Serves: Makes about 12 waffles
Approx cost: €
Approx calories (per plain waffle): ~120
Approx preparation and cooking time: ~5 minutes preparation + ~4 minutes cooking per waffle
[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #0B0B61;”]Aren’t weekends the greatest? To be honest, I wish they were three days long – one day to recover from work and catch up on chores, one day to go out, have fun, and then finally one day to unwind and prepare for the week ahead, but oh well – two days is what I get so I’ll have to make do 🙂 Of all the weekend, sunday morning breakfasts are where it’s at, and yesterday I got to put my new waffle iron, a gift from my parents-in-law, to use. Swedish waffles are different in shape to the American-style ones I’ve seen on blogs in recent weeks. I’ve never tried the US ones so I couldn’t comment on the taste differences or similarities, but what I can say is that I love waffles! A typical Swedish waffle is usually quite flat, and consists of 4 heart-shapes, making up a circle. From reading up a bit about them they’re common in other European countries too, so there you go. In any case, they can come in cast-iron varieties for use over fires or stoves, or electric versions and you can whip up the cutest, most delicious breakfast using either variety.
If you want my tips on the best accompaniments for these waffles then I must say that, in my opinion, you can’t do better than cloudberry jam (buy this from IKEA if you’ve never heard of it… it will be either marked as simply “cloudberry jam” or “hjortronsylt”, the name in Swedish) and whipped cream. I had, alas no cloudberry jam in the house so I sufficed with gooseberry jam. I like to roll waffles up with cheese and butter as well, but my wife thinks that’s a bit too edgy. 😉
The rest of Sunday was spent baking some flat bread (post to come soon!) and putting my new meat thermometer to use by roasting a nice joint of beef and making a fantastic gravy. Fennel roasted with lemon juice and baby potatoes rounded it all off nicely. How about you guys? Did you eat anything good on the weekend? Have a great Monday everyone – I’ll be back on Wednesday with a new recipe and of course to announce the winner of the giveaway, and then will return again on Saturday with more photo fun and the second giveaway! It’s gonna be a fun week! 🙂
Ingredients
- 220g Plain Flour
- 650 ml Milk
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tsp Salt
- ~1 tbsp Oil for brushing the waffle iron
You’ll also need
- A Waffle Iron
Instructions
- Start off by whisking the eggs and salt together and then whisk in a bit of the flour, followed by a bit of the milk. Whisk until smooth and then add more flour, then milk, and so forth, until everything has been whisked into an airy, smooth batter.
- Heat the waffle iron and brush with the oil, before pouring in enough batter to just coat the bottom plate. Close up the iron and cook for about 3 minutes or so, or until the waffles have a wonderful golden colour.
- Carefully remove from the iron and serve them out while still hot with toppings of your choice – whipped cream, jam, fresh berries, butter and sugar etc. Enjoy! 🙂
Charles, your beautiful, appetising waffles remind me of my childhood days when I was crazy for them. My favourite were with whipped cream and blackberries (not jam, but fresh blackberries). I haven’t had waffles for such a long time… 15 years maybe??? The funny thing is that I offered a croque monsieur+waffles machine in one to someone for Christmas too (it was mainly because of croque monsieur, but I have discovered the person was a huge waffles fun too!).
I think I have seen this shape in French shops too. It’s very cute.
I have once bought the cloudberry jam at IKEA. It was very good, but as all the jams much too sweet for me 🙁 I think only two people from my family make jams which have the right sugar content, everyone else makes them much too sweet (not to mention the sold ones). Oh, wait! And there’s my close friend’s mum. Her apricot jam with 30% sugar and without pectine is to die for! (I think the best jam in the world).
Talking about IKEA… they no longer sell Daims here… They have substituted the fish roe paste (the one with the blond boy) with something awful too… And the employees told me these will never come back. I think I start disliking IKEA, of which I have been a huge fan since I can remember. Maybe I should go and have a serious discussion with Mr IKEA (he lives quite close actually).
Thanks Sissi – I really like them with cheese and butter inside too, rolled up a bit… really yummy! I never saw waffle-irons in this shape in France to be honest, but I don’t spend much time browsing kitchen gadget and appliance stores because I have a huge urge to impulse buy :D.
