How appropriate for Valentine’s Day – heart shaped waffles made with love. I say ‘made with love’ as I absolutely love my waffle iron. Made from heavy cast iron, it is my favourite piece of kitchen equipment. I love the fact that this was once owned by my Grandmother, who I sadly never met. It then travelled with my mother when she left Sweden to make a new life in England some 60 years ago. I can picture it on an old stove with many hungry faces waiting their turn for a crispy waffle perhaps sharing out the five hearts it makes each time.
The trick here is to get the waffle iron really hot to begin with then keeping it on a moderate it while cooking. Make sure you grease it well.
*Vegan version given at end of recipe.
Ingredients:
2 eggs
170g plain flour
Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp (15ml) baking powder
25g caster sugar
300ml whole milk
50g butter melted, cooled
1 tsp (5ml) vanilla essence
Extra oil for frying
Method:
- Separate the eggs.
- Place the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre.
- Place the egg yolks, milk and melted butter together with vanilla essence into the centre of the well. Using a fork or whisk gradually incorporate the dry ingredients until they are all mixed in and you have a thick batter.
- Heat a waffle iron.
- Meanwhile whisk egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks appear, then fold into the batter.
- Once hot, grease the waffle iron with oil and add 3 tablespoons (45ml) of the batter to the centre of the waffle iron and cook for approx. 2 minutes each side, carefully turning the iron over half way through.
- Serve immediately with your choice of topping. Pictured above, I have coconut yogurt, raspberry chia seed compote and extra fresh raspberries, all drizzled with maple syrup.
For vegan waffles:
Substitute the following ingredients and continue with the method above (no need to whisk egg whites);
Eggs – use 4 tsp (20ml) egg replacer powder mixed with 90ml cold water
Baking powder – use 4 tsp (20ml) instead of 1 Tbsp (15ml)
Use plant based milk e.g. whole soya milk
Use melted coconut oil instead of butter
Served below with blueberry chia seed compote & coconut yogurt.
