Fancy Mother's Day Brunch: Choco Waffles

For most of my life, I have always loved sweet over savory, but recently my dining preferences have been tested (stupid France and your delicious crepes!). To finish off and balance our fancy brunch, Kevin and I made a chocolate waffle to go along with the absurdly delightful Bacon Cheddar Waffles. Which dish would win the battle of sweet vs savory (Hey, I think I just figured out what Kevin and I should call our cooking and/or buddy cop show) and make our mothers proud? 

Choco Waffles

Adapted from Food Network

Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 4-6 waffles

3 tbsp unsalted butter

3 tbsp vegetable shortening

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup chocolate syrup, plus more for topping

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cooking spray

Powdered sugar and raspberries for topping

I should've known it wouldn't be chocolatey enough by the color

1. Preheat the oven to 250 F.
2. Preheat a waffle iron.
3. Melt the butter and shortening in a saucepan and mix well. Set aside.
4. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar together in a large bowl. 
5. Mix the eggs, milk, chocolate syrup and vanilla in a separate bowl.
6. Slowly combine the wet ingredients with the dry ones.
7. Add in and mix the butter/shortening combo.
8. Pour the batter into the waffle iron and cook until crispy.
9. Top with chocolate syrup, raspberries and powdered sugar.
10. Admire how fancy it looks.

Kevin's photography gets even artsier with black and white. Next, we teach him Instagram!

The choco waffles were a little bit of a mixed bag. Sure, it's fun to say choco waffle repeatedly, but it just didn't hold up to the amazingness that was Bacon Cheddar Waffles (which is probably a good thing because I'd be in an actual coma now). I hadn't quite yet mastered the waffle iron, so I didn't crisp these up as much as I should have. Their major downfall, however, was that they just weren't chocolatey enough. Pumping up the chocolate syrup quotient or mixing in actual freshly melted chocolate would definitely fix this problem. Criticisms aside, they were actually pretty good when you got a bite featuring waffle, raspberry, chocolate syrup and powdered sugar. To really take these to the next level, you should add nutella (but then again, what doesn't nutella take to the next level aside from shellfish). So there you have it; savory once again beat out sweet. Now please excuse me while I cower in the corner and question my entire life.

Choco Waffle up close and personal

I hope you enjoyed these brunchtastic Mother's Day adventures. I just wanted to give a special thanks to my mom, who, most importantly of all, helped me create my favorite dish ever- Cajun Eggs Benedict.

Without my mom's penchant for excess, this never would've been possible. Love you, mom!

Fancy Mother's Day Brunch: Bacon Cheddar Waffles

Kevin's pictures are more artsy than mine.

This year, I decided to do something really special for Mother's Day. With the help of culinary partner in crime Kevin, I would create the most decadent and fancy Mother's Day Brunch in the history of women having babies. We would tackle not one, but two kinds of waffles- the desserty Choco Waffle with Raspberries and the savory Bacon Cheddar Waffle. It would be a feast to rival even our usual weekend staple breakfast tacos. We just forgot one small detail- actually having our moms there for the fanciness.

Bacon Cheddar Waffles
Adapted from Bonappetit.com
Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 12 waffles

Bacon
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
3 large egg whites
3 large egg yolks
1 cup butter, melted (I would suggest halving this)
1 cup  buttermilk
3/4 cup club soda
non-stick vegetable oil spray
Cheddar Cheese
Eggs for poaching

Fluffy egg whited batter

1. Preheat the oven to 250 F.
2. Fry up some bacon. Bask in the smell of bacon kitchen.
3. Preheat the waffle iron to a very hot setting.
4. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
5. Mix the egg yolks, melted butter, buttermilk and club soda together in a medium bowl.
6. Beat the egg whites to medium-soft peaks.
7. Slowly whisk the wet ingredients in with the dry ones until well mixed.
8. Gently fold in the egg whites.
9. Spray the waffle iron to prevent sticking.
10. Pour batter into the iron, making sure to spread it out to the corners.
11. Sprinkle on cheddar and bacon.
12. Cook until crispy.
13. Keep warm in the oven.
14. Poach eggs.
15. Top waffles with poached eggs and glorious mounds of additional cheese and bacon.

