Liege Waffle Food

LIèGE WAFFLES

Steps:

• Combine the milk and 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) water in a small saucepan and heat until lukewarm, 110 to 116 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer milk mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add brown sugar and yeast and stir to combine; set aside 5 minutes. (The yeast should look foamy. If it doesn't foam, discard and try again with different yeast.)
• Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Using the dough hook attachment on your mixer, stir in all but 1 cup of the flour. Mix in salt. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, thoroughly mixing after each addition and scraping down the bowl before adding the next. Add the remaining 1 cup flour and mix on low speed, stopping once or twice to pull the dough off the hook, about 5 minutes, or until the dough is glossy, pulls away from the side of the bowl and has gathered in a ball on the hook.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 2 hours. The dough will double in size. Stir the puffed dough with a spoon to deflate, then re-cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 24 hours.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in the pearl sugar (or your homemade version) a little at a time. The dough will be stiff but will become more pliable as it warms. Cut dough into 16 equal pieces with a bench scraper or chef's knife and return to the refrigerator.
• Heat your waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions. Working with 1 or 2 balls of dough at a time (leave the rest in the refrigerator), arrange on the waffle iron and cook until golden brown all over, 2 to 5 minutes depending on your iron. Use tongs to transfer waffles to a baking sheet or cooling rack. Some of the sugar will melt out of the waffles and collect in your iron, adding an extra layer of glossy molten sugar to each waffle as you continue. Serve waffles warm.

AUTHENTIC BELGIAN LIèGE WAFFLES

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the milk, water, and yeast *.If using Active Dry Yeast, gently mix with a spatula and set aside to bloom the yeast for ~5-10 minutes. Once bloomed, add in the granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Mix just until combined and continue to step 2.If using Instant Yeast, add the milk, water, yeast, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Mix just until combined and continue to step 2.
• Stop the mixer and add in the eggs, honey, and vanilla. Mix until combined. Add in 2 cups of flour and mix until the flour is hydrated and mostly mixed in. Stop the mixer, scrape down the paddle attachment, and switch to the dough hook.
• Add in the salt and 1/2 cup of flour at a time with the mixer on low until all of the flour is combined. You may not need all of the flour depending on how humid your space is. The flour dough should start to pull away slightly. Next, add in the butter one tablespoon at a time. Be patient here as the butter will take a few minutes to incorporate itself into the dough. The dough will come back together. Remove the dough ball from the bowl and transfer it to a larger clean bowl lightly greased. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter in a warm, dry place until doubled in size (1-3 hours).
• When doubled, deflate the dough by punching it down in the center and bringing the edges of the dough over the top (like you're folding it into itself). Replace the cover and put the bowl of dough in the fridge to allow it to ferment overnight.*Note you can skip the overnight fridge resting if you are short on time. Move to step 6 to continue. The cold ferment just helps develop more flavors in the waffle.
• If you cold fermented the dough, the next day, remove the dough from the fridge and allow the dough to come to room temp (about 2 hours).
• Remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured board. Flatten the dough out into a rectangle and spread out 1 1/2 cups of pearl sugar. Fold the bottom third up and then the top third on top of that. Press down and add the rest of the pearl sugar. Fold the sides up to form a rectangle. Slowly cup the dough and roll it out into a log about 12-14" long Divide the dough into 12 pieces, shape into balls, flatten slightly into round discs, and place on a parchment-lined pan. Cover with lightly sprayed plastic wrap.
• Heat up your Belgian waffle maker. Since all makers are different, you'll have to fiddle around with yours. I would advise starting off on low and increase the temperature a little at a time until you find the correct setting that will caramelize your sugars and cook your waffles to the perfect golden caramel brown. Spray the iron with non-stick spray and place a round of dough in the center of your waffle maker. Close and cook until the waffle puffs up, cooked through and the sugar pearls are caramelized. Carefully remove from the maker, and serve immediately or place it on a cooling rack.

LIEGE WAFFLES

Steps:

• Special equipment: Good quality waffle iron with adjustable settings and that turns upside down, preferably cast iron.
• Put the flour in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook. Whisk together the eggs, and then add the milk, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds and honey in a large bowl. Add the mixture to the flour and mix for 1 minute. Add the yeast and continue to mix until the dough becomes smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Begin adding the butter, at low speed, piece by piece and continue mixing until it's incorporated into the dough. Add the salt, increase the speed to high and continue mixing until the dough becomes a shiny solid mass and totally pulls away from the bottom and sides of the bowl, 10 to 15 minutes. The dough needs to be very elastic, you shouldn't be able to break the dough when pulled. Add the sugar and mix until it is just incorporated, about 1 minute.
• Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the dough into 48 even pieces, roll into balls, place on the parchment, cover with clean cotton towels and let rise in a warm area until almost tripled in size, anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Heat the waffle iron to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray the waffle iron with nonstick spray or brush with melted butter. Cook the waffles until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side.

