This waffle recipe I was sent, recently, might be one to try.

As it happens, I was making up my Christmas list when a recent submission came in and it got me to thinking: I love waffles but haven’t owned a waffle iron in years. (I think I gave Mom’s old waffle iron to my brother at least 5 years ago.) After reading Rose Levy Beranbaum’s “Orange Waffles with Burst of Cranberry Topping”, an iron went on my list.

Normally I’m not one to pass along someone else’s recipe without testing it myself (especially since it’s in service of promoting an appliance/manufacturer I’ve never used), but Ms. Beranbaum’s recipes hold major sway with me–her Cake Bible was one of my major references when I was branching out from cake mixes to scratch cakes and teaching myself as much about the pastry arts as I could before I was able to enroll in Culinary School.

Burst of Cranberry Topping

(includes weight measurements for key ingredients)

• 1 cup water (8 fluid oz.)
• 1 ½ cups sugar (10.6 oz.)
• 3 tbsps. Cornstarch (1 oz.)
• 4 cups fresh (or thawed frozen) cranberries (400 grams)

In a medium saucepan, stir together the water, sugar, cornstarch, and cranberries. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Stop stirring, reduce the heat, and simmer for 1 minute, swirling the pan occasionally. The mixture will be thickened but pourable. Keep it warm or reheat it before serving.

Orange Waffles:

(Serves 4) served here with Chef’sChoice® WafflePro^® M852

• 8 tbsp.  unsalted butter, softened (4 oz.)
• 2 cups  cake flour (lightly spooned into cup and leveled off) (8 oz.)
• 4 tsps. Baking powder
• ¼ tsp.   salt
• 1 Tbsp. orange zest
• 2 large eggs (3 fluid oz.)
• 1 cup buttermilk (8 fluid ounces)
• 1 cup whole milk (8 fluid ounces)

In a small saucepan over low heat, or microwave safe container, melt the butter. Allow it to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and orange zest until evenly blended. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk, and whole milk until well blended. Add this mix, to the flour mixture and mix with a fork just until all the flour is moistened. Stir in the butter just until evenly blended. The batter should be lumpy. Use batter immediately after preparation. For best results, use the Chef’sChoice Model 852 wafflemaker on color control setting four, baking for three minutes (or when steam emitted from plates has largely dissipated). (For other waffle makers check manufacturer directions). Cook the waffles and remove them to the oven racks to keep warm until serving. Serve with hot cranberry topping. Of note, these waffles freeze perfectly and reheat in just a few minutes in a toaster or oven preheated to 300ËšF.

Since we do presents on Christmas Eve with my family I’ll be hoping the waffle iron is one of the presents with my name on it so I can give these a try. If not, I’ll be hitting up the after-Christmas sales for sure.

Recipes and image provided by Chef’sChoice.