Stephanie Eddy
What's better than roses on Valentine's Day?
Chocolate. More specifically, these decadent double chocolate waffles. Serve them for breakfast with a drizzle of butter and syrup to start the day off on a romantic note. Or, end your evening with a bang by topping them with ice cream and homemade butterscotch syrup for dessert.
Either way your valentine will melt like putty in your hands. or (more appropriately) like ice cream on a warm chocolate waffle.
Servings: About 10 waffles
Ready Time: 40 minutes
Chocolate waffles
11/3 cup (210g) flour
3/4 cup (175g) sugar
2/3 cup (90g) cornstarch
2/3 cup (75g) cocoa
2 tsp instant coffee
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Butterscotch sauce
41/2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (125g) brown sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp scotch
Method
Waffles
Grease your waffle iron with a small amount of oil, then turn it on to preheat. Preheat your oven to 150 to keep the finished waffles warm.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, corn starch, cocoa, instant coffee, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, canola oil, and vanilla until combined. Gently stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Fold in the chocolate chips. The batter will be thin and runny.
Cook the batter according to your waffle maker’s instructions. It is generally two cups of batter for a four-piece waffle maker and they usually cook best on a medium – medium/high setting.
Place the finished waffles in a single layer on a cookie sheet and keep warm in the oven until all the waffles are ready.
Serve warm with butter and syrup or breakfast, or with ice cream and butterscotch sauce for dessert.
Butterscotch Sauce
Place the butter and sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and melt over medium-low heat. Whisk in the sugar and cream.
Reduce heat and whisk until it comes to a gentle boil. Boil over low heat for five to seven minutes whisking occasionally.
Remove from heat and stir in half of the salt. Taste the sauce, and add the remaining half of the salt if desired.
Whisk in the scotch until smooth. Pour the sauce into a bowl or jar and place in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes. Serve warm over waffles and ice cream. Leftover sauce can be stored covered in the fridge. Heat for 30 seconds at a time in the microwave until warm before serving.
Stephanie Eddy, who writes about her baking exploits at clockworklemon.com, lives in Calgary.