1840S LIEGE WAFFLE

Steps:

• mix sponge together and let proof
• then add other flours salt and butter let rise until doubled about 1 hour in warm spot
• add baking soda and vinegar
• fold in egg whites
• spray pam on waffle iron.
• put on 2/3 cup batter which will be thick.
• sprinkle on topping sugar on top
• bake.

LIEGE WAFFLE RECIPE / LIèGE GAUFRE RECETTE

Steps:

• Place yeast, milk, and water into the workbowl of a stand mixer. Stir for a few seconds to moisten the yeast.
• Add the egg and 1/3 of the total flour. Mix to blend. Scrape down sides of bowl.
• Sprinkle remaining flour over the mixture, but do not stir it inches Cover and let stand 75-90 minutes (at the end of that time, you'll notice the batter bubbling up through the cover of flour).
• Add brown sugar, salt, and baking powder* ( * while baking powder is not a traditional ingredient, it provides a slightly more modern texture. If you like, omit the baking powder and add 1/2 teaspoons more yeast.) to the workbowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed - just to blend.
• With machine on low, add honey and vanilla. Then add 2 tablespoons of butter at a time. Mix 4 minutes at medium-low speed; scrape down sides once or twice in that period. Let the dough rest for 1 minute and then continue to mix for 2 minutes. If you measured your ingredients perfectly, the dough will be sticking to the sides of the bowl in the last minute of mixing and then, in the last 30 seconds of so, will start to ball-up on the paddle. If this does not happen, let the dough rest for 1 more minute and mix for another 2 minutes. Whatever the outcome of the extra mixing, proceed to Step 6.
• Scrape the dough into a large bowl, sprinkle lightly with flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature for 4 hours. This step is crucial for developing the flavor.
• REFRIGERATE FOR 30 MINUTES BEFORE PROCEEDING TO STEP #8. This is essential. The yeast respiration must be slowed before continuing.
• Stir the dough down (meaning: gently deflate the gases from the dough, by pressing on it with a rubber spatula), scrape it onto a piece of plastic wrap, and then use the spatula to press the dough into a long rectangle. Fold that rectangle over on itself (by thirds - like a letter) so that you have a square of dough. Wrap it in plastic, weigh it down a bit (I put two heavy dinner plates on top of it) and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, place the cold dough (it will be quite firm) in a large bowl and add all of the pearl sugar to a bowl. It will seem like a lot of sugar, but it's supposed to be :) Mix it into the dough by hand until the chunks are well-distrubuted. Once mixed, divide the dough into 5 pieces of equal size.
• Shape each chunk into an oval ball (like a football without the pointy ends) and let it rise (covered loosely in plastic wrap) for exactly 90 minutes.
• If you have a professional waffle iron (meaning: it's cast iron and weighs over 20 pounds) cook at exactly 365-370 degrees (the max temp before sugar begins to burn/decompose) for approximately 2 minutes.** Give each waffle a few minutes to cool slightly before eating. No syrup or toppings are needed, unless you'd like to add some fruit or a dusting of powdered sugar; they're quite sweet on their own.
• If you have a regular waffle iron, heat the iron to 420 degrees (hint: many regular waffle irons go up to and over 550 degrees at their highest setting) , place the dough on the iron, and immediately unplug it or turn the temp dial all the way down. Otherwise, the sugar will burn.

LIEGE WAFFLES (BELGIAN PEARL SUGAR WAFFLES)

Steps:

• Mix yeast, water, sugar and salt, and let develop for 15 minutes.
• Place flour into a large bowl.
• Make a well, pour in yeast mixture, and begin to knead.
• Continue to knead, add eggs, one at a time, and add soft butter, 2 tablespoons each addition, mixing well.
• Let dough rest in bowl until doubled.
• Gently mix in pearl sugar.
• Let rest for 15 minutes.
• Heat waffle iron.
• When hot, butter waffle iron, pour in 3 tablespoons dough per waffle.
• Cook for 3-5 minutes, until waffles lightly brown on top.
• Serve warm or room temperature.
• Enjoy!

LIEGE BELGIAN WAFFLES WITH PEARL SUGAR

Steps:

• Sprinkle the yeast and white sugar over warm milk in a small bowl. The milk should be no more than 100 degrees F (40 degrees C). Let stand for 15 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam.
• Whisk the eggs, melted butter, and vanilla extract into the yeast mixture until evenly blended; set aside. Stir together the flour and salt in a separate large bowl, and make a well in the center. Pour the egg mixture into the well, then stir in the flour mixture until a soft dough forms. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (80 to 95 degrees F (27 to 35 degrees C)) until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Gently mix in the pearl sugar.
• Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.
• Place a baseball-size ball of dough on the preheated waffle iron. Cook waffles until golden and crisp, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough. Allow waffles to cool for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.