The waffles may have spread quite a bit in the iron. Unfortunately, I suggested we make them in my kitchen.

Prepare for a full meal from these ultra savory and rich waffles. Magically combining an entire breakfast in to convenient waffle form was a stroke of absolute genius. The bacon and cheddar really make these crispy flavorful rectangles pop, while the poached egg serves as a perfect gooey substitute for syrup. While these waffles were incredible, I would definitely recommend cutting back on some of the butter and enjoying them with a glass of orange juice to cut it somewhat. Just be prepared to be incapacitated for several hours afterwards (which conveniently meant I could do nothing else but write).

Fun fact: My mom is about as tall as one of the waffles

Stay tuned for the sweet end to our Mother's Day Brunch Bonanza- Choco Waffles.

Mom's Diner: Cajun Eggs Benedict

For our final culinary collaboration, my mom wanted to show we are a family with a little class and not just one that ate chili cheese fries and the food that helped lead Elvis to XXL jumpsuits and an early grave. Nothing says fancy like brunch, so we decided on the classic brunch staple- Eggs Benedict. However, on the way to making one of the most typical brunches out there, something magical happened. We Cajuned it up to create one of the most mouthwateringly delicious meals I have ever had.

Cajun Eggs Benedict
Servings: 4
Time: 30 minutes

Veggies in oil always smell awesome

1/2 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery heart, deveined and chopped
1 tbsp garlic, minced
Tabasco to taste
Tony Chachere's to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
1 can Rotel
1 lb alligator and pork sausage, quartered (halved lengthwise then halved)
1 lb crawfish, peeled and seasoned (we used frozen)
Butter
4 English muffins, toasted
4 eggs

Is it pork? Is it alligator? Who cares? It's delightful.

New Orleans is all about decadence, so naturally we had to top things with buttered crawfish.

This felt like cheating.

1. Brown the sausage in 3 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat.
2. Start a piquant sauce. Sauté the onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery in several tbsp of olive oil until tender. 
3. Add the tabasco, Tony Chachere's, cayenne and rotel to the veggies and cook uncovered until well mixed (~10 minutes).
4. Mix in the sausage and simmer for 10 more minutes.
5. Melt butter in the pan you used to brown the sausage then cook the crawfish in it for about 5 minutes (season with tabasco and Tony Chachere's).
6. Poach your eggs (you can find a tutorial here).
7. Toast the English muffins.
8. Top half of an English muffin with the sausage then the poached egg, crawfish and excess piquant sauce.

It was important to load up on all the fatty goodness after taking a pretty pic.

We truly saved the best for last. Everything about this take on Eggs Benedict worked flawlessly. The alligator sausage was perfectly browned and added nice spice and heartiness to everything, but it especially blended perfectly with that poached egg (the world's fanciest and best tasting egg). The piquant sauce added some nice onion and peppers to the mix without overpowering that gooey egg like a thick sauce would have. Meanwhile the buttery crawfish helped up the savory quotient to practically unsafe levels. All of these aspects served as truly fitting toppings for that fantastic crispy toasted English muffin it sat on. This wasn't just my favorite dish I've ever made, it was one of my favorite meals I have ever eaten.

It was a truly amazing day (Yeah 4 major recipes in under 24 hours. That's just how my mom rolls.) of cooking with my mom, and I can't wait for my next visit to her diner for more delicious eats and quality culinary lessons.

Carrot Cake Pancake Cake

Not pictured: Robin's hand quickly moving away from supporting the tower. Also, this kind of reminds me of Jabba the Hut or at least his cousin Pizza.

If there's one thing I've learned in baking, it's that redundancy makes everything far more whimsical. As such, this desperately in need of a Thesaurus cake was already off to an auspicious start (really, it was off to a magnificent start the second it was a cake made up of a copious amount of pancakes). Breakfast and dessert come thundering together for this thrilling edition of the Robin Farewell Baking Tour 2012 in a dish that you can pretend is healthy since it involves carrots (thus negating the cake and cream cheese aspects).

