Belgian Waffles

Is there a difference between regular waffles and Belgian waffles, besides the shape?

A true belgian waffle is yeast levened. That's the major difference I'm aware of. I wouldn't be surprised though if a lot of belgian waffles served break this definition.

Belgian waffles just seem to be thicker in mostplaces. I prefer regular thickness...but those machines are hard to find in many stores. Most waffle irons are Belgian now!!!

Authentic Belgian Waffle batter generally is sweeter and has a flavoring to it. I checked a box of Mix and it says it contains sugar and "Artificial Flavor". Based on the taste, I think it's vanilla.
When I make regular waffles, I use "Pioneer Brand Buttermilk Biscuit & Baking Mix". When I make Belgian waffles I use "Krustez Belgian Waffle Mix. There's definitely a taste difference between the two.

I prefer regular, smaller tread, home style-type waffles. If I can’t have those, Waffle House suits me just fine. Just ask for them cooked dark, so they are crispier. I hate soft, pale, doughy waffles.

Oh, and leave off the powdered sugar, pie filling, and whipped cream. It’s breakfast, not dessert, for crying out loud. Serve them with good maple syrup or honey.

And don’t even come near them with chocolate chips or bananas. Disgusting.

I highly recommend the Presto Belgium Waffle Maker for any of you who need one..It flips over. Very reasonable, too. It's stailess steel and operates the same way the waffle makers do at Hampton Inns.

St. Louis Guy - Maple syrup. Great! But where are you going to get that at a Waffle House? Or, more importantly, a decent pat of legitimate butter? They serve mystery butter. I don't udnerstand why they cannot give you real butter pats.

I like them well done, too. It's a decent waffle. I like their sausage patties.

I actually prefer honey with waffles, which Waffle House always has. Just ask.

As far as the fake butter at Waffle House, well, that's not great, but I'd rather have fake butter than bad syrup.

quote:

Originally posted by Baah Ben

I don't udnerstand why they cannot give you real butter pats.

It's called COST! Imagine the MILLIONS of pats they use. a 1 or 2 cent differential adds up!

I watched a Bert Wolf Special on PBS last night. He was in Belgium. They showed street vendors selling waffles. The waffles were VERY thin with very small indentations. Looked like Pizelles. (SP)

Belgian waffle, are not Belgian!!!

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Belgian waffle, are not Belgian!!!

I've always heard they came from Brussels. Do you have some info to the contrary. Lee? I always love food history.

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Belgian waffle, are not Belgian!!!

Are we picking fly specs out of the batter here???

quote:

Originally posted by uncledaveyo

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Belgian waffle, are not Belgian!!!

I've always heard they came from Brussels. Do you have some info to the contrary. Lee? I always love food history.

No,I stand corrected...did some research,the Belgian or Brussels waffle,similar to what we call belgian waffles are a yeast based waffle sold in the streets of Belgium...usually just sprinkled with sugar.

quote:

Originally posted by WarToad

A true belgian waffle is yeast levened. That's the major difference I'm aware of. I wouldn't be surprised though if a lot of belgian waffles served break this definition.

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

quote:

Originally posted by uncledaveyo

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Belgian waffle, are not Belgian!!!

I've always heard they came from Brussels. Do you have some info to the contrary. Lee? I always love food history.

No,I stand corrected...did some research,the Belgian or Brussels waffle,similar to what we call belgian waffles are a yeast based waffle sold in the streets of Belgium...usually just sprinkled with sugar.

*cough*cough*

quote:

Originally posted by WarToad

quote:

Originally posted by WarToad

A true belgian waffle is yeast levened. That's the major difference I'm aware of. I wouldn't be surprised though if a lot of belgian waffles served break this definition.

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

quote:

Originally posted by uncledaveyo

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Belgian waffle, are not Belgian!!!

I've always heard they came from Brussels. Do you have some info to the contrary. Lee? I always love food history.

No,I stand corrected...did some research,the Belgian or Brussels waffle,similar to what we call belgian waffles are a yeast based waffle sold in the streets of Belgium...usually just sprinkled with sugar.

*cough*cough*

And French Fries are not French either. They're Belgian. So There!

A little clarification of the Belgiam Waffles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffle

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

I have had Belgian waffles in Belgium, and of course they are not the same as we have in USA. They are smaller, more rectangular (the ones I've had in US are round, with 4 sections) and maybe sweeter. They are served as snacks/street food, not in restaurants like breakfast food. Jam and/or whipped cream was the typical topping.

Foodbeme...Thanks for pointing out the foolishness of my question. If you compute all those waffles they serve with that plastic spread vs legitimate butter, all over the country, each day..Then use a mathmetical multiplier of $.01 times the nuimber of meals served each hour of each 24 hour day, it does become significant to their bottom line. Over a year? They may save a few thousand dollars

I love waffles. Thin like waffle house or Belgian. First forget about buying an over the counter waffle maker. Go to ebay and search Carbon Waffle or Rugged Waffle.You will find a waffle iron that weighs about 50 lbs made of cast iron and aluminum. You can buy one for about $100.00 plus shipping. They usually have about 1 or 2 a week available. They are made in Buchanon Michigan and have been made for over 70 years. You know those ones you see at hotels that you make yourself. Well this is the one they copied. I have four of them and make waffles at our subcontractors breakfast every quarter. I bought one at first then more. They use so much electricity you must run them on different circuts and take an hour to cool down. One of these will last many lifetimes and make the BEST waffles possible. You can also buy waffle mix from http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/goldenmalted/shop.d2w/report This site sells Carbon's Golded Malted Waffle Mix which is very good however the recipe below is my favorite.
Also this is a pretty good thread on waffles http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=24692

