Norway · 50 min · Vegetarian · Baking · For beginners
Vafler
In German: Norwegische Waffeln · In English: Norwegian waffles
For 4 servings · US units
Norwegian heart waffles with cardamom, brown cheese, jam and sour cream
Vafler are Norwegian waffles, baked in a heart-shaped iron and broken into single hearts. Sour cream keeps the batter tender, and cardamom gives it its scent. They're served warm with coffee all year round, classically with Norwegian brown cheese, jam and sour cream.
Ingredients
- 10½ ozwheat flourplain white flour
- 3egg
- 2¾ ozsugarbeaten with the eggs
- 1½ cupsmilk
- 5¼ ozsour creamin the batter; buttermilk can be used instead
- 3½ ozbuttermelted and slightly cooled
- 1½ tspbaking powder
- 1 tspfreshly ground is strongerDried green seed pods of a plant in the ginger family; the small black seeds inside taste floral, resinous and faintly lemony.Substitute: Ground cardamom can stand in for freshly crushed seeds, but it tastes flatter and gives no texture, so use a little more. No other spice matches the flavour; cinnamon or nutmeg turn it into a different bake.Read more
- 2 tspor 1 tsp vanilla extractSugar flavoured with vanilla, sold in German-speaking countries mostly in small sachets of about eight grams.Substitute: One sachet can be replaced by about a tablespoon of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract; in dry mixtures such as crumble toppings or for dusting, the extract adds a little moisture, so the seeds of half a vanilla pod rubbed into sugar work better there.Read more
- ½ tspsalt
- for serving, slicedNorwegian whey cheese, made from whey boiled down with milk and cream. Caramel-brown, firm and slightly sticky, sweet-salty with a caramel note and, depending on the kind, a hint of goat.Substitute: There is no true substitute, because the mix of caramel, salt and milky tang only comes from boiling down whey. For sauces, Mexican cajeta (goat's milk caramel) with a pinch of salt gets fairly close in flavour, but it is liquid and sweeter; it will not work for slicing onto bread.Read more
- jamfor serving, with sour cream or whipped cream
- berriesfor serving (optional)
Method
- In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, ground cardamom and vanilla sugar. If you're using vanilla extract instead, add it to the eggs later.
- In a second bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and foamy.
- Stir in the flour mixture, alternating with the milk and sour cream, and mix only until the batter is smooth.
- Stir in the melted, slightly cooled butter.
- Let the batter rest for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the waffle iron and grease it if needed.
- Pour a small ladle of batter into the iron and bake each waffle for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown.
- Break the waffles into single hearts and serve warm with sliced brown cheese, jam and sour cream or whipped cream, and fresh berries if you like.
Tips and variations
For especially light waffles, separate the eggs and fold the stiffly beaten whites into the batter at the end. You can swap the milk for buttermilk thinned with a little water; in that case, add a little baking soda along with the baking powder. If you don't care for cardamom, season with vanilla alone; freshly ground cardamom, on the other hand, tastes stronger. The batter can also rest overnight in the fridge. For a gluten-free version, use cornstarch instead of flour and soy or almond milk. To serve, lay the waffles side by side rather than stacking them so they stay crisp, and put the brown cheese on the hearts while they're still warm.
Allergens
Contains: Eggs, Cereals containing gluten, Milk (including lactose)
Not every ingredient in this recipe has been checked, so nothing is promised as free from.
These notes follow from this recipe's ingredient list. Ready-made products and brands may contain further allergens — please check the packaging yourself.
Something not right?
This recipe was put together from independent sources and checked before publishing. Even so, a mistake can slip through — an amount that does not add up, a step that does not work as written. If you spot something, write to us: we will look into it and put it right.
