The Liège waffle is one of the best waffles and I'm not saying that because I'm Liégeoise myself, well, maybe... Just picture a cold winter day, the hot waffle warming your fingers, the delicious taste of the waffle melting in your mouth...
Traditionally it has a vanilla or cinnamon flavor but nowadays you can find countless variations: large array of flavors, chocolate glaze, whipped cream and fruit toppings...
The traditional one is the one that brings me right back home. I've done some research, found a few different recipes and selected 2.
Recipe 1
This was my first successful attempt at making waffles. I liked them but thought they were a tiny bit too sweet and the vanilla flavor was not strong enough.
Servings: 10
Calories: 450 kcal / serving
Ingredients:
* 375 g flour
* 225 g unsalted soft butter
* 2 eggs
* 300 g pearl sugar
* 1 pack vanilla sugar
* 12.5 g fresh yeast (up to 35 g)
* 4 g salt (up to 8 g)
Variations:
* 150 - 220 ml milk & 150 g butter
* 135 - 180 ml milk & 200 g butter
Recipe 2
I loved them! I used the Schar universal mix gluten free flour and a teaspoon of baking soda (4 g). Gluten free dough is stickier but the result is still brilliant. The waffles were very tasty and fluffy.
I don't add vanilla powder for the vanilla waffles. I don't think they need it.
In the process, I fell in love with the cinnamon waffles. I've tried with the vanilla sugar plus the cinnamon and with cinnamon only which I prefer. 1 tbsp of cinnamon was not enough for me with the vanilla sugar.
I use about 250 g of pearl sugar.
Servings: 15
Calories: 350 kcal / serving
Ingredients:
* 500 g flour
* 250 g unsalted soft butter
* 1 egg
* 300 g pearl sugar
* 2 packs vanilla sugar
* 37.5 g fresh yeast
* 5 g salt
* cinnamon or vanilla powder
* 25 g plain liquid honey
* 1.5 g baking soda
Gluten free:
* Use a mix gluten free flour
* Add a few grams of baking soda and/or xanthan gum
* Let the dough rise for a shorter time
Lactose free:
* Use lactose free milk or oat milk
* Use lactose free butter or margarine
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Resting time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 30-60 minutes
Cookware:
* Waffle iron and its Liège waffle plate
* Mixer or spatula
* Scale
* 3 large bowls
* Small cooking pot
* Sieve (optional)
Method:
Baking
* Prepare all your ingredients:
- Take the butter and yeast out of the fridge
- 1st bowl (mixer): flour (375 g R1 and 400 g R2)
- 2nd bowl:
eggs (2 R1 and 1 R2)
and milk (60 ml R1 and 125 ml R2)
- 3rd bowl (for R2 only):
mix the flour (100 g),
1-2 tbps cinnamon or vanilla powder
and 1.5 g baking soda
- Pot: milk (75 ml R1 and 125 ml R2)
* Warm the milk in the pot at a very low temperature
* Add the yeast and stir gently until it's diluted
* Make a fountain in the flour in the 1st bowl
* Pour the diluted yeast in the fountain made in the flour
* Add the eggs and milk from the 2nd bowl
* Add the vanilla sugar (1 pack R1 and 2 packs R2)
* Incorporate the flour (your mixer set at a low speed)
* When half of the flour is incorporated, add the salt
* Mix until you get an homogeneous dough
* Cover the dough and let it rest 30 min. (15 for R2)
* Add the soft butter (225 g R1 and 250 g R2)
* Mix until you get an homogeneous dough
* Add the honey (25 g R2)
* Add the ingredients of the 3rd bowl (R2)
* Fold in the pearl sugar (300 g)
* Divide the dough in balls of 90 to 140 g (100 g for 10)
* Let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes
Tips:
* Take the butter and fresh yeast out of the fridge a few hours before starting baking
* If you use dried yeast, no need to mix it with warm milk, mix it directly with the flour
* Sieve the flour to avoid lumps
Warning:
* Don't boil the milk or mix the salt directly with the yeast, it will deactivate the yeast
* Don't let the dough rest for too long, it could damage the taste and the rise of the dough
* Don't let the dough balls rest for too long, the pearl sugar will melt
Cooking
* Pre-heat the waffle iron set at a high temperature
* Apply a little bit of butter on the waffle iron
* Cook the waffles for +/- 3 minutes
* Let the waffle rest a little on a grid before eating them
Tips:
* Roll the dough balls in icing sugar before cooking them to caramelize them
* Eat the waffles warm
* If you don't eat them all, don't cook the waffles too much so that you can reheat them in your waffle iron (20 sec.)
* The dough balls can be frozen
Warning:
* The waffle iron has to be really hot, so that the waffles don't stick