we like our waffles quick- none of that yeast for us. We use baking powder- just like we do in our pancakes and our biscuits and our cornbread! And baking powder is fast!
So let's gather our ingredients!
American Waffles for Two: Adapted from The Best of Waffles and Pancakes, A Cookbook By Jane Stacey
Ingredients:
Dry Ingredients:
3/4 cup of White Flour
1/4 cup of Pastry Wheat Flour (don't use regular wheat so just substitute white flour if you don't have Pastry Wheat- regular wheat flour won't give you the texture you're looking for!)
2 Tbsp of Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/8 tsp of Salt
1 tsp of Baking Powder
1/2 tsp of Cinnamon
1/8 tsp of Cardamon
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 stick of Butter (1/4 cup), melted
3/4 cup of Buttermilk
2 Eggs, Separated
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees to "hold" the cooked waffles while they wait for you to cook the remainder of the waffles.
Mix the dry ingredients together well.
Whisk the melted butter, the buttermilk and the egg yolks together.
In your stand mixer (you can do this with a hand mixer as well but it is really, really, really easy with a stand mixer!), whip the egg whites to "firm peaks". (This means that when you lift the blades the egg whites form gentle peaks that stay gentle peaks. Soft peaks dissolve back into the other egg whites while stiff peaks are very "pointy".)
Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Then using a rubber spatula gently, very gently, add the egg whites to the mixture. Don't overdo this part because this is what give waffles the "lightness" that pancakes don't have.
Heat your waffle iron per instructions. Pour 1/2 cup onto the waffle iron. This amount will vary from iron to iron so read the manufacturers instructions. If the batter is too "stiff" to pour add more buttermilk a little at a time.
Remove the waffle when the "beep" sounds...
And place on the rack of the preheated oven. Don't use a cookie sheet or the bottoms of the waffles will get soggy!
Serve with butter and maple syrup!
Or you can serve with berries and whipped cream!
Or you can even add 1/2 cup of "mashed" blueberries to the batter- and then top with blueberries for Blueberry Waffles!
Enjoy!
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