I think they still sell daim at the IKEAs in France… I hope they don’t remove that from them here, and the same for the caviar – we still have it. It’s called “Kalles Kaviar” in case you wanted to look about for it online – maybe you can find a place selling it. I always hated it myself so I wouldn’t be so sad about that to be honest 😉 I didn’t know Ingvar Kamprad lived in Switzerland, although I’m not surprised. If you ever want an interesting read, you should check out IKEA’s corporate structure on their Wikipedia article. It must have taken a financial genius to come up with such a structure as that 😀
Ha ha! He lives in a village not far from my city. I’m not surprised rich and famous people like living here. Apart from financial advantages (which are only for the rich, believe me! The Swiss don’t pay low taxes alas), no one cares Mr IKEA is their neighbour. “As long as he is polite and quiet, we don’t care who he is or how much money he has” said one of his neighbours in a tv program (shrugging as if he was saying “so what if such a rich person lives nearby”). This is the simplicity I like in the Swiss people.
I don’t like caviar either, but you know the orange-pinkish spread? I loved it as a child on buttered bread (it was my favourite sandwich I think), so the thought of losing it makes me furious. It’s called also Kalles. The French call it tarama and it’s really disgusting when made in France.(Bland and without any trace of the fishy, bold taste I love).
Since he lives about 10 minutes from a Swiss IKEA which no longer sells the two products I like I’m afraid it can spread to all the IKEAs in the world! I hope it’s only here and I can go and stock on both in France 😉 Thanks for the link!
By the way, I have made your Janssons Frestelse! It was extraordinary! (I have eaten almost everything on my own! I just couldn’t stop). However, the photos were particularly ugly (a friend told me to make it once more), so I’m making it once more and hopefully will be able to make daylight photos.
I like “real” caviar, but the spread stuff, which is called “kaviar” in Swedish is just horrible… although we often have it at home because my wife loves it (this stuff, right?), and I have to say that I much prefer tarama, even though it looks and tastes so artificial and gloopy. It’s excellent with feta and nice bread!
I’m so pleased you made the Janssons Frestelse! 😀 Really looking to seeing the photos hopefully… It’s not the easiest thing to photograph, that’s for sure 😀
RE: Janssons Frestelse
I’m going to have to make the Romanian version of this dish before much longer and share the picture cause I’ve been praising it to Charles and Eva and I think it’s time to put up or … well, you know. 🙂
Can’t reply directly to A_Boleyn’s comment so putting it here instead.
^^ Please do post the Romanian version – I’d love to see it, it sounds fab 🙂
Sorry to butt in, Charles, but I needed Sissi to tell Mr Ikea to have the Cloudberry Jams in the stores here as well. 😀
Hi Ping, I have already put your request in my notebook 😉
Sorry, so it’s not “caviar”, but just called “kaviar”! (I have googled some photos), thanks for reminding me the name!
Ah, you replied too fast for me – I wrote so in my comment above, yeah 🙂
Thanks again, Charles.
Such pretty things! Like Sissi, I haven’t had waffles for yonks … I wonder why? I love them with bacon and honey.
Cheese and butter is too edgy?! How about a pickled gherkin in it as well? 😀
Hi Ping – Pickled gherkins? Haha – I think I’d get some extra odd looks from my wife for that one 😀
My sis and I recently found a waffle recipe online and tried it after she pulled out a really old singles waffle iron from the garage… the iron is still in super good condition…but it’s old 🙂 We made some waffles, she added cocoa to some, and choc chips to some, just for experimentation purposes and they all tasted really nice. 🙂
I think I’l try your recipe anyway because it doesn’t have baking powder/soda or self raising flour in it… And also because I like having lots of versions of the same thing anyway! 😉
Hi Fati – Choc chips inside sounds amazing – I’ll definitely try that sometime 😀 As long as you whisk the batter quite well the waffles puff up a nice amount when cooking and sink down again when you remove them. Let me know if you try them 🙂
Hhhhhh! looks yummy. Never seen a waffle iron like this before! It gives lozenges-holes! Cool!
Hi Nada – they’re really cool, and plus because the waffles are flat you can roll them up 😀
These are just simply beautiful. I need to get a waffle press, especially a pretty one that make neat waffles like this! 🙂
Hi Jen, I always found the shape so cute. Hope you can start enjoying some waffles soon 🙂
These are the cutest stinkin’ waffles ever! I love the shape. So much more fun the the boring squares are triangles that I’m used to. Just so cute! And I think I might have to make a trip to Ikea for the cloudberry jam. That sounds fun.