Carrot Cake Pancake Cake

Adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook

Servings: 1 large cake consisting of about 6 pancakes

Time: 45 minutes

Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Pinch of ground ginger

2 tbsp raisins

1 egg

2 tbsp packed brown sugar

1 cup buttermilk

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup peeled and finely grated carrots

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 to 3 tbsp milk

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Cinnamon to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 200 F to keep the pancakes warm after making them.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and raisins together in a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the egg, brown sugar, buttermilk and vanilla extract together until well incorporated then stir in the carrots.
4. Pour the wet ingrendients into the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. Let sit for 5 minutes and watch the fun bubbles forming.
5. Make the cream cheese frosting while you wait by whisking the cream cheese until no lumps remain then mixing in the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and cinnamon. Place in the fridge to keep cool.
6. Get a frying pan or griddle warmed up over medium heat then melt butter to grease the pan. 
7. Pour about 2-3 tbsp worth of batter into the pan and cook until both sides are golden flipping once (or attempting to flip. see the crime scene photos that follow). Each side will take between 1-2 minutes. Place each pancake in the oven on an oven safe plate to keep warm while making the rest.
8. Stack the pancakes together with layers of cream cheese and quickly get a picture before the melting cream cheese causes the ill-fated tower's imminent demise.

We learned an important lesson: the plate you just took out of the oven is super hot as well!

There may not be anything in the world that can beat fresh hot pancakes, and these carrot filled cakey disks delivered. They had a fantastic bounce and the carrot, raisins, cinnamon and ginger really came together to simulate that carrot cake experience in easy to enjoy breakfast form. The actual recipe called for 2 cups of carrots, but we ran out of carrots to grate leading to it being halved. This was a nice amount of carroty goodness, and I think the full 2 cups would be overkill (but 1 1/2 might be just right for my next try).

Take that syrup!

The cream cheese frosting differed from my from previous encounters with it in various forms of cupcakery in that it didn't have butter and had far less powdered sugar. The result was a less sweet cream cheese with a thinner, more spreadable texture. This slightly less rich version served to enhance rather than overpower the pancakes and was an excellent (albeit melty) addition. Together, the two elevated sweet breakfasts/brunches to new heights with a wonderful recreation of a favorite dessert. Even though the pancake tower would have been condemned by the housing commission, the flavors more than made up for its wobbly aesthetic.

Shockingly, the cake became far more structurally sound once we cut into it for some strange bizarro jenga.

CSI: Kitchen Homicide Division

Nearly a year after taking the criminalist entrance exam, the LAPD finally contacted me about interviewing for a position. Having now decided to devote my life to baking and science instead of looking at dead bodies and saying witty things while whipping off my sunglasses, I declined and decided to focus my talents honed through years of watching Law and Order and Bones on solving kitchen mysteries (pilot script in the works).

In the culinary blogging system, the food is represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the amateur chefs who investigate recipes and the people whose kitchens they make a mess of. These are their stories.

Robin's first attempt at flipping a pancake led to quite the batter splatter. ::Whips off shades:: Now that's what I call being flattened like a pancake.

Not to be outdone, I too made a splash with my flipping skills.

This is what happens when you don't get enough air and the pancake folds in on itself as it falls. ::Whips off shades:: Looks like someone was suffering from a bad case of crepe envy.

French Toast Fantasia: Nancy and the Créme Brûlée French Toast

Editor's Note: And now a word from Nancy:


As you may have read from Terry’s earlier post on French Toast Cupcakes, I am taking control of the my-mess-their-kitchen ship for a brief while to present to you our other baking project of the weekend: crème brûlée French toast!  I have had this recipe in my email for a while, just waiting for the right day.  Terry’s mad kitchen skillz (yes, this deserves a “z”, folks) and a free Sunday morning convinced me it was time we give it a shot. 

We knew an egg with a double yolk was an auspicious start to our day of baking.

