I Love You Waffles
 
Ingredients
For Strawberry Waffles
  • ½ c flour
  • ½ c sugar
  • 1 t sea salt
  • 1 t baking powder
  • ½ t baking soda
  • 1½ c low-fat buttermilk
  • ½ c milk
  • 1 stick of butter, melted
  • 2 eggs, separated
  • 2 T sugar
  • 1 T vanilla extract
  • 1 c strawberries, small dice
For Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
  • 8 oz heavy whipping cream
  • 1 t sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean (1 T vanilla extract can be substituted)
For the Strawberries
  • 1 package strawberries, sliced
  • zest and juice of ½ an orange
  • up to 1 T sugar
  • dash of sea salt
For the Vanilla- Orange Syrup
  • 1 c sugar
  • 1 c filtered water
  • just the orange part of an orange peel from ½ an orange (Use the same orange from the strawberries)
  • leftover bean you used for the whipped cream or 1 t vanilla extract
Instructions
For Strawberry Waffles
  1. Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix buttermilk, milk and lightly beaten egg yolks together. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until incorporated. Add melted butter and stir until incorporated again.
  2. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla and beat another minute. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Add strawberries, careful not to deflate the batter.
  3. Cook according to your waffle iron's instructions. If you aren't making them to order, you can keep them warm and crisp by placing them in on a wire cooling rack placed on a baking sheet inside a 200ยบ oven.
For Vanilla Bean Whipped Cream
  1. Place bowl, cream and whisk attachment in your freezer for 5-10 minutes before whipping.
  2. Slice your vanilla bean in half, lengthwise and greedily scrape out the seeds.
  3. Place all cream, sugar and seeds in the cold bowl and mix on medium high until it's stiff and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. If not using right away, refrigerate it.
For the Strawberries
  1. Taste your strawberries to determine whether or not they need sugar. (Yes, I know, cooking is rough.) Mix everything together and let rest about 20-30 minutes.
For the Vanilla- Orange Syrup
  1. Over a medium high flame melt the sugar and water, swirling rather than stirring the pot. Allow it to bubble and cook for about 10 minutes as it reduces into a syrup. Turn off flame. Add peel and bean. Allow them to steep for about 2 minutes. Remove and discard peel and bean.
For the Whole Shebang:
  1. Layer waffles, whipped cream and strawberries as high as you'd like. Pour syrup over it. Add one more dollop of whipped cream.
  2. Using a paring knife or kitchen scissors, cut a few strawberry slices into hearts. Place them on top of the final whipped cream dollop and scattered around the plate.
  3. Serve this only to people you love. Demand kisses in return. Enjoy!
Recipe by Mamaguru at http://mamaguru.com/i-love-you-waffles/