Spelt Waffles with Cinnamon Apples

This is truly the perfect breakfast for those rainy mornings we’re going to start getting as we move deeper into Autumn. Inspired by a recipe found in Gill Meller’s excellent book Time, it is highly adaptable to whatever you have growing in the garden or in the store cupboard throughout the year. Using spelt flour instead of the typical plain gives the waffles a delicious nuttiness and contrasts beautifully with the apples. Cooking the apples with the dark sugar and cinnamon epitomises autumn for me personally, forever bringing my mind back to memories of damp, overcast mornings with leaves covering the ground as I wander among the apple trees.

75g butter

2 apples (I used Katy apples, great all rounders and always a bountiful harvest)

45g muscovado sugar

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

200g spelt flour

salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

2 eggs

200ml milk

1. Heat a pan over a low-medium and melt 25g of the butter into it. Quarter and take the cores out of your apples, then either thinly slice or dice them - your choice. Add the apples, 20g of the sugar and the cinnamon to the pan and cook until the apple is soft but retains its shape. While it would still taste great, we would lose the texture if the apples turned to mush.

2. Meanwhile, mix the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, separate the egg yolks and combine with the remaining sugar, half a tablespoon of the melted butter and the milk. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until you have a smooth batter.

3. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until they can hold their peaks. I would definitely recommend using an electric whisk to save your wrists the ache; it should take you roughly 4-5 minutes with an electric whisk. Once the egg whites are suitably stiff, fold them into the rest of the waffle batter.

4. Allow your waffle iron to heat up nice and hot, then brush with the remaining butter. Spoon in as much butter as your waffle iron requires, then cook until golden and slightly crispy.

5. Serve warm with the incredibly soft cinnamon apples, and a good dollop of yoghurt, crème fraîche or vanilla ice cream.