Crème Brûlée French toast

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Servings: 8 – 12 

Toasts
1 medium-sized loaf white bread, thickly sliced
1 1/3 cups whole milk
2/3 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Amaretto
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Caramel Topping
2/3 cup granulated sugar

1. Cut the bread into one-inch thick slices.
2. To make the creamy liquid custard, whisk together milk, cream, eggs, sugar, salt, Amaretto and vanilla extract.
3. Arrange slice of bread on baking sheets with rims.
4. Preheat the oven to 325 F.
5. Pour custard over the bread slices and let it sit for about 30 minutes, flipping the slices mid-way to allow for maximum absorption on both sides.
6. Line baking sheets with parchment paper, and transfer the custard-soaked slices of bread onto the newly prepared sheets. Be sure to leave a bit of room between the slices so they don't bake together.
7. Bake the French toast slices for 30-35 minutes, flipping at the halfway point. If you insert a small knife into the center of a slice and, after twisting it slightly no liquid is released, then the toasts are ready.
8. To caramelize the tops, leave the toasts on the baking sheet and have a spatula handy. Melt the remaining 2/3 cups sugar in a small, heavy saucepan over moderate heat. Stir with a small spoon until it is fully melted and turns the color of honey. Immediately spoon one tablespoon or so of caramel over the first slice of bread, spreading it evenly and thinly* over the top with the spatula. Working quickly, repeat with the remaining bread slices.

Caution: the melted sugar is super hot and will burn skin upon contact. Keep arms and fingers clear of the drips! Indeed, after our day of baking, Terry was sporting two new battle scars. The sugar was so hot it actually cut his finger not to mention the burn he got from an inadvertent sugar splash.

*Upon eating our French toast, we discovered that if there was too much caramel topping it was too hard to cut into and eat. Therefore, be sure to spoon only enough to thinly cover the top of the toast.

Note: Hot water will dissolve any remaining caramel in the saucepan. It might take a few hot water rinses, but it will eventually come off.

Serve with berries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

Ultimately this baking project was a delicious way to spend the morning.  The Amaretto really stood out and was a nice counter to the creamy crème brûlée taste.  We found that though maple syrup was not necessary, we were missing that cinnamon-y taste that accompanies traditional French toast.   It would be worth experimenting and adding some cinnamon to the custard the next time around.

And for those of you who are wondering, yes, Terry does indeed make a mess when he’s cooking:

French Toast Fantasia: French Toast Cupcakes with Bacon

Quite fortuitously, baking buddy Nancy and I had drinks last night. Naturally drinks evolved into talk of what I was making for my weekly Sunday Brunch, which quickly turned into what we were making for Sunday Brunch. She had a fantastic looking créme brûlée French toast recipe she wanted to try, and I had recently seen a few French toast cupcakes that I desperately wanted to fill my stomach with. So we reached a compromise. We would make both (See, this is how you do a win-win compromise. Maybe I should consider a profession as a mediator.). As I sit here typing with a headache having crashed from all the sugar, I know that it was totally worth it. Now on to part one of the single greatest brunch of all-time (with a cupcake involving bacon was there any doubt it would be).


French Toast Cupcakes
Adapted from Bakingdom.com
Servings: 24 cupcakes
Time: 40 minutes

Streusel

Streusel
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
5 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut pea-sized


Cupcakes
3 cups all-purpose flour

Batter (with minor butter chunks)

2 cups sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp bourbon 
Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows)
Sugar Decorations (recipe follows)
Bacon, pan-fried to crispy and cut 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Make the streusel by mixing all the ingredients in a large bowl then mashing the butter pieces in by hand. Chill in the freezer until the batter is ready.
3. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a large bowl and set aside.
4. Cream the butter using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed.
5. Add the sour cream, eggs, vanilla and bourbon and mix well.
6. Pour the dry ingredients in over three intervals at low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl in between rounds. Be careful not to overmix.
7. Use an ice cream scooper to fill lined cupcake tins 2/3 of the way with batter. 
8. Sprinkle the tops with streusel.
9. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the toothpick test comes back clean.
10. Pipe on the cream cheese frosting and garnish with sugar decorations and bacon.

Crispy streusel topping gives a great crunch.

