‘Twas the morning before Valentine’s Day, and all thro’ the house…
well, a lot of creatures were stirring. The cat, who’s been on a diet for two years was whining for his food, the dog, knowing full well that suitcases in the sitting area meant either a road trip or the kennel, was suspicious and extra needy of snuggle time, and I… well, I was up at the crack of – ok, eight-ish – to make waffles for my love, because, on the actual day, the dog would be in the kennel and we would be driving north.
For 3-1/2 hours, to a rustic, but well equipped cabin in the woods for a week.
Full kitchen and two gas fireplaces and a whirlpool tub aside, I was not packing my new waffle iron on vacation; so, Friday night, I set out a bowl with butter and cream cheese in it, covered it with a plate, and let it rest on the counter until the next morning, when I would make the waffles.
Oh, but not just any waffles: Red Velvet Waffles, with a hint of cocoa, and just the right amount of buttermilk and vinegar.
Rich was pleased.
INGREDIENTS
Waffles:
•2 cups flour
•3 tbsp white sugar
•4 tsp baking powder
•1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
•3/4 tsp salt
•1 3/4 cup buttermilk
•1/3 cup melted butter, cooled
•2 eggs
•2 tsp vanilla
•1/2 tsp white vinegar
•1 tbsp red food coloring
Glaze:
•8 oz cream cheese
•8 tbsp butter
•2 cups confectioners’ sugar
•1/2 cup whole milk
•1 tsp vanilla
•1/4 tsp black pepper (YES, really)
The night before, as mentioned above, place the cream cheese and butter in a bowl, cover it (a salad plate worked a treat for me), and set aside to soften overnight.
The next morning, whip the butter and cream cheese together using the whisk attachment on your stand mixer until creamy, then beat in one cup of the sugar with 1/4 cup of the milk until well blended.
Add the vanilla and black pepper, then beat in the remaining confectioners’ sugar and milk until soft and fluffy. If the glaze is too thick, by all means add additional milk, but recall, this is going to melt over hot waffles, so you’re gonna want some body to it.
Transfer the glaze to a lidded jar and set aside while you make the waffles.
Note: this recipe makes for a lot of glaze, more than I could imagine anyone would need for the dozen waffles this batter will make. Still, don’t despair, tomorrow I’ll have a wicked simple, but kinda decadent breakfast or brunch solution for all that leftover glaze.
On to the waffles!
Whisk the flour together with the sugar, baking powder, unsweetened cocoa, and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs together with the buttermilk, vanilla, and vinegar until pale yellow and smooth. Whisk in the red food coloring until uniformly colored.
Note: it’s been a while since I’ve bought food coloring, and the (rather large) market I was in only had an assortment box of kinda small gel packs, so my “red” wasn’t really all that intense. Still wicked tasty, though.
Stir the flour mixture into the egg and buttermilk mixture just until nicely combined.
Heat your waffle iron according to manufacturer’s instructions and, when it says to (mine will light up green), spoon 1/4 cup or so of the batter onto the bottom plate and spread around evenly (a crêpe rake works nicely, but a spatula will do as well).
Close the waffle iron and bake, again as long as the instruction manual says. My waffler lights up green again when the waffles are done.
Remove the waffle from the iron to a plate and stash in a warm 200º oven while you make the rest of the waffles.
Repeat with the remaining batter.
With my Cuisinart waffle maker, I got three batches for a total of twelve waffles out of the batter.
Nice waffles!
When ready, serve the warm waffles with the glaze spread and melting over the top.
Go ahead and add strawberries or mebbe toasted pecans if you like. Rich opted for a drizzle of maple syrup and thought it a fine early Valentine’s Day breakfast.
Note: there was no way the two of us were gonna eat a dozen waffles, no matter how good; so I thought it kinda neat that my waffle book suggested layering the waffles between squares of waxed paper, stashing ’em in a bag in the fridge or freezer until needed, then popping ’em in a toaster.
Thanks to allrecipes.com and member LITTLEPAW for the recipe.