Breakfast in Belgium

     This past weekend a belated Mother's Day present arrived.  It was a fancy Belgian waffle maker that rotates the grilling surface to insure even cooking on both sides of the waffle.  So with 3 of us home to inaugurate the new device I agreed to make the batter in advance of an extra special Saturday morning breakfast.  I mean, how difficult can that be?

     I soon discovered that the recipe was not an out of the box Bisquick quickie.  There were all kinds of qualifiers in the fine print, including permitting the batter to rise "in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour."  That meant me getting out of bed at least two hours before everyone else to prepare the batter. 

     I soon learned why the mixture had to proof.  It involved using active dry yeast that had to be dissolved in a small bowl of 1/4 cup warm, not hot, milk.  Too hot and it kills the yeast, too cold and the yeast won't bloom.  And further on in the recipe I read about separating 3 eggs and using the yolks first, then beating the whites until they formed soft peaks to be added later to the thickened batter.  That was quite a work-out for my forearms!  Oh yes, and I also needed to melt 3/4 cups of butter (1.5 sticks!), which was frozen at the time, and then cool it down to luke warm.  There was also the precise heating of another 2 3/4 cups of milk to 45 degrees C.  The rest of the ingredients were by comparison rudimentary:  sugar, salt, vanilla extract and all-purpose flour.

     After about 45 minutes I had labored long and successfully enough to cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise for almost 2 hours.  In that time the batter was beginning to press against the plastic cover, indeed doubling in size.  It was time to see if this contraption would perform as claimed.

     Both sides of the griddle were given a preliminary coat of olive oil and then heated up in advance of the maiden journey with a sea of yeasty batter.  Lights flashed, batter oozed and steam encircled the machine as we counted down the recommended 4 minute cooking time.  We were ready with freshly sliced strawberries and some home made whipped cream.

     I am very proud to say that it was a rousing success!  We all enjoyed the golden brown Belgian waffles with the deep pockets that captured the butter and Vermont maple syrup.  They were all we could have hoped for.  But next time I think I'll plan Belgian waffles for a mid-morning brunch and get an additional hour of pillow time.