The cupcake itself was already a nice breakfasty treat. As soon as I tasted the batter, I knew this was going to be amazing (although I was unnecessarily concerned with how dense it was). The cinnamon and nutmeg really came through in the cupcake to give an authentic French toast taste. The streusel on top also added a nice level of sugary crispness to add texture to the moist cake. But the fun (and deliciousness) was only just beginning.

Maple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Adapted from My Maker's Mark Cupcakes

Servings: Enough for 30 cupcakes

Time: 5 minutes

16 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup butter, softened

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup

6 cups powdered sugar, sifted

The world's most perfect frosting

1. Cream the butter in a stand mixer until soft (this will help melt it and prevent lumps) then beat in the cream cheese, cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup.
2. Add the powdered sugar about a cup at a time and mix at medium speed.

I have used various iterations of this frosting for Maker's Mark Cupcakes and Bananas Foster Cupcakes, so I knew it was a winner. I really wanted to bring the cinnamon flavor across since our créme brûlée was sadly lacking in it (more on that to come in a future post). This was jam packed with all that cinnamon our hearts desired without being overpowering. There was also a nice sweetness added by the maple syrup that would be key to the interaction with the bacon. To top it all off, this also may have been the best I've ever made this frosting as it had the perfect cupcake topping consistency.

Sit down. We're nowhere near done.

Sugar Decorations

From Bakingdom.com

Originally Seen in Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes

Time: 15 minutes plus cooling

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 tbsp light corn syrup

1. Stir the sugar, water and corn syrup together in a saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil swirling occasionally until it turns amber colored then quickly remove from heat (it will rapidly burn if you let it keep going).
3. Drip onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to make fun shapes. Also, you can wrap a rolling pin in parchment paper for cool curved shapes.
4. Let harden.

The parchment rolling method

The goal of the sugar decorations was to mimic the syrup drip on your standard French toast (and to play with scolding hot sugar for yet another culinary Rorscharch test). I think the end result provided a fun and playful garnish to help these somewhat color deprived cupcakes stand out. Just be sure you make your decorations thin so your teeth don't become coated in hard sugar (it's like the exact opposite of a filling).

The results up until this point definitely gave that French toast sensation in one sweet package, which is where the bacon comes into play. In order to cut some of that sugar (and further establish a complete brunch), we added the salty bacon. At first, we were both a little hesitant, but by the end we found ourselves crushing up more bacon to put on our cupcakes. It might seem a little unorthodox, but it plays a vital role to one well-rounded brunch dessert.

The sugar crown. One day I will rule the cupcake throne!

When all the flavors came together in our finished cupcake, I couldn't help but get weak in the knees and unleash uncontrollable mmm noises. I think I'll have to thank the four hour Cupcake Wars marathon I watched yesterday for its inspiration leading to what is perhaps my favorite cupcake yet (that shockingly didn't have a filling). Stay tuned for part two of our ode to French Toast as Nancy will present a special guest post on the Créme Brûlée French Toast. For now, enjoy some more of our sugar artwork (Nancy does work at an art gallery, so it should come as no surprise that she was a natural).

In the game of cupcakes, you win or you die(t).

I'm pretty sure there's a swan in there.

And Nancy shows how to make the cupcakes even more adorable and awesome.

Fried Chicken & Waffles with Bacon Whipped Cream

The one experience I missed out on in Los Angeles (aside from getting discovered and living the life of a diva) was a late night run to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. While discussing possible brunch ideas with Nancy this weekend, she recommended this dish which has forever occupied a good portion of my brain's desires (it's pretty much that and knowing what it feels like to be tall). Then once she backed out, I was forced to eat it all by myself to deal with my pain and unresolved abandonment issues (My future cardiologist and I would like to thank Nancy for this). The result was perhaps the most ridiculously awesome brunch ever with the ultimate in delightfully unlikely combinations.


Fried Chicken
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse
Servings: 6 pieces
Time: 45 minutes

Emeril calls this essence.

Vegetable oil for frying
3 drumsticks and 3 wings
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp creole seasoning

I was seriously disturbed after touching all this raw chicken.

