Waffles are so in at the moment so why not shake yours up with my Black Forest version, a real crowd pleaser and amazingly easy to make, chocolate waffles smothered in chocolate sauce, and a boozy cherry compote. Cooking for children..? You can skip the booze from the cherry recipe, it'll be just as delicious!
Prep time 20 mins
Cooking time 30 mins
100ml milk
1 large egg
1 tbsp of veg oil
75g plain flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1.5 tbsp caster sugar
1tsp baking powder
100g dark chocolate
2 tbsp of whipping cream (gently whip the left over cream in the tub until thick and add to your waffle stack)
For the cherry compote
500g fresh cherries, pitted
2 tbsp of juice from an orange
Pinch of caster sugar (I use 2tsp)
Splash of charmbord (optional)
Add all of the dry waffle ingredients into a large mixing bowl (plain flour, cocoa powder, sugar and baking powder) and mix together, in a separate jug mix the wet ingredients (egg, milk, veg oil) once mixed begin to slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry mix, stirring as you combine until you have a nice batter, the batter mix will seem a little thick but that's fine. Leave to rest while you make the cherry compote.
To make the cherry compote put all of the ingredients into saucepan, turn onto a medium heat and leave until the cherries are soft but still whole and not mushy, this should take about 5 mins but keep an eye on them as the ripeness of the cherries can differ the cooking time. Remove the whole cherries and leave the sauce to reduce and thicken. Once you have the desired sauce consistency add allow to cool and slightly and add the cherries back in, set aside until the waffles are ready.
Heat a waffle maker and brush with a little veg oil, add 1 large ladle of your waffle mixture and cook, when you put the lid down do not be tempted to peak until the steam has almost stopped coming out, mine takes about 6 mins, yours could differ.
For the chocolate sauce, simply boil some water in a saucepan, break the chocolate into chunks and put into a heatproof glass bowl which can safely sit on top of the saucepan of water and not touch the boiling water, keep stirring until the chocolate has melted, remove from the heat and add the 2 tbsp of whipping cream, this should be added straight from the pot and not whipped, mix all together until you have a lovely smooth chocolate sauce.
Once your waffles are made, stack them up and smother in the cherry compote and chocolate sauce, add a dollop of whipped cream and sprinkle with some chocolate shavings, a perfect sharing dessert!
If you make too much cherry compote is will last for a week in a airtight tub in the fridge or make individual portions perfect for spreading on toast and freeze them until you need it.
Waffle makes can vary in size and cooking time so just have a play around and trust your instincts, just do NOT open the waffle machine while there is still steam coming out or you will have pancakes instead!
