The other morning while enjoying my typical weekend breakfast of egg whites, hashies and bacon, a beautiful picture came through my Twitter feed. An image of absolute heaven – red velvet waffles.  Unfortunately, the image didn’t include a recipe, but I made it my weekend mission to find one.  I also made it my mission to purchase a waffle maker since I didn’t currently own one.

I realized at one point this was really more baking than cooking, but I figured I would give it a whirl. I don’t know why I have such a disdain for baking while I couldn’t be happier when cooking. Maybe it’s because every time I bake I end up with 10 dirty measuring spoons and cups, more flour on my counter top than in the bowl and the finished product never looks nearly as pretty as it should. But I’m just guessing.

The recipe I tried was rather easy and let’s face it – anything using food coloring is automatically fun. Beware of that stuff by the way – it stains EVERYTHING. This is one of the few things I’ve made that required me to buy ingredients I don’t keep stocked in my kitchen. Honestly, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as white balsamic vinegar. Learn something new everyday.

Without further ado – I give you red velvet waffles. Just like the cake but in waffle form. Great for breakfast with maple syrup. Awesome for dessert with ice cream. Or as was my case tonight, a heavenly dinner with a side of strawberries.

Red Velvet Waffles

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups cake flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon red food coloring

1 teaspoon  white balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons melted butter

1 1/2 cups milk

3 eggs, separated

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, baking powder). While mixing ingredients, begin warming waffle maker.

In a small mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, food coloring, butter, white balsamic vinegar, vanilla extract and milk. Whisk together.

Add the wet ingredients to the large mixing bowl of dry ingredients and combine well. Beat the remaining egg whites and add to mixing bowl. Mix well.

Add batter to heated waffle maker and cook according to your waffle maker’s manufacturer instructions.

Finish off with your preferred topping: powdered sugar, maple syrup, butter or in my case vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!