Liege Waffles

I love waffles except those coconuty type.  Once in Bangkok, I tried some from MBK mall and it tasted nice.  I noticed that they baked from dough form rather than batter.  That got me interested to find out more about the different variety of waffles available.

Once a Belgium waffle stall started near my old place, tried it and it was good too.  Unfortunately they didn't last long over there.  I guess there isn't enough demand in that area.

All these while, I never gave up looking for such recipe that I had eaten before.  I was looking out for dough recipe rather than batter recipe until I chanced upon Oh, Sweet Basil.

Though this recipe looks much more complicated than alot of waffles recipes out there, nevertheless, I decided to try hers.

Verdict:  After punching down the dough, I was thinking I might have over done it as the dough looks like a huge batch.  After dividing the dough into smaller portion, I yield about only 25 pcs which was not so bad.

It was so good that my daughter sang praises and wanted to have more than 3 servings.  So my concern was uncalled for.

The texture is crispy on the outside, a little chewy on the inside with grains of pearl sugar still apparent.  The honey flavor stood out really well.  The waffle has a rich flavour and you won't even know that there is yeast inside.  I didn't add the amount of pearl sugar as indicated in the recipe but I have reduced it by half.  I read that it is the pearl sugar that makes these waffles special.  

I am definitely going to make more from now on since I can easily get pearl sugar as I no longer need to go down town to buy them.  

Now should I buy a good waffle iron that is deeper?  A balancing between must have and nice to have.  Tough.

Note: Please be careful when you remove the waffle from the iron as the sugar caramelized, the waffle is very hot and you can easily burnt your fingers which I did.

What you need:

177g whole milk, scalded and cooled to warm milk

2 tbsp water, warmed

6g sugar

7g instant yeast

2 large eggs, lightly whisked

225g unsalted butter, softened

55g honey

14g brown sugar

28g white sugar

3 tsp vanilla

580g bread flour 

200g belgian pearl sugar

Method:

Stir 1½ tsp sugar to the milk, water and yeast together. Set aside until the yeast gets foamy.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars until light.

Add in egg, honey and vanilla and stir to combine

Add the yeast mixture.  Transfer to mixer.

Using a dough hook and add 2 cups of bread flour.   Mix until the flour is thoroughly incorporated, and add the remaining and knead until combined.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 4 hours, up to 24 hours. 

Punch down and knead in the pearl sugar.

Divide into balls and place on a hot waffle iron.  

Cook until golden brown and serve with your favourite toppings.

Cheers!