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  • Hi guys, I'm Laura Vitale and on this episode of Laura in the Kitchen, I want to share with

  • you, my sort of, take on Belgian waffles.

  • Now, I have made some plain old regular waffles here before on Laura in the Kitchen, but I

  • did mention in that video, that for me, Belgian waffles and regular waffles are a bit different.

  • Belgian waffles have a yeast dough and regular waffles don't.

  • Now I know that there's a lot of - you know - mixed feelings about what's a Belgian waffle

  • and what's not, and I would love to hear your take on it, especially if you're from Belgium,

  • if this is anything like the waffles you have there.

  • I don't know, I've never been there, but for years now, these are what I make and I think

  • they are absolutely fantastic.

  • They have an amazing texture, they taste delicious and I promise you they are worth every bit

  • of the effort, which really there's hardly any effort that goes into it, they're really,

  • really easy.

  • You're going to start off with some cake flour, I've got cake flour here, I've got a pinch

  • of salt, I've got a couple of eggs that I've separated into whites and yolks.

  • I've got some granulated sugar, a little tiny bit of sugar there with some active dry yeast,

  • vanilla extract, melted butter and whole milk that's been warmed up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • Now the first thing I'm going to do is take my yeast and a little bit of sugar. I'm going

  • to pour that - or sprinkle that I should say, over the milk, and I'm going to just let that

  • sit aside there so that the yeast can foam up a bit and activate.

  • It's really important.

  • Now, before we go any further, I do want to point out that this has to kind of rest for

  • about an hour, but you can make this batter the night before and instead of letting it

  • rise on your counter for an hour, just wrap it really well with plastic wrap, stick it

  • in the fridge overnight, and it will do a slow cold rise. It's not really going to rise

  • a whole lot, but it'll do the job just as well as if you were to wait an hour on the

  • counter.

  • It makes life a lot easier that way you can have homemade Belgian waffles at any second

  • in the morning without having to wait an hour for the dough to rest, so keep that tip in

  • mind for your weekend brunches, or breakfast, and whatnot.

  • I'm going to use a handheld whisk and I'm going to whisk together my egg whites until

  • they're really light and frothy and have a nice stiff peak.

  • My egg whites are nice and frothy, I'm going to set those aside for just a minute, my yeast

  • as you can see, is just gorgeous. I mean, this might not look gorgeous to a lot of people,

  • but when I see yeast activated, I get really happy because I know that whatever I'm making

  • is going to turn out to be wonderful. Because when you're working with yeast, just remember

  • that you can kill it if the liquid is too hot or if it's too cold it won't activate.

  • And you also want to make sure it's not expired.

  • Okay, to that I'm going to add in the rest of my sugar.

  • Get that out of there.

  • Vanilla, just a splash!

  • Egg Yolks.

  • And, butter.

  • Everything's better with butter. Isn't it though?

  • I did just make that up in my head, but isn't it? I mean come on!

  • Take my little handy dandy half moon whisk, whatever you want to call it, and just whisk

  • these together to combine. Don't worry if it's not perfect because we are going to be

  • pouring this into my dry ingredients.

  • I just want to get every little bit of everything out.

  • And I am just going to whisk these with that same whisk, I mean why not, I'll probably

  • just switch to a spatula anyway. Just going to whisk this until combined.

  • That looks good!

  • I'm going to just fold in my egg whites.

  • We want a lot of bubbles, we want a really light, lovely texture on the outside, beautiful

  • color.

  • Just fold them until combined, and then you're good to go to let them rest for a bit - well

  • let it rest for a bit.

  • Going to cover this with some plastic wrap and I'm going to set it somewhere to let it

  • rest for around an hour or so.

  • Now this is the point where you've made your batter, cover it, pop it in the fridge until

  • tomorrow morning.

  • It'll do its job perfectly fine.

  • But, since I want to eat waffles for dinner, I am just going to let these sit out - let

  • THIS sit out for about an hour or so to relax, I'm going to get my waffle iron ready, and

  • also make sure that whenever you're making something like a waffle iron or a panini maker

  • or any kind of machine, I guess, keep the manufacturer's instructions because it's going

  • to vary from mine to yours. So my manufacturer says, you know, they're going to cook in about

  • three minutes, yours might say they'll need about eight minutes, so keep the instructions

  • on hand at all times with each little device you have - each little machine you have - so

  • that you have all the information on how to pre-heat it and all that stuff.

  • Just figured I'd pass that up!

  • Anyway, just going to let this rest and then we'll get going on making the waffles.

  • That is some gorgeousness right there!

  • I've got my waffle iron preheated, and I have it sprayed with a little bit of spray.

  • Now, I'm just going to take my little ladle.

  • Whoa!

  • Look at this dough.

  • You know it's going to be fabulous!

  • With those bubbles.

  • Let me just put little tiny dots, it'll - mine takes, to be honest, I don't even know the

  • amount of dough mine takes, or batter. I'd say maybe a quarter to a third of a cup each.

  • Something along those lines, and I am making a mess while I'm at it, but that's okay.

  • Going to put the lid on and let this cook until it turns green and it's ready to be

  • - they're ready to be taken out and I'm going to continue to cook them. I'll show you what

  • they look like when they're done and when they're ready to be served.

  • Ohh. Look at those babies!

  • Now, quick tip for you:When you take waffles off of - or out of your waffle iron - make

  • sure that you place them on a wire rack so that they can cool all around. That way the

  • bottoms don't get soggy, they stay with a really nice texture.

  • Oohh, I'm breaking this one.

  • That's okay. I'll put that one on my personal plate.

  • Take that for myself.

  • Now those are gorgeous.

  • Now, if you want to do what I do what I do, tonight, for example, there's just Joe and

  • I for dinner. Just my husband and I for dinner, so we're just going to have a couple each

  • and I'm going to take the rest and I'm going to freeze them in Ziploc bags and then whenever

  • you want homemade waffles, pop it in the toaster, little maple syrup or butter, or whatever

  • you like, and you've got great homemade Belgian waffles anytime you want!

  • I like to serve mine with some fresh berries, I've got some strawberries here that I quickly

  • chopped up so that I can give myself a little taste.

  • And then I have to have just a small itty bitty drizzle of maple syrup.

  • That's a small drizzle for me.

  • Oh, I can tell the texture is going to be fabulous!

  • I can already tell!

  • Let me see, hold I want to show you what the inside of one looks like.

  • See that!?

  • Look at that, how gorgeous!

  • Look how airy those bubbles in there are keeping everything really light. That's what I'm talking

  • about!

  • [blowing]

  • Mmm..

  • So delightful!

  • You will love this.

  • They are absolutely fantastic, not too sweet, really wonderful texture. LauraintheKitchen.com

  • will have the recipe for you. I hope you have enjoyed spending time with me and if you do

  • make a version of your own, make sure you leave it down below because I love to know

  • what your take on Belgian waffles are.

  • Hope you have enjoyed spending time with me and I'll see you next time!

  • Bye bye!

  • [music]

  • [mixer noise]

  • Cameraman: Ready in 4...

  • Laura: My yeast is - my yeast.. This is yeast, those are egg whites!

  • [bang sound]

  • Ouch!!

  • [laughing]

  • Really hurt really bad!

  • Did you hear that!?

  • I hope I didn't break anything!

  • Wow!

Hi guys, I'm Laura Vitale and on this episode of Laura in the Kitchen, I want to share with

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