Good Mistake

Sunday breakfast (or brunch) for us is usually made up of the whole shabang -- - bacon, eggs, toast or pancakes, coffee, etc. It is the only time in the week that my husband and I can eat breakfast together, so I make an effort to prepare a good one.

But on this particular Sunday, neither one of us wanted a heavy breakfast. We wanted something simple - waffles. Just waffles. (Thanks to my friend Holly who gave me my Belgian waffle maker, now I can make my very own waffles instead of buying those pre-made ones from the grocery) .

Whenever I make waffles or pancakes, I always add a little bit of cinnamon to the batter as I just love the flavor. And I intended to do this, but I was busy chatting away with my husband and not paying full attention to what I was doing. I grabbed the bottle of what I thought was cinnamon and shook over the batter. Too late, I realized that what I picked up was the anise seeds and not the cinammon! I let out a gasp as I saw those tiny seeds in the batter. Oh boy! Should I fish them out? After only a second of deliberation, I thought.. Nah... Afterall, I add anise seeds to my cookies so it can't be that bad, and there weren't too much of it in there. So, I went ahead and added the cinnamon, as I originally intended.

Surprise, surprise. This little mistake turned out to be a good one as the hint of anise in the background combined with cinnamon is really wonderful. To quote Rachel Ray, "it's the thing that makes you say, hmmmnn, what is it??"...... So from now on, I'm going to be adding a dash of anise seeds to my waffles. Classic Belgian Waffles:
1-1/4 c sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
4 eggs, separated
1-1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c melted butter (or canola oil)
Pinch of salt
Dash of cinnamon (optional)
Dash of anise (optional)
Non-stick spray

1. Preheat waffle iron.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, cinnamon and anise
3. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks lightly and add the milk, vanilla and melted butter. Then add the dry ingredients to the mixture and stir just enough to combine.
4. In another bowl, beat egg whites until they are stiff but not dry. Gently fold them into the batter using a rubber spatula. Do not overmix! (Let batter sit for 4-5 mins before baking for better results)
5. Coat waffle iron with non-stick spray and pour batter into iron. Bake waffle until steam stops escaping, or until golden brown.

To serve: dust waffles with confectioner’s sugar and top with whipped cream and slices of fruits (like strawberry). Or, my hubby’s preference – slather waffles with more butter and a pour warm maple syrup on it.