elgium: Belgian Waffles
In this world of foods that people label as coming from one place when they actually come from somewhere else (like French fries), it's a relief to find one that actually comes from the country it's named after, and is really popular there as well. Into this class falls that shining example of sugary goodness, the Belgian waffle -- known to French-speakers on its home turf as the gaufre or gauffre, and to Flemish- / Vlaamse-speakers as the wafel, waffel or suikerwaffel. There are many regional varieties, but two specific kinds, made very differently, are the best known
The one most North Americans know as a breakfast or dessert dish is the Brussels waffle or gaufre de Bruxelles. The other is the Liège waffle or gaufre de Liège, named after that city and also known in Flemish as the Luikse wafel and in German as the Lütticher waffeln.
Neither of these is really thought of that much as a breakfast or brunch dish in Belgium. Where the waffle really shines in Belgium is as street food -- something you buy from a bakery or street stand, and eat out of hand, hot. (There is so much of this going on that there are lots of places, especially in the big cities, where you'll see signs like the one on the left, begging people not to bring waffles into shops or stand around eating them out in front and blocking the view through the windows.)
Brussels Waffles
The waffle that most North Americans would think of as a Belgian waffle is known in Belgium as gaufre de Bruxelles, "the Brussels waffle". General Belgian affection for it is sufficiently great that this waffle was chosen as one of the Belgian national "birthday cakes" for the European Union's fiftieth birthday celebrations.
The Brussels waffle is based on a batter raised with yeast -- as opposed to most North American waffle or pancake batters, which are raised with baking powder. And this is where many North American attempts at the Brussels/Belgian waffle fall down: the yeast raising changes the chemistry of the batter, producing a tenderer crumb in the finished waffle than a baking-powder raising can.
Gaufre de Bruxelles: Brussels-style waffle
The yeast and the beaten egg whites which are folded into the batter work together to produce a light crisp waffle. The Brussels waffle is rectangular and usually about an inch thick, with fairly deep "dimples". When you buy it on the street or in a shop in Belgium, it usually comes dusted with a little confectioners' sugar / icing sugar, and maybe spread with chocolate or thick whipped cream. But you can also get it piled high with fruit and other goodies.
To make the gauffre de Bruxelles / Brussels waffle, you need:
(smaller version of the ingredients: the original ones, halved)
- 500 g / scant 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 30 g / one package of fast-acting yeast
- 15 g / 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 625 ml / 22 fluid ounces / 2 3/4 cups lukewarm water (use tepid sparkling water if possible)
- 125g / 1 cup powdered nonfat dry milk (US "Carnation", UK "Marvel")
- 5 g / 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 small packet vanilla sugar (Dr. Oetker or similar): about 2 teaspoons if you do your own vanilla sugar
- 200-250g / 1 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled to lukewarm
- 3 to 4 egg whites, beaten to the stiff-peak stage
For the waffle batter:
Put the flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the flour: add the yeast and 125 ml / about half a cup of the lukewarm water.
Add the brown sugar, powdered milk, the vanilla extract or vanilla sugar, and the remainder of the water. Mix the dough well: allow to rise for at least 20 minutes - 1/2 hour. During this period, melt the butter. Allow to cool to lukewarm.
Add the melted butter: mix well. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks,: fold carefully into the batter mixture until evenly mixed through.
Heat a large waffle iron. Spread each section with the batter, close and bake until done.
Serve dusted with comfectioners' / icing sugar, or topped with whipped cream and fruit, or with melted chocolate or Nutella.
Liège waffles
The Liège waffle, named after that city, is also known as the Luikse wafel in Vlaamse and as Lütticher waffel in German. It's oblong, more or less oval-shaped, a thinner and smaller waffle than the Brussels waffle. But it's also more substantial, based more on a dough than a batter, and has a significant crunch due to the small nuggets of parelsuiker or "pearl sugar" that are added to the dough just before baking. These bits of sugar melt when being baked on the waffle iron and caramelize, producing a sugary crust like what's found on top of a creme brulée.
Please note that pearl sugar isn't that easy to find. Some stores that specialize in cakemaking and other confectionery carry it, and there are some online sources, such as the King Arthur Flour website, as well as this source and this one. (Minneapolis readers: you can get it at Maid of Scandinavia, 3244 Raleigh Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55415-2299. 800.328.6722.) EBay users: this search will help you see where pearl sugar is available at eBay. If you're in Europe, you can get pearl sugar directly from the Belgian online chocolate-candy-and-food-specialties store Smart-Shoponline.
To make the gaufre de Liège / Liège waffle, you need:
- 420 grams flour
- 7 grams salt (about a half teaspoon)
- 25 grams granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 50 grams yeast / one package fast-acting yeast
- 300 grams butter
- Around 20 centiliters cold water (preferably sparkling water)
- 270 grams pearl sugar
- Vanilla or other spicery to your taste
Allow eggs and sparkling water to come up to room temperature first.
Sift the flour into a bowl: make a well in the middle.
Melt the butter over hot water or in the microwave. Allow to cool to lukewarm. Beat the eggs well: add the butter and the yeast: mix well. Add the water and mix again.
Add to the flour along with the granulated sugar and vanilla or other seasoning (cinnamon works well).
Beat the dough for at least ten minutes. It will probably be sticky and difficult to work with. This is normal.
After this beating, allow to stand and rise in a warm place for 15-30 minutes. 5 to 10 minutes before baking, add the pearl sugar.
Heat the waffle iron. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto each quarter or section of the waffle iron. Bake until well browned.
Serve hot off the iron, dusted with confectioner's sugar, or top with whipped cream or ice cream if desired.
Waffle iron hints
Waffle irons that will turn out waffles in the style of the Brussels waffle are fairly easy to find, as in North America and some parts of Europe the Brussels waffle is what most people think of when they think about Belgian waffles.
However, if you're interested in sourcing a waffle maker / waffle iron that will turn out Liège waffles, you probably have your work cut out for you, as most machines to be found on the Web seem to be high-priced commercial models like these. Try searching for Belgian household machines under the name "Luikse wafel ijzer" (the Vlaamse / Flemish word for waffle iron or waffle maker is wafel ijzer or wafelijzer), and also search using brand names like Nova, Petra, Krups, Cuisinart, Frifri, Bestron, Domo, Tristar, Efbe-Schott, and Severin. Try to find pictures of the waffle iron that show the typical Liège plate, which produces two oblong waffles rather than any combination of square ones. And good luck!
...One last note on this. One brand, Frifri, seems to have a good selection of snap-in waffle plates, and at least one or two of these are for Liège waffles (depending on the size of the waffle maker). Check the manufacturer's page for an illustration of what they've got. These waffle irons go by the name "Gaufrex" or "Multex", and you can see ours above, first closed and then open with the Brussels waffle plates fitted.
ETA: The Keukenlust online cookware store has them in stock and ships all over Europe.
Francophones: To our great delight, the lovely page of Belgian regional waffle varieties such as the gaufre de Flamande, gaufre de Herve, gaufre de Verviers, gaufre de Perron, etc, which seemed to have gone offline in the wake of Belgacom losing the "users.swing.be" domain, has been updated and moved to GaufresBelges.com. We hope in the near future to translate some of these recipes into English and offer them here.
Meanwhile we also have a simple French-language list of recipes for Belgian regional waffles here.
