Orange cinnamon Belgian waffles with dark chocolate hot fudge

I have never been one to let anyone tell me or dictate what I can or can't eat for breakfast.  "Recalcitrant."  That's a really good word to describe me.  So, why not have dark chocolate hot fudge on orange cinnamon Belgian waffles for breakfast?  I mean, most weekday mornings consist of a customary round of fruit (honeycrisp apples, as of late) mixed with skyr and generic honey nut cheerios, so I reserve my rights to serve up something extra splendid for the weekends.  So there.

These waffles are yeast based, which lends them the perfectly nice crisp on the outside that I really like about Belgian waffles (and why I prefer them to the standard leggo-my-eggo variety), and I sprinkled a bit of pearl sugar in during cooking, just for an extra sweet kick.  The orange flavor is strong, and the cinnamon flavor is mild, but, of course, the show-stopper is the thick, dark, melted-ganache-like hot fudge drizzled all over.  You really want to splurge and use the best chocolate and cocoa powder you've got for this one, because really, you won't regret it!

In other news, I must apologize for being more absent from this blog, the food blogosphere, and the twitterverse than I would like lately.  I feel so out of the loop.  Thankfully, my life has managed to settle into a routine again, but it's basically one where I'm madly scrambling to keep up with the 100miles-per-minute brilliance of the two chairs of my dissertation committee while still trying to keep my wits semi-about me--scrambling, trying, and probably failing pretty miserably, to be perfectly honest.  So in the midst of all this, there hasn't been much brain power left in me to even tweet about anything remote interesting, much less be in the kitchen or behind the camera or blogging away--sadly!  (I miss you, my foodie friends!)  But, at the very least, on the weekends, there are waffles....

...and chocolate.  Please don't forget the chocolate.

Read on for recipe...


Orange cinnamon Belgian waffles
adapted from King Arthur Flour's recipe
makes enough for four (number of waffles depend on the size of your waffle iron)

1 cup lukewarm whole milk
6 Tbspn butter, melted
3 Tbspn honey
3/4 tspn salt
1 tspn vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbspn ground cinnamon
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice, slightly warmed
freshly grated zest of 1 large orange
1 1/2 tspn instant yeast
pearl sugar, optional

1. Stir to combine all of the ingredients except the pearl sugar in a large bowl, allowing room for expansion.
2. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at (warm) room temperature for an hour.  The mixture will begin to bubble somewhat.
3. Preheat your waffle iron and coat lightly with cooking spray.  Place enough batter in the center of your waffle iron to allow for expansion and sprinkle in the pearl sugar, if using.  Cook for roughly 4-6 minutes until golden brown.  Serve immediately with dark chocolate hot fudge, or keep warm in a 200 degree F oven.


Dark chocolate hot fudge
adapted from the Scharffenberger Chocolate book

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2.5 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
4 Tbspn (2 oz.) butter
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup whole milk

1. Whisk together the sugar and cocoa powder and set aside.
2. In a double boiler over simmering hot water, melt the chocolate and butter.
3. Meanwhile, heat the cream and milk in a small saucepan over medium heat.  As soon as steam begins to rise from the milk, whisk in the sugar and cocoa powder until they are dissolved.  Keep this at a low simmer, and do not let boil.
4. Once the chocolate and butter have melted in the double boiler, stir until smooth and then stir in the cocoa and milk mixture.  Whisk for 2-3 minutes until it is slightly thickened.  Pout into a heat-proof container and let cool.
5. Rewarm in a double boiler or microwave as needed; otherwise, keep covered in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!