And Charles I couldn’t agree with you more – three day weekends are the way to go. The kids have a three day weekend now (Martin Luther King Jr. Day today). So they’re enjoying it. Unfortunately I still have to work. But yes, a day for chores, a day or fun and a day to recover/prepare for the week. Perfect! As for good food this weekend…well, Mike and I got a night out and were quite disappointed in one of our old favorite restaurants. We hadn’t been there in years. I’m not sure if we’ve just become foodie snobs, or the food has really taken a turn for the not great. Either way it was just meh. We made up for it with dessert at a new place though – banana rum cake with cream cheese frosting, toasted almonds and cinnamon gelato. Wow! Have a great week – and I’ll get you a picture of the little horse I have. 🙂
Thanks Kristy 🙂 That’s so sad you had a bad experience at your old favourite restaurant… I hate when that happens. There’s a Korean restaurant my wife and I used to go to. The prices were a bit higher than most places, but the whole experience was great. We moved away from the area and went back a few months ago. I had the dish I always used to have (a raw tuna and salmon on rice with finely julienned vegetables and a spicy sauce) and the fish was just terrible. So cold it was almost crunchy and frozen, and hadn’t been skinned properly so still had tough, spiky bits on it 🙁 Booooo. At least you made up for it with a awesome dessert. I think we went round to Starbucks ourselves afterwards for a caramel macchiato and a giant slice of cheesecake 😀
Charles, I love waffles too and my waffle iron is in that same heart shape! I had no idea there was a specific “Swedish” iron in this shape! I so agree with your 3 day weekends. When my kids were little, I worked 4 days a week having Mondays off. I felt as you did, it gave me one extra day to get things done!! Looks like we both did alot of cooking this weekend; I too did some waffles which I hope to post soon!!
Hi Linda – I have some colleagues who only work 4 day weeks too. They all say it rocks having 3 day weekends, but I’m not sure if I’d be so happy about the longer days to be honest!
Looking forward to seeing your waffles… I’m into them at the moment, can’t get enough of the things 😀
What a great looking waffle, Charles. I suspect the batter is a little thinner than the waffles served in North America, my waffles are a little thicker with a soft centre and a sweet crunchy crust. My waffles are round, but I have to say, I would prefer your waffles because our’s are just too big and heavy (I end up serving only a half to everyone). It’s hard to see the texture of your waffle, but you mentioned you like to roll them up, so I imagine they are quite pliable. Nice gift from the inlaws. I’d like to have one just like it, but it’s a bit pricey for a once in a while thing.
Hi Eva – I can imagine what yours are like. There’s a waffle stand in my local mall which serves round waffles with various toppings/fillings which you can buy for lunch. They’re definitely different to these ones which are indeed very pliable. I’m into waffles at the moment – I have a waffle attachment thing for my sandwich toaster which makes the more US style ones. If you ever post your recipe maybe I could try it in that iron 🙂
I’ve always wanted a Swedish waffle iron. What a great gift. I just love waffles and yes, they do make a great Sunday breakfast. I haven’t heard of Cloudberry jam and I absolutely loathe the Ikea shopping experience (perhaps things are better where you’re living) so I’ll have to make-do with a different accompaniment – once I purchase the waffle iron of course!
Hi Hotly Spiced – how come you hate the shopping experience so much? I love browsing around the store so much. Of course, at the checkout it’s always a bit of a pain because they’re always backed up there. You could always see if there’s anywhere which sells cloudberry jam online – it’s well worth a try 🙂
So far I’ve only been buying waffles, but I’ll definitely try your recipe… they look amazing!
Thanks Marie – I do hope you give these a try. Don’t forget the whipped cream 🙂
These aren’t as puffy as American waffles, which I like. I think I’d prefer them this way. Alas, no waffle iron!
Hi Greg – They have electric ones on Amazon.co.uk for about £30 😉 I hope you get to try them one day 🙂
Such pretty waffles, little hearts to share with a sweetheart for Valentine’s Day. Are you practicing? 🙂
Love the blackberries.
