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orange-waffles.md

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Orange Waffles

Notes

  • This is a recipe in three parts: sweet, crispy, cakey citrus waffles; orange maple syrup; and a spiced cashew crumble topping. The topping can be made ahead of time. Make the waffles and syrup together. It is pretty critical for this recipe to have all the prep work done ahead of time since quite a bit will be going on at once.
  • Pistachios, macadamias, pine nuts, or any other soft, oily nut will work well as a substitute for the cashews.
  • If you want to double this recipe, the ratios here work just fine. But because the fluffiness of the waffle depends upon the reaction between acids (the lemon) and bases (the leaveners and dairy), you have a small window of time to cook the batter before it goes flat. So either get two waffle irons going at once or only combine half the wet and dry ingredients at once, doing two batches, and mixing the wet and dry mixes fresh right before starting the second batch.

Ingredients

  • Zest and juice of 2 oranges
    • Measure how much juice you wind up with
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • Granulated sugar
    • 1/2 cup for batter
    • Half the amount of sugar as orange juice that you measured for syrup
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar for crumble
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 egg
  • 10 tbsp butter, cubed and separated
    • 4 tbsp for syrup
    • 4 tbsp for batter
    • 2 tbsp for waffle iron
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup
    • Real maple syrup, not Hungry Jack or whatever. Those are mostly corn syrup with artificial maple flavoring. This needs to be the expensive stuff. AAA grade pure maple syrup.
  • 1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp dried terragon

Tools

  • Microplane or box grater for zesting
  • Spice grinder
  • Waffle iron
  • Small saucepan for syrup
  • Sifter
  • Silicone brush for basting the waffle iron

Directions

The cashew crumble should be made first and set aside because it's easy and gives you a chance to clean your workstation before you begin the heavy lifting. Start the syrup early so you can serve the waffles the instant they come off the iron.

Cashew Crumble

  1. Put cashews, cinnamon, terragon, and brown sugar into a spice grinder.
  2. Grind for 30 seconds to 1 minute, or until the mixture is grainy, but holds together with a pinch like a very short dough.

Syrup

  1. In the saucepan, mix the orange juice and the amount of sugar you measured at prep time. Whisk over medium heat. Allow the sugar to dissolve, then bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce by half. Pour this mixture into a bowl, then clean and dry the saucepan and heat it back up.
  2. Brown 4 tbsp butter in the saucepan over medium-low heat. When it is brown and smells nutty, pour in the maple syrup and raise heat to medium. Allow it to boil. Pour in the orange syrup and whisk together.
  3. Allow to boil 5-10 minutes. Every once in a while, remove the pan from heat to test its thickness. If you put some on a spoon and drag your finger through it, it should leave a trail.
  4. Remove to a warm place, like a very low stovetop. Keep it warm as you serve it up on the waffles.

Waffles

  1. Whisk together the milk, cream, and lemon juice. Leave it to sit while you make the dry mix. As it sits, the lemon will slightly curdle/thicken the milk. Stir it now and then. If it doesn't feel like it's thickening, add the juice of another lemon.
  2. Make the dry mix: Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, then whisk in the sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and orange zest. You also want to let this sit a minute and "steep" before whisking it again.
  3. Beat the egg and whisk it into the wet mix. Melt 4 tbsp butter in the microwave. Whisk it into the wet mix.
  4. Heat up a waffle iron. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a bowl and stir it to a liquid with a silicone brush. As the iron heats, whisk the wet mix into the dry mix. Once it is thoroughly mixed, remove the whisk and do not stir the mixture any more. Stirring the mixture after it has set will cause the air to get knocked out of it, making for a tougher waffle.
  5. Your waffle iron will have a system of light signals telling you when to close the lid and flip it and when it's done. You need to completely ignore this entire feature of your waffle iron and do this instead, once per waffle:
    • CAREFULLY use the brush to spread melted butter over the grill of the waffle iron. When the iron is hot, it will cause the butter to pop and sputter. Watch out for flying hot grease!
    • Pour about 3/4 cup (use your judgment depending on the thickness of the batter and the size of your iron) into the center of the waffle iron. Let it spread naturally. If you need to, you can encourage the batter one way or another to help it lay even, but don't squash the batter because that will cause it to go flat before the waffle iron can seal the air in.
    • Close the lid of the waffle iron and seal it. Flip it over if that's what yours does. Let it cook (remembering to completely ignore how long your waffle iron tells you to cook) until you can lift the waffle iron's lid away cleanly and the surface of the waffle is golden brown and crispy. The added butter and sugar will cause your waffle to take on a darker brown color before it gets crispy. Your waffle is not burning. It is caramelizing, and you want that.
    • When the waffle is cooked, use a long-tined salad fork to help you remove the waffle cleanly to a plate.

Assembly

  1. Place a waffle on the plate.
  2. Drizzle syrup over it. It's super sweet, so go easy, but it can pile up in the waffle holes.
  3. Hold a spoonful of crumble topping over the waffle. Tap the spoon to dust the waffle.