Belgium Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich

I taught my son and creative director how to make Belgium Waffles when he was little which he perfected over the years and now can prepare with his eyes closed.   They're delicious served all on their own or with butter and pure maple syrup.  This year he surprised us with a late night snack that we just loved while watching Christmas movies on TV.  I am proud to say that he added a holiday twist to them and also filmed the 'how to' video and served us a batch of these very festive sandwiches that were superbly delicious!

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs separated

2 cups flour

1 3/4 cups water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup white sugar separated

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 drops of red gel food colouring

Mint chocolate chip ice cream

DIRECTIONS

1.        Begin by preheating the waffle iron. 

2.        In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment whip the egg whites with 1/3 cup ofsugar until medium to stiff peaks form (8-10minutes)*. 

3.        While the egg whites are beating, in a large bowl combine flour, the other 1/3 cup of sugar, salt, baking powder. 

4.        Add the egg yolks to the vegetable oil and mix until the egg yolks are scrambled, then add to the flour mixture along with the vanilla extract and water. 

5.        Once mixed together take the egg whites and fold the mixture in half at a time, once the first half has been folded through you can mix the rest of the egg whites in regularly. 

6.        Take a medium sized bowl and add about 1/3 of the batter and add 2-3 drops of red gel food colouring until a rich red colour is reached*. 

7.        Once the waffle iron is heated, add two 3oz scoops of white waffle batter to the waffle iron and then stripe over about 3 oz of red waffle batter to make a candy cane effect.

8.        Cook the waffle until your desired lightness* (for the candy cane effect we used the lightest setting available on our waffle iron).

9.        Allow the waffle to cool for 2-3 minutes and then add a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream between the waffle quarters to make an ice cream sandwich. 

 Notes*

1.        Whipping the egg whites is an extra step that you can take although it is not completely necessary we find that it makes the waffles a lot lighter and fluffier and adds to the overall lift of the batter when cooking. 

2.        We chose to go with a gel food colouring over a liquid food colouring because the liquid tends to make the batter runnier than necessary. Also, when working with food colouring be careful not to add too much because it can affect the overall taste of the finished product. We found that with the AmeriColor Red Red Gel Food Colouring that 2 drops was more than enough to get our desired shade of red without affecting the overall taste of the final product. 

3.        If you feel that your waffle iron hasn’t made your waffles crispy enough to use for an ice cream sandwich you can place them in a toaster for about a minute and a half to make the outside of the waffle crispier for a more stable ice cream sandwich. 

Enjoy the how to video below!