Hi A_Boleyn – thanks for reminding me that Valentine’s Day is coming up actually 😉 Gives me a good idea for a perfect breakfast 🙂
Charles, these waffles look so delicious! Not entirely sure about Swedish part though, cuz they seem pretty identical to the ones my grandma used to make, but then again we’re only Baltic sea away from Sweden so maybe it has something to do with it 🙂
Hi Gourmantine – ultimately, it’s flour, eggs and milk, and as I mentioned, I’ve seen the waffle iron evidently in use by a number of other countries. All I can say is that this is what the Swedish waffles look like, but you’re right – I’m sure other countries’ waffles are undoubtedly similar. “German, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, etc Waffles” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it though 😀 Hope you’re having a great day today 🙂
Waffle irons… Did I tell you that I used to be a junkie for the kitchen supplies? Few years ago I used to have well, not everything, but I bought kitchen stuff like crazy. After I moved and gave away 6 full boxes I started to control myself. But a waffle iron that makes heart shaped waffles still makes me melt… )
Hi Marianna – I think I’d be in serious trouble if I let myself go wild in kitchen stores because I see gadgets I want all the time. I just ordered some new scales and a meat thermometer, but they’re important I think. I kind of want a meat slicer now too though 🙁
Everything is important!
Which kind of a slicer?)
We love waffles at my house – I actually prefer them t pancakes because I like the little crusty edges with butter and warm maple syrup or honey! Sold my heart shaped waffle iron in a garage sale a long time ago – now why did I do that? I do still have a round waffle iron though and it gets plenty of use on weekend mornings. Happy Monday!
Hi Linda – will you post your waffle recipe sometime? I believe the texture can really vary a lot between waffles and so I’d love to try different ones. I love my iron… such a fabulous breakfast 🙂
Oh my gosh, the Swedish waffles look way more tempting and lovely than the American versions!:) I love the four heart-shapes that formed the whole waffle as well~~
I am a fan of waffles myself, and I hope to try this Swedish version, very very soon;)
Hmmm, you do have a lot of baking tools; a waffle iron, and a meat thermometer??:p That sounds like a lot of things I need to learn about the kitchen..hehe!;)
(My weekend was great as well, and I still have lots of upcoming posts too!)
Thanks Christy 🙂 If you think that’s a lot of gadgets you should see my post coming up in a few days. I was a bit scared about posting it because I think no-one will be able to find the tool I used to do it, but there’s always ways around problems 🙂 Hope you get a chance to try the waffles! 🙂
Hi Charles! What a great recipe and it inspired such a GREAT comment/conversation! I think Eva put it best – North American waffles are much different….thicker and more bread like. These look amazing, tho! Thank you for sharing!
Hi Ann, thanks so much 🙂 I agree – at least if the ones in my local mall are anything to go by. Bread-like is definitely a good analogy, while these are almost “pancakey” 😀 Hope you have a chance to try them one day 🙂
Interestingly cloudberries are big in Newfoundland, Canada. I tried them when I was there a few years back and they are very tasty. They also call them bake apple — not sure if the same is true in Sweden? I have to say that your waffle pictures are beautiful Charles. I couldn’t help but notice what great lighting you must have where you take these pictures. I’m really struggling with evening shots — given that my daylight hours on the weekends are often filled with ballet, swimming and birthday parties these days!
Hi Barb – I was reading up about cloudberries and noticed that they grow in Canada too – I’d love to have a spot near me where I could pick them. They’re often called “Forest Gold” in Sweden and once people find a spot where they know they grow they’ll try and keep this location secret to ensure a bumper gathering of the things each year 🙂
Thanks for the compliments! I was lucky because I took them at breakfast time… well, more like 11am actually. It was a really beautiful day and my living/dining room has a wall which is completely made up of floor to ceiling windows and faces south so it catches the low, mid-day winter sun perfectly 🙂
Now aren’t you a lucky boy to get such an amazing gift 🙂 These waffles really looks lovely.
I certainly think so Kankana 🙂 I can see these getting my iron getting a lot of use! 🙂
Charles.. let me tell you how much I love this post. I love it because this is what I will show my significant other.. what I want for my birthday breakfast LOL. Yes, you have done him a favor and he will definitely have to thank you for that my friend :). I absolutely love this
Why thank you so much Kay – I do hope you try them. Don’t forget the whipped cream and some good jam 🙂 Hope you’re having a great day 🙂
I too got a waffle iron for Christmas from my mom! I’ve been playing around with some recipes and made a savory waffle for sandwiches!
I love IKEA, I’ll have to see if they carry the cloudberry jam, never heard of it. My kids love to eat there, we go a few times a year just for breakfast!