1. Rise the chicken under cold water but don't dry it.
2. Combine the flour and spices in a gallon ziploc bag and mix well.
3. Add the chicken, seal and shake well to coat evenly.
4. Place the coated pieces on a wire rack over a baking sheet and let sit 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Fill a large deep skillet with an inch of vegetable oil and bring to 350 F.
6. Fry the chicken for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and cooked through turning once.
7. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to remove excess oil.

Fried to (almost) perfection with only minor burning!

While this won't rival Popeye's anytime soon, this was a great fried chicken that went well without outshining the waffles (and let's be honest the waffles are the most important part of this). The chicken was both crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside with some nice flavor. I would try to enhance the spices next time by doubling the essence mix.

Buttermilk Waffles

From Emeril Lagasse

Servings: 6 waffles

Thick waffle batter

Time: 10 minutes

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Maple Syrup

Bacon Whipped Cream (recipe follows)

My new best friend. I call him Waffle McIronstein.

1. Preheat and lightly grease a waffle iron.
2. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, butter and buttermilk together.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk well until no longer lumpy. Note this should be a thick batter.
5. Pour the batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook until golden brown.
6. Almost burn your chicken because you're trying to get the smoke detector to shut up since waffle irons aren't small apartment friendly.
7. Top with maple syrup and bacon whipped cream.

The world would be a better place if everyone had waffles for breakfast.

After a lifetime of chowing down on Eggo waffles, I was ready to be knocked off my feet by my first homemade try. This waffle was wildly successful thanks to the great buttermilk. These didn't need the fried chicken or bacon whipped cream to be a fantastic breakfast, but adding those additional components only shoots these clear past the moon into uncharted brunch territory.

Bacon Whipped Cream

Modified from VisionsofSugarPlum.com

Servings: More than you'll need for all the waffles

Time:  15 minutes

4 strips of bacon

1 cup whipping cream

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

It's bacon!

1. Fry the bacon until crisp. Set aside to cool. (It's probably best to do this before prepping the chicken or waffles so it has all the time to cool and won't melt the whipped cream).
2. Whip the cream in a stand mixer at high speed until stiff peaks start to form.
3. Add in the sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract and bacon and continuing beating.
4. Make sure the bacon is mixed well throughout and top your waffles generously with this.

Shockingly, the maple syrup ends up being the indispensable ingredient in this decadent and wholly unnecessary (yet oddly so very necessary and right) topping. The bacon is a nice touch, but since the whipped cream isn't infused with the bacon flavor, you only occasionally get that bacony goodness. The whipped cream also pairs surprisingly well with the fried chicken (as does the maple syrup) for a complete and (un)healthy breakfast.

This is what the birth of a clogged artery actually looks like.

Absurd is the only world I can think of to describe the meal that currently has me relegated to sweatpants on the couch. This would even please the world's greatest waffle critics like Leslie Knope and Stephanie Brown (two references to Bryan's Batgirl in the past three posts. Perhaps I'm starting to miss it.). The fried chicken and waffles work amazingly well either separate or disgustingly piled one on top of another to give one of the most utterly satisfying meals you'll ever have. The results truly define the epitome of comfort food.

Colorful and delicious!

As always, My Mess Their Kitchen is an equal opportunity food lover. My vegetarian friends out there should not be deprived of this culinary masterpiece. If you're not in the mood for making this, I highly recommend the soy chicken pancake at Vegan World in Studio City. But if you're a brave soul who seeks to remedy their insatiable craving for fried chicken and waffles in your own kitchen, here's what you need to do. No change has to be made to the waffles (Obviously this is just vegetarian and not vegan. When my brain is able to process information again, I'll try to give vegan suggestions.). For the fried chicken, bread the Gardein chick'n scallopini pieces and fry for considerably less time (since they're much thinner). You can change up the whipped cream by either eliminating the bacon altogether or by using bacon free "bacon" bits or tempeh bacon (but I think the crunch of the bacon bits would likely go better). Good luck, and I'll see you in the cardiac ward!