Waffles. The arch enemy of anybody’s hips. But they are so good and delicious. A colleague and I recently ran some errands and both times we were about to go back to the office we passed by a street which smelled heavily of freshly baked waffles. I realized that this street always smells of freshly baked waffles and we started wondering where it came from. Turns out it wasn’t really anyone baking waffles, but just the giant ventilating system of the near-by university cafeteria blasting out all the cooking smells onto the street.

Anyway, afterwards our small encounter with waffle smell turned into a big discussion among the colleagues, cumulating with a colleague saying he had a waffle iron – in his desk! – and threats to bake waffles on my desk (why it had to be mine, I don’t know). Anyway, after weeks and weeks of discussing waffles and how delicious they are, I caved and made some. It’s not like I can just go into a café and eat a waffle there.

This recipe was once given to me by a friend when I was fourteen and living in Turkey. We had just come back from our school’s Christmas bazar. One of the higher up classes baked waffles and sold them off for charity, they were better than any I had ever eaten before. I’m so glad that I kep this rescpe all these years. I haven’t eaten any that were as delicious as these outside of my home. Sorry!

I made these in my grandmother’s waffle iron. It’s old and apparently very fine German craftsmanship. Back in the day, these things were made to last. My grandmother gave it to us before she passed and I eventually asked my mom for it – after I had bought a waffle iron of my own and had to return it to the store way before the guarantee ran out on account of the thermometer inside breaking and leaving me with a bowl full of batter that I then I had to make into a cake.

Ingredients (for eight waffles), all at room temperature
150g butter
100g sugar
3 eggs
½ tsp grated lemon peel
1 tsp ground cinnamon100g gluten-free flour mix (I used Harina de Reposteria, a great gluten-free flour mix. It’s made by Spanish manufacturer Ad Pan in Spain and sold by www.glutyfreeshop.de out of Cologne, Germany)
50g cornstarch
1 tbsp rum
½ tsp baking powder

vegetable oil (for greasing the waffle iron)

In a bowl, mix the butter and the sugar. When they are blended well, add the eggs. Then add the flour, the cornstarch, the lemon-peel, the baking powder the ground cinnamon and mix again. Add the rum.

Heat your waffle iron and grease well on both the bottom and the top.

Place one generous tablespoon waffle dough into the hot waffle iron, close the waffle iron and bake waffle until golden brown. Don’t add too much dough to the waffle iron, because it will liquefy a bit whilst baking and begin dripping from the sides. It’s a mess you’ll never be able to clean up again like ever, so preferably try with a smaller amount of waffle dough in the beginning.

Serve with hot cherries, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream (if seeking a heart-attack later in life is what you’re after) or simply dusted with powdered sugar or just eat them plain – like I did. We didn’t eat all of them, so the next day my husband and I had them for breakfast. My husband did not tire of saying that they tasted just like regular waffles made of wheat flour – I’m very happy for having Ad Pan’s flour mix available!

Bon Appetit!