Waffle

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This article is about the food item. For other uses, see Waffle (disambiguation).

Brussels waffle

A waffle is a light batter cake cooked in a waffle iron, between two hot plates, patterned to give a distinctive and characteristic shape.

1 Varieties of waffle
2 Medieval origins
3 Mass Produced Waffles
4 References
5 External links

Varieties of waffle

The Brussels Waffle^[1] (known in the USA as the Belgian Waffle) is prepared from a yeast-leavened batter, to give a light, crisp waffle. It is often served warm by street vendors, dusted with confectioner's sugar, and sometimes topped with whipped cream or chocolate spread. It may also be served as a dessert, with fruits, whipped cream or ice cream.

Belgian Waffles shown here served with fruit salad and cream

The Liège waffle^[2] (from the city of Liège, in eastern Belgium) is a waffle usually bought and eaten warm on the street. They are usually freshly made in small shops, but it is also possible to buy them in supermarkets. They are smaller, sweeter and denser than "Belgian waffles". The last-minute addition of nib sugar to the batter produces a caramelized sugar coating. This gives a distinctive flavor. Most are served plain, but some are vanilla or cinnamon flavored, and can be served with toppings like fruits, creams, and chocolate. The Liège waffle was invented by a cook of the prince-bishop of Liège in the 18th century.

Liège waffles with berries.

American waffles^[3], common in the United States, are made from a batter leavened with baking powder, rather than yeast, always lightened with beaten egg-whites. They are usually served as a sweet breakfast food, topped with butter and various syrups. but are also found in many different savory dishes, such as chicken and waffles. They are generally denser and thinner than the Belgian waffle. Waffles were first introduced to North America in 1620, by pilgrims who brought the method from Holland. Thomas Jefferson brought a waffle iron from France, and waffle frolics or parties became popular in the late eighteenth century. Waffles were eaten with both sweet (e.g. molasses or maple syrup) and savoury (such as kidney stew) toppings.^[4]
- Virginia waffles^[5] are made with rice or cornmeal instead of wheat-flour.
In Ireland and the UK, the potato waffle, is a savory frozen food in waffle shape, made of reconstituted potato, oil and seasonings. These waffles may be baked, grilled, prepared in a toaster or fried, and are used as a side dish or snack.
Hong Kong style waffle, in Hong Kong called a "grid cake" (格仔餅), is a waffle usually made and sold by street hawkers and eaten warm on the street^[6] . They are similar to a traditional waffle but larger, round in shape and divided into four quarters. They are usually served as a snack. Butter, peanut butter and sugar are spread on one side of the cooked waffle and then it is folded into a semi circle to eat. Egg, sugar and evaporated milk are used in the waffle recipes, giving them a sweet flavor. They are generally soft and not dense. Traditional Hong Kong style waffles are full of the flavor of yolk. Sometimes different flavors, such as chocolate and honey melon flavor are used in the recipe and create various colors.

Two stroopwafels

Stroopwafels (English translation: syrup waffles) are thin waffles with a syrup filling. They were first made in Gouda in the Netherlands, during the 18th or 19th century. The stiff batter for the waffles is made from flour, butter, brown sugar, yeast, milk, and eggs. Medium sized balls of batter are put on the waffle iron. When the waffle is baked, and while it is still warm, it is cut into two halfs. The warm filling, made from syrup, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon, is spread in between the waffle halfs, which glues them together.^[7] They are popular in Belgium and the Netherlands.

A waffle iron for Scandinavian waffles.

Scandinavian waffles are soft and generally divided into four or five segments, traditionally vaguely heart-shaped. The segments are often separated and eaten one by one or folded in pairs. Scandinavian waffles are mostly eaten with whipped cream and berry jam, for example raspberry jam or blueberry jam. the "Scandinavian" waffle is believed to originate from Sweden. In Sweden these waffles are also referred to as "frasvåffla" which roughly translated means crispy waffle.

Medieval origins

The modern waffle has its origins in the wafers-very light thin crisp cakes, baked between wafer-irons-of the Middle Ages^[8]. Wafer irons consisted of two metal plates connected by a hinge, with each plate connected to an arm with a wooden handle. Some plates had imprinted designs such as a coat-of-arms or landscape, while some had the now-familiar honeycomb/gridiron pattern (there is evidence that in the 14th century only wealthy kitchens would have irons^{[citation needed]}). The iron was placed over a fire, and flipped to cook both sides of the wafer. These irons were used to produce a variety of different flat, unleavened cakes (usually from a mixture of barley and oats, not the white flour used today). Some were rolled into a cone or tube, others were left flat. In 14 C. England, wafers were sold by street vendors called waferers.^[9] The modern waffle is a leavened form of wafer.

"Wafer" and "waffle" share common etymological roots. Wafre (wafer) occurs in Middle English by 1377, adopted from Middle Low German wâfel, with change of l into r. Modern Dutch wafel, French gaufre, and German Waffel, all meaning "waffle", share the same origin. The Dutch form, wafel, was adopted into modern American English as waffle, in the 18th century.^[8]^[10]

Mass Produced Waffles

Waffles are mass produced and frozen, to be eaten quickly and with little effort in many flavors. Among the many companies that produced frozen waffles include, most notably, Eggo.