With Lammas happening on a long weekend here in Canada this year, there was the possibility of having a celebratory brunch instead of the “get the day going” options usually consumed on the run.
I have been hanging out at the Chilliwack Night Market Saturday evenings with my table and brought home some ripe and ready to eat Okanagan clingfree peaches.
Sweet and juicy peaches with crispy almond waffles seemed like a good idea to me. After all fruit and grain are two of the most appropriate offerings for this time of the year, are they not? There is also no requirement that these be only for a Lammas brunch as peaches will be around for a couple of weeks yet.
You will need:
1 1/2 cups sweetened whipped cream ( try using the rose honey instead of sugar )
1 peach per serving
2 Tbsp. rose flavoured honey per peach
2 eggs, separated
2 cups sifted flour, cake if available. 1 Tbsp. less per cup if all purpose flour is used
4 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. ground almonds
1 tsp. almond extract (optional)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cups milk (up to 1/4 cup more if you are finding the batter too thick)
1/2 cup butter, melted
This time of the year begins a three month period of harvesting and preserving the bounty of the land. Some food, like this recipe are enjoyed fresh while others like the apricot jam coming soon are stored, to be enjoyed while the winter winds and snows dance outside. This is a time of gratitude, a time of thankfulness for what is available, what is shared and what supports a community.
Hold that focus as you bring your thoughts into the present moment. Feel gratitude for the abundance that allows this food to be in your life and for the knowledge and skill you have to prepare it.
Take a deep breath…. or two and begin.
Remove the skin from each peach and slice into wedges. Early peaches are generally not clingfree, meaning they like to stay attached to the pit inside.
Choosing clingfree peaches will make cutting the slices off the pit very much easier.
In a bowl, place the fresh peach wedges and honey.
Toss gently and put aside, allowing the honey to draw out the juices while the waffles cook.
Rose flavoured honey is something I make each year from the beautifully aromatic rose petals friends generously share. I use it in special dishes to bring a depth and sometimes mysterious flavour to recipes along with a hint of summer. It is possible to also flavour honey with lavender and lilac blossoms. The post is here.
If you do not have this already in your pantry, a lovely tasting locally sourced honey will also do the job.
You can see I have not yet taken the rose petals out of the container so I will need to dig under the petals to get the rose infused honey. I tend to leave the petals in the jar as they can be a bit chewy and leaving them in allows more flavour to transfer to the honey.
Melt the butter and put aside to cool.
In a fresh bowl sift the flour. Add the dry ingredients and ground nuts.
Separate the eggs and whip the egg whites until firm. Set aside.
To the egg yolks add the milk and almond extract if using.
Turn on your waffle machine and allow it to preheat.
Add the liquids to the flour and gently stir together. Do not over mix.
Fold in the beaten egg whites, making quarter turns of the bowl each time.
Once the waffle mixture and the waffle machine are ready, begin cooking the waffles per the instructions for your waffle maker.
It might take a few tries to get the proper amount of batter into the waffle maker and the batter in the proper places. Each machine moves the batter around a ittle differently.
Going over the edges can make life a little messy so clean up between pours.
When making for a group of people keeping the waffles warm so they stay crisp can be an issue once they are removed from the machine.
I turn the toaster oven on to warm and let them rest in the oven as the next batch is cooked. This is a crispy waffle recipe that will soften when the fruit and syrup are added so putting everything together just before serving is best.
To serve, layer several slices of peaches between each waffle and around the plate. Pour a few spoonfuls of the peach/honey syrup from the bowl over the waffles and top with sweetened whipped cream. Serve with butter and maple syrup if needed or if, as happened here, someone preferred their wafle plain.
If your household is small it is absolutely possible to cut this recipe in half and additionally, tomorrow I will show you a light and tasty way to use any extra batter for a dessert that is sure to please. Option number three is to make all the waffles and freeze for later use in the toaster but I personally prefer to divide the recipe in half and make fresh waffles as requested.
Peaches in Rose Honey with Almond Waffles from My Kitchen Wand
