Spelt waffles with fruit in tea, cardamom & honey

Spelt waffles with fruit in tea, cardamom & honey

Autumn

The only thing my youngest daughter really wanted for Christmas was a waffle maker. It turned out she got one. (Nothing to do with me, honest.) Before she leaves for school in the morning, she makes herself some waffles. Once she’s gone, I make myself some, too! This is one of my favourite ways to eat them. The plump, tea-soaked fruit is delicious on just about anything, but works best with crisp, light, nutty spelt waffles.

Makes 4-6

Ingredients

For the waffles:

  • 200g (7oz) spelt flour
  • pinch of fine salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 200ml (7fl oz) whole milk
  • 25g (1oz) soft brown sugar
  • 50g (1¾oz) butter, melted
  • natural yoghurt, to serve

For the fruit in tea:

  • 200g (7oz) mixed dried fruit, including apricots, figs, prunes and raisins
  • 2 cardamom pods, split
  • 1 vanilla pod, split
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 thyme sprig (optional)
  • 1 English breakfast tea bag
  • 1 tablespoon runny honey
  • 1 tangerine or clementine, halved

Method

First, make the fruit in tea. Place all the ingredients, except the tangerine or clementine, in a small pan. Then, squeeze in the juice from the tangerine or clementine halves and chuck the halves into the pan as well. Pour over 200ml (7fl oz) of water and place the pan over a medium heat. Bring the liquid up to a simmer, cook for 1 minute, then remove the pan from the heat and transfer the contents to a heatproof bowl. Once cool, discard the tea bag and place the bowl in the fridge. Allow the fruit to plump up for 12 hours or, better still, overnight.

To make the waffles, combine the spelt flour, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.

Put the egg yolks in a medium bowl and whisk together with the milk and sugar and pour this into the flour mixture, whisking as you do so. Keep whisking until you have a smooth, thick batter.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they hold a peak, then fold these into the batter. Finally, stir in about half a tablespoon of the melted butter.

Heat your waffle irons until hot, then brush them with the remaining butter. Ladle in some batter and cook until risen and golden.

To serve, place a warm waffle or two on each plate. Top with a spoonful of thick natural yoghurt and finish with a heaped spoonful of fruit in tea.