When Matt and I went skiing in Vermont a few years ago, we discovered something amazing called Liege waffles. I didn't know their name at the time, I just knew there was a Waffle Hut at the base of the not so steep mountain that smelled delicious. And I convinced Matt to stop for a bit and try the waffles. I watched them making these waffles while I waited for Matt's to get dipped with chocolate and I noticed the dough was super thick with hunks of sugar in it. Weird... But those weird waffles were amazing!!! The hunks of sugar caramelized on the outside and the whole thing was quite possibly the best thing I had ever eaten. Even Matt was impressed:
When we got back home, I researched them and found out they were Belgian (not Belgium!) or Liege waffles. I ordered the pearl sugar needed to make them and promptly got overwhelmed with all of the blogs bemoaning how difficult it was to make them and the need for special waffles irons.
Fast forward 3 years and one of my friends posted on Facebook that she was making them. Inspired anew, I decided there was no time like maternity leave to give them a try. And if I ruined my waffle iron - well it has had a good life up until now... And Matt was going skiing today, so it seemed fitting to make them before he headed off to the slopes.
I started the batch while Matt was getting Thomas ready for daycare and it had rested enough by the time he returned that it was time to add the sugar. Look at the size of this stuff! Some people went through all kinds of trouble to procure the proper sugar from people travelling to Europe. You can also just order it on Amazon...
You have to let it rise for about an hour to give the yeast time to do their thing. Then you add the sugar and carefully mix it in before letting it rest another 15 minutes. Good distribution of sugar is key!
The moment of truth came when making the waffles. I don't have the correct waffle iron, I don't even have the preferred Belgium waffle iron, I just have a standard waffle iron. And it might not have been ideal, but it still turned out a pretty good Liege waffle! The holes weren't as deep, but the caramelized sugar was still there (the best part!). I'm going to try again and dump the excess melted sugar and butter out between every other waffle next time - the goo in the iron started to burn a little and the later waffles got a little too dark. But the ones that were cooked well were ridiculously delicious.
On the other hand, these things have got to be calorie bombs, so I don't really need to make them all that often... If any of you are so inclined to give them a go, I followed this recipe on this blog, which actually used a recipe from this blog. Hate to not give credit to both! :)
And on an unrelated note, I think Henry might already be tired of me taking photos of him...
