Tschunk Stroopwafels

A closeup of a homemade stroopwaffle

For making Tschunk stroopwaffles you need a waffle iron for ice cone waffles or stroopwaffles (i.e. Cloer-1641S), an thermometer (i.e. laser) and a hot plate, a mixing bowl and a sieve

Ingredients:

Recipe for the dough based on 1 kg flour:

1kg white wheat flour

360g cane sugar

500g butter

5 eggs (medium to large)

half a teaspoon of vanilla sugar (possibly more if you have Vanillin sugar)

half a teaspoon of salt

Recipe for the syrup:

250g cane sugar

~50g Mate tea

Juice from 3-4 limes

~4-8 cl Rum (the quality will have an impact on the final taste)

pinch of salt

Optional:

Citric acid powder to balance the taste

Syrup

Closeup of a spatula on top of a pot of syrup. The syrup is dripping into the pot, having the consistency of a liquid honey

Mix in Mate tea with some water in a container you can sieve it off. Let it infuse for about 10 minutes.

In the meantime, press the limes. mix in a pot tall enough with sugar, mate and salt. Do not add rum at this point.

Note: if you use a laser thermometer, note that measuring bubbles gets you a delta of about 3-5 °C depending on the stage, the liquid will be hotter.

Stage 1: boiling off a lot of the water, keeping at ~100 °C

Set on low to medium heat. Make the water boil off slowly. This will take a while.

You need to monitor the temperature, do not exceed 102 °C for now. The volume will reduce and the temperature will rise

Stage 2: water temp ~ 105-110 °C

The syrup reduced a bit, but it gets a lot hotter and foamier.

It is important to keep an eye on the temperature and keep the foam low. You need to keep stirring the mixture at this point.

Stage 3: liquid caramel stage, target 117 °C

The syrup becomes a lot hotter and less bubbly. Reach for a target temperature of 117 °C. If you get hotter, reduce the heat immediately.

You want to keep the temperature for about 3-4 minutes. Then remove from heat.

Give it a taste and hardening test on a spoon. It should be crystal clear and become more of a toothpaste consistency. You can add salt and/or citric acid to taste.

Stage 4: cool down to ~80 °C

You want to cool it down at this stage. The syrup should be a clear, amber color.

If you have undissolved crystals or it crystalizes like crystalized honey, add more lime juice or citric acid heat it back up to 117 °C.

Stage 5: Add rum

Add the rum at around 80-85 °C. It will be still hot enough for a lot of ethanol to evaporate, be prepared for rapid evaporation. Mix well.

Mixing the dough

closeup of a batter for stroopwaffle

Melt the butter to semi-liquid / soft, not over 40 °C. Mix in cane sugar, eggs, vanilla sugar, salt. Mix in flour and knead until everything is combined. Depending on the size of the eggs, you may need to add a tiny bit of water.

Make stroopwaffles

Roll a piece of the dough into a walnut sized ball. Cook it. You want to have a golden-brown outside.

After the waffle is done, let it rest for 30-60 seconds until it is just at a temperature you can hold it.

Slice it in the middle with a knife or similar to get two halves.

Note: I prefer to use a dull knife here. You want to slide it down the middle, just push it carefully to the end to open it.

Note: this has to be done while the waffle is hot, or it will crumble

You can add the syrup at this point, then recombine the waffle. Enjoy!