My kids had waffles this morning but the organic store bought kind, I was too tired to whip up a batch. Looks like you’ve motivated me to get the waffle iron out!
Hi Lisa – Hope you’ll post some waffle recipes soon… would love to see them! I love IKEA too – I could spend hours wandering around their made-up bedrooms and living rooms 😀 I noticed quite a few people mentioned store-bought waffles. We don’t really have them in France that I’ve seen at least so I’m curious what they’re like. Are they like the equivalent of packaged, supermarket bought “croissants” here? I say “croissants” because they’re only barely croissants. Spongey and more cake-like than flakey and buttery, or can you get some really good store-bought waffles?
Such pretty waffles!! Welcome back. Glad to know you’re back from vacation with cool gifts like this:)
I am all for the three day weekends! Normally, by the time I start unwinding it’s time to return to work:(
The US waffle makers use more batter, hence they turn out thicker than these beautiful delicate Swedish ones
and can feed a whole family:) very ‘bready’. I simple love these dainty blossoms!!
Hi Malli – although these look delicate they’re pretty filling. I’d have difficulties eating more than a quarter of this recipe in one sitting, although maybe that’s just me. Would love to try different waffles – I hope some people here will post their own recipes soon 🙂
I totally agree with you about the weekends, I also wish that they are three days long…;). Waffles are one of my husband’s favourite dessert, he usually has it with icing sugar. I used to have a waffle iron, well, I still have it, but I left it at home when I moved to Germany, so once in a while when we feel like having some waffles, we visit a nearby cafe instead. Your waffles look delicious! I love mine with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream (hahaha – I should watch out for the calories ;)).
Hi CG – Whipped cream and vanilla ice-cream… yummy. Going out to a café to have them reminds me of a time I went to Belgium and of course I had to have a waffle. I ordered one with cream, chocolate and strawberries and then proceeded to stand on the edge of the street trying to eat this towering pile of waffle. It was a good thing I was standing next to a window with reflective properties so I could clean myself up afterwards, haha 🙂
That’s one cute looking waffle shape. First time here and I am loving your space. Delicious delicious delicious posts.I am one big waffle addict, I love mine with bananans, chocolate sauce and cream. Yum!!! I sometimes serve them with ice cream too for an elaborate dessert :-)Guess its time to whip some batter.
Hi Vijitha – thanks for coming by. Waffles are great in any form, aren’t they?! Bananas and chocolate sauce and cream… yummy, that’s never wrong 😀
I want that cute little waffle iron. NOW 😀
Hehe – it’s rather cool isn’t it Kiran? 🙂
yum! these look great! I like mine with lingonberry preserves 🙂
~Melissa
Thanks Melissa – I always find lingonberry a bit too sharp to have as a sweet jam… for me it goes really well with meatballs, but I do appreciate the sweetness of a nice strawberry jam (or cloudberry!) with waffles! 🙂
LOVE cloudberry! I just discovered a REALLY yummy orange and elderflower marmalade at Ikea last weekend. Perfect. You’re right. Lingonberries are great with swedish meatballs and lefse 🙂
We have an American waffle maker… I wonder if it works the same way. I want to try your batter and see if it works. We love waffles and when we have time to make on weekends we usually make either waffles or pancakes. I need to try your Swedish version!
Hi Nami – I’m not sure if the results will be as good – if they’re not so delicious I hope you don’t judge me too harshly. The batter is really perfect for a thin waffle maker, so I really don’t know how it will fare in a deeper American style one. I hope they work well for you though 🙂
Three day weekends sound great, for someone who works on most weekends, I only get one day off, so a 3 day weekend means I could get to enjoy 2 days off..I wish!
I love waffles but I don’t have the iron, I love the shape you have here, much better than the squares or circles
Thanks so much Sawsan! Maybe we should start a world-wide campaign for a decrease in the number of working days in the week 😀
We recently found a waffle iron and I have tried different recipes, the perfect one yet to be found. I will give this a go next, very excited!
If they don’t taste completely 100% AWESOME then you did something wrong 😉
Ours is a big big Swedish family 4th generation, and everybody makes so wonderful crepes/waffels except this one! They all have “the old cookers and cherished recipes so please please help me? They break out in Swedish when I ask for only a little help- been trying for years! Maker? Recipes? From the bottom if you will.
Carol K. ???? p.s. do you like lingonberrys?