Evil Eva’s Waffles with Peaches & Cream

Recipes from the Past

In her heyday, my Great-Grandma Eva was the Great Bambino of baking. She was a ninja with a rolling pin, a master of pies, and the churchiest of the church ladies. Her handwritten cookbook was handed down to me when my grandmama Carol passed away a few years ago and I can still hear her share the stories of a fateful baking day with her mother-in-law. The tale of that woeful day of pies and passive aggression a la mode was always followed with a much different story.

See, Eva lacked patience for anyone who wasn’t a queen of quick bread–or any other bread for that matter. She made that day most hellish for my poor sweet grandmama. As a newlywed wanting so desperately for approval from her new mother-in-law, she tried to make perfectly crimped crusts on her pies to no avail as she watched Eva hands expertly work the dough. The hurtful words didn’t help, either. So when Grandmama transitioned from that story immediately into her natural hard labor with my dad, not a drop of pain medication in sight, she ends with eight words:

“At least it was better than baking pies.”

Grandmama Carol

All of that said, we will be saving pies for another day.. As I was flipping through the pages of her book, I stumbled across a recipe for waffles. One of the few that had full instructions written out, I figured I would give it a try. the first thing I noticed was the eggs are separated and the whites are whipped into stiff peaks before being folded into the rest of the ingredients. Rather interesting for a seemingly simple recipe. I will say that doing it this way made for perfectly crisp crust and yet so light and airy as you bite into them. It’s definitely worth the extra step.

When I was a kid, spending the nights at Gramma’s house meant waffles with peaches and whipped cream in the morning. The peaches were picked fresh off the tree in their back yard and canned so we’d have them all year long, while the whipped cream was freshly made. It was about as good a breakfast a 9-year-old could hope for.

Since it’s only February and we’re months off from fresh peaches, you can find the frozen variety at the store and just toss them in a quarter cup each of white sugar and brown sugar and cook them with a few tablespoons of water and a squeeze of lemon in a sauce pan just until they’re warm. You don’t really need to cook them down, though that would be delicious too!

Since there is no sugar in this waffle recipe, they’re perfect for a savory dish as well. I love eating them with just a schmear of butter, but feel free to get creative!

Waffles

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup butter, melted

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks, then whisk in milk and melted butter
3. In a stand mixer, whip egg whites until stiff peaks form.
4. Gradually add egg yolk and milk mixture into flour, beating thoroughly.
5. Fold egg whites into mixture until fully incorporated.
6. Scoop about 3/4 cup of mixture into a hot greased waffle iron, and cook until golden brown.
7. Store finished waffles in a warm oven to keep crisp until ready to serve.

Peaches

1 bag of frozen peaches or about 3-4 fresh peaches cut until wedges
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl and set aside for an hour to macerate (get all syrupy.) If using frozen peaches, cook on low in a sauce pan until peaches are soft and warmed.

Whipped Cream

1 pint heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a stand mixer with whisk attachments, whisk all ingredients on medium until cream starts to thicken. Increase speed to high and whipping’s until stiff peaks form. Don’t over-while or you’ll end up with butter.

Serve peaches and cream over the waffles and live your best life!