Friday, May 05, 2006
Chocolate Waffles and Berry Compote
I've been meaning to post a couple of related things, so this is going to be a combined post. First, chocolate waffles, then the various toppings I tried. Making a compote turned out to be surprisingly easy, and really worth the effort. Warm berry compote is a really healthy alternative to maple syrup. I think. I don't really know what's healthy.
Start by making the waffles. This is similar to normal waffles, but the dry stuff is:
3 cups all-purpose flourAnd the wet stuff is:
6 tablespoons sugar
1 cup ounces cocoa powder, natural sweetened
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips
6 whole eggs, beatenThis makes a double batch. Once again, I made these waffles and then froze most of them.
8 ounces unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 pints buttermilk, room temperature
Next time I want to try using a few more chips. At the end of the batch I threw the rest of the chips we had into the batter. The waffles with the extra chips were still quite cookable (perhaps crisper than the ones with fewer chips). Jen and I both thought that the "right" amount of chocolate chips would probably be somewhere between the original recipe and the super-chocolate version.
The chocolate waffles weren't as crisp as the normal ones right out of the oven. Toasting them after cooking but before eating fixes this problem.
The first night I served the waffles with a simple topping of fresh raspberries and powdered sugar (see picture, above). I used a tea ball to spread the sugar on top of the waffle and berries.
About a week later we bought a bunch of berries at a fruit stand in Carneros and decided to try making a fruit compote. In this case I simply combined the following over medium heat in a sauce pan:
3-4 cups of raspberries and blueberriesI cooked this for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. The raspberries quickly fell apart, and the blueberries got soft and mushy. After a while the sauce was still not sweet enough or thick enough, so I added some more sugar and then added a small amount (tbsp) of cornstarch already combined with a small amount (1.5 tbsp) of Chambord. This thickened the sauce up quickly.
half a lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons of sugar
If I'd had more patience I could have simply waited -- the compote would have gotten both thicker and sweeter as the water evaporated. Would the blueberries have gotten too mushy, though?
Next time I want to use less lemon juice. This was just a little too bitter for everyone but Jimmy.
The compote ended up on top of waffles and served with sausage for breakfast (see picture).
