These are one of my favourite French cakes; delicate little light sponge cakes, baked in special fluted trays and sprinkled lightly with icing sugar, so elegant, light and airy! Some are flavoured with vanilla extract only, whilst other recipes suggest using lemon or orange; my recipe uses a combination of vanilla extract and lemon. These are ideal served with afternoon coffee or with a glass of dessert wine after a meal, just as the French serve them. You can also dip the tips into melted chocolate, but I prefer mine to be a little more subtle – but it is up to you!
I found this vintage recipe on the Internet while looking for unique recipes to submit for the Zaar World Tour. It comes from the recipe files of Margaret Dens Buytaert, a Belgain who resided in Wisconsin. The idea of coffee as the liquid in this quick bread intrigues me. Sorry that I will not have a chance to prepare it for a while. If you try it, please share your reactions.
This recipe is for the traditional dutch apple pie, found on a Belgian website. It can be served both warm or cold, usually with whipped cream (but ice cream tastes great as well 😀 ). You will need a *springform* cake pan, or a lot of patience, or you will not be able to get the pie out! Because Dutch recipes generally use grams instead of cups for dry ingredients, I have included the measurements in grams as well. The dough is shortbread-like and may take a lot of time to get right. It took me ages to get it to form a ball, but it worked out fine in the end. If you’re getting tired of it, add a little milk, but don’t despair for with or without the milk, it *will* from a ball in the end. If you want, you can prepare the apple mixture the previous day and keep it in the fridge, the flavors will blend wonderfully. If you want to prepare the dough in advance, take it out of the fridge in time, because it’s really hard to work with when it’s just been in the fridge for a whole night. The preparation time is a rough estimate and assumes that you peel the apples while the dough is in the fridge. I’m quite slow at preparing so it could be anywhere between 1 and 2 hours for you. Last but not least, *do* make sure you have a bit of dough left over for the third to last step – you deserve a little something for all that hard work! 😀
I have not yet had the good fortune to visit Belgium, but I do frequent a lovely NYC cafe called Le Pain Quotidien, which is based in Belgium. I tried their crispy, caramelized Belgian Sugar Waffle, and was instantly in love. If perled sugar is not available, substitute an equal amount of coarsely crushed sugar cubes. I got this recipe off a Belgian website.
We love weekend breakfasts around our house. Belgian Waffles has always been a favorite, especially for my son, JB! You will find all sorts of variations for this recipe, one of which I’m sure will suit your needs! These waffles will come out light, crisp and toast to a golden brown. We love to top ours with strawberries or blueberries, powdered sugar and whipped cream, blueberry syrup & real maple syrup!… And You didn’t think weekends could get anymore special!
