While I’m working on the next part of Roberta’s Timelines, let’s go back to cooking, dear friends: I’ve got another new kitchen gadget, one I’d been thinking about for some time – a waffle maker! What could be nicer for breakfast, or tea, or indeed any old time of day or night, to be able to make some fresh waffles yourself in no time with your own waffle maker? And it makes a perfect set with our new kettle, too – and no, neither of them are designer models, they were about £16 each; just have a look online for one…
Making waffles is really easy, the ingredients are always fresh and healthy, and you can save quite a lot of calories, too, with a modern Teflon waffle maker: it doesn’t really need any oil! You can use oil spray if you like, or just pour the batter right onto the clean grid.
Ingredients for 1 waffle are: 60g flour, ½ tsp baking powder, 1tsp sugar, 1 egg, 120ml milk
Here’s how to do the batter: mix the flour, the baking powder and the sugar in a bowl with a whisk, then slowly whisk in the egg and milk and whisk until smooth. Meanwhile, heat up the waffle maker until the ‘ready’ light switches off.
Ladle the batter onto the grid until it’s covered completely, close the lid and bake for 3-4 minutes until golden brown (you can open the lid any time to check).
Take out your waffle with the help of a spoon; as I said, with modern day Teflon, it shouldn’t stick, even if you haven’t used any oil!
Now what can you put on your waffle? Here are a few tasty ideas for sweet toppings:
To be honest, dear friends, this is my favourite: being a simple soul, I like my good old-fashioned waffle just with good old-fashioned honey – a match made in heaven… But, of course, when you feel creative you’ll want to add a few more things, and there are plenty to choose from; how about Greek yoghurt, blueberries, and a good squeeze of honey on top?
Another grand old American favourites is, of course, peanut butter and jam – at least as yummy on a waffle as on a slice of bread!
Something really refined is vanilla ice cream, which you can combine with syrup or jam; you can also add fruit, for example sliced bananas or raspberries.
In colder weather, you might prefer whipped cream, which you can also combine with fruit, especially strawberry bits.
Finally, a very popular waffle spread in recent days is Nutella – the kids will love it, and you probably will as well!
But you can also add savoury toppings to your waffles:
Fried egg and bacon has been a long-term favourite; you can also add bell peppers and tomato – and if you’re as childish as me, you can try and make it look like a face…
A very stylish topping are mushrooms in cream sauce: simply slice and fry fresh mushrooms, then add salt, pepper, parsley and cream, simmer for a few minutes and pour onto the waffle.
Also very trendy: salmon and cream cheese – better than in a sandwich or a bagel!
You can also put any sort of cold meat (ham, mortadella, smoked turkey or chicken…), butter and mustard or ketchup on your waffle; perfect for both breakfast and supper.
There are no limits to your creativity here, dear friends – just like with a pizza, you can invent endless new combinations of flavours for your perfect waffle enjoyment; guests will be impressed, too!
Finally, a tip for using leftover waffle bits: you can keep them in your fridge for 2-3 days, they’ll still taste fresh; but if there are too many left, you can cut them in stripes and add them to any soup of your choice – a great addition, at least as tasty as croutons or noodles!
Roberta Franklin 