Dont limit yourself with waffles you can put just about anything in them Jalapenos, Sausage and Cheese,Kernels of Corn, Apples, etc....Russ

Belgian Waffles

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 stick melted butter (1/2 cup or 110 grams)
2 cups warm milk (heated to about 110 degrees)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

The night before:

Combine and whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, yeast, sugar and salt.
Combine the melted butter and milk. Add the mixture to the dry ingredients.
Whisk eggs and vanilla together in a separate small bowl. Add the egg-vanilla mixture to the other mixture, and whisk until well-combined.
Cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge until tomorrow morning. (The batter can rise for 10 to 24 hours.)
The next morning:

Prepare waffle iron as usual. Stir the batter to deflate it (it should be puffy and frothy).
Add to waffle iron the same way you would other batter, keeping in mind that this batter will rise more than batters that use baking powder instead of yeast.
I love the smell of this recipe.

quote:

Originally posted by stlouisguy

I prefer regular, smaller tread, home style-type waffles. If I can’t have those, Waffle House suits me just fine. Just ask for them cooked dark, so they are crispier. I hate soft, pale, doughy waffles.

Oh, and leave off the powdered sugar, pie filling, and whipped cream. It’s breakfast, not dessert, for crying out loud. Serve them with good maple syrup or honey.

And don’t even come near them with chocolate chips or bananas. Disgusting.

I concur.

quote:

Originally posted by Twinwillow

quote:

Originally posted by stlouisguy

I prefer regular, smaller tread, home style-type waffles. If I can’t have those, Waffle House suits me just fine. Just ask for them cooked dark, so they are crispier. I hate soft, pale, doughy waffles.

Oh, and leave off the powdered sugar, pie filling, and whipped cream. It’s breakfast, not dessert, for crying out loud. Serve them with good maple syrup or honey.

And don’t even come near them with chocolate chips or bananas. Disgusting.

I concur.

I also dislike desserts masquarading as a breakfast...so many of those creations at I Hop are nothing more than calorie-laden desserts!!!!

Ok. Here is the deal, I just got back from spending 5 weeks in Belgium. for those that have said the waffles are a yeast dough you are correct and yes the extra little bit of flavor is vanilla. They are also served many different ways with many different toppings. the ones on the street's like in Oostende are pre-made and stacked along side waffle irons with a little sugar on them. When you ask for one the attendant places the waffle back in the iron heating it up causing the sugar to carmelize. Then they remove the waffle, wrap it paper and you are off. The best way to have it though is called a rainbow ( in Bruges). You get a waffle surrounded by strawberries and blueberries with a drop of whipped cream on either side, then drizzle chocolate sauce over it, place a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle and dust with powdered sugar. To die for. Oh and French fries are called frites and in France they are Pom frites. French fries is an American term.

quote:

Originally posted by Foodbme

Authentic Belgian Waffle batter generally is sweeter and has a flavoring to it. I checked a box of Mix and it says it contains sugar and "Artificial Flavor". Based on the taste, I think it's vanilla.
When I make regular waffles, I use "Pioneer Brand Buttermilk Biscuit & Baking Mix". When I make Belgian waffles I use "Krustez Belgian Waffle Mix. There's definitely a taste difference between the two.

That sweetness is from malt. That's usually what makes a waffle "Belgian" in the U.S.
You can make them yourself, without a mix, by adding malt syrup to your batter.

I can't believe we have this topic and no one mentioned the 1964 NY World Fair.

(Worlds Fare, too)

Nice going, NYNM!

That was my first ever taste of Belgian Waffle - the 1964 World's Fair - at the Belgium Pavillion. Loaded with whip cream and luscious huge strawberries. I was a young husky kid of 14 and my Uncle took me to the fair for 4 days running. They were phenomenal and opened up my young mind to all sorts of goodies beyond a 5 mile radius of our house

It is, alas, the only food thing I remember of the fair. I do remember some of the stuff that later reverted to Disney (GE, ILL, Pepsi Smallworld etc)

Any other fond World's Fair memories? Preferably foodie.

So many people have memories of Belgian Waffles from the Worlds Fair. It was when BW was introduced to the USA. How "exotic"!!
In fact I read somewhere that the number 1 most remembered thing of the fair, over 40 years ago, was the waffles.

Not Belgian, but am I the only one occasionally putting peanut butter on waffles rather than (or in addition to) syrup?

quote:

Originally posted by MGWerks

Not Belgian, but am I the only one occasionally putting peanut butter on waffles rather than (or in addition to) syrup?

YEP!! You're the only one!

quote:

Originally posted by Foodbme

quote:

Originally posted by MGWerks

Not Belgian, but am I the only one occasionally putting peanut butter on waffles rather than (or in addition to) syrup?

YEP!! You're the only one!

Mix peanut butter right into the warm milk prior to adding it to the batter. Then make the Waffles...Russ

Russ - for those who cannot get a separate electrical line (is it a 208 line?) in their home just to accomodate that waffle iron, I still think the new Presto s/s flip over unit is pretty good. It is definitely not a toy like some of the other cheap household units. There are some other heavy duty household units now on the market. All have enough power to now yield a crispy waffle.

I think once these manufacturers saw the success the Hampton Inns had with that flip over waffle maker for their morning guests, they worked on updating their's.

Boy, that recipe looks great. I'm just too damn lazy. But, I do make my own batter; no packaged stuff. I would like to add some malt flour. I will look for it in the store.