my mom invented chocolate waffles. i know, you're saying "but i saw this on 'good eats' a while ago" or "these are in a cookbook i have" but i'm telling you, my mom invented them. i don't care if someone made them before her, she had the idea with no outside influence when i was a wee kiddy so she, in fact, invented them. the story goes that she wanted some chocolate cake during a really hot summer day & didn't want to heat up the oven so she figured "i have a waffle maker!" and she used a super thick chocolate cake recipe to make waffles. she used to make them some evenings with her ancient waffle iron (which i offered to replace one christmas but she said "i like my old one") and we'd have them with butter or cream cheese on top or just plain, hot from the iron.

sometimes i get a craving for chocolate waffles but i've never bought myself a waffle iron since i'm not a huge fan of regular waffles and i figured it was silly to get one for just one thing. a few weeks ago when my mom came to visit, i didn't feel well & didn't feel like leaving the apartment. wise as all mothers are, my mom knew i'd feel better if i got out. i mentioned at some point that i should have asked her to bring her waffle iron with her so we could have some chocolate waffles (which john had never had) & she perked up & said "i'll buy you a waffle iron if you go shopping with me!" and how could i pass that up, right? i did feel better once i got out & my mom got me a belgian waffle maker (i would have preferred a traditional one but that's all target had!) AND a wok set i'd been wanting (and a few little things i forget). i finally had to stop her and say "i'm at least paying for my replacement meat thermometer & the cold-brew ice tea, woman!"

keeping in mind that this was my first ever attempt at making any type of waffles with a new, unfamiliar appliance, i think they turned out okay. i know that i did cook them too long (i'll do just 3 minutes next time, instead of the 4 minutes suggested in the iron's directions) and i used too little batter for the first few tries (as can be seen in the picture at the top of this post). i actually prefer my mom's made with a traditional waffle maker because they are thinner, lighter and not at all crispy (i want cake-y waffles, not crunchy) but i think i may change my mind next time i make them if i cook them for less time. we had some plain, some with butter & later some with vanilla ice cream. the recipe makes a LOT of batter & i didn't particularly feel like standing over the waffle maker for an hour, so i made about half of the battery into a 9X9 cake which was superb. so here's the recipe that can be made into one 13X9 cake, 2- 9X9 cakes, some waffles & one 9X9 cake or all waffles (or, come to think of it, some cupcakes). it will be VERY thick, that's why it's so great for waffles.

black midnight cake

2/3 cup soft shortening

1 2/3 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 1/4 cups flour

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/3 cups water

1 tsp vanilla

cream together first 3 ingredients until fluffy. sift together remaining dry ingredients. in a separate bowl, mix together water & vanilla. into the creamed mixture, mix alternately dry ingredients & water/vanilla mixture. if you are baking all or part of it, bake at 350 degrees for 35 min for 9X9 or 40-45 min for 13X9. i would guess probably 25 or so for cupcakes but, of course, we all know we can just test with a toothpick for doneness, right?

i think my first attempt was mostly a success, if only because i learned that i need to keep the waffles in the iron for less time.  i also think i won't make half of it into a cake next time because we didn't end up with any left over waffles for the next day or two.  they are best hot off the iron but left overs are always good & would be worth the extra time in the kitchen!  this recipe will yield a super rich cake, no matter how you make it, so have lots of milk on hand to wash it down.  shoot... now i want some chocolate waffles, like, immediately! 

Oh wow! These waffles might actually get me out of bed in the morning a bit early! It reminds me fondly of the Bill Cosby chocolate cake for breakfast sketch.

Waffle makers are the bomb and so versatile, even if you don't eat waffles often. Considering my battle with cholesterol, I use it for all sorts of things such as falafel (or fa-waffle as it's called on my blog), corn fritters, and makeshift paninis.

I know what you mean about inventing things. I've done that a few times too where it was totally out of my brain but then I found out later that someone had already done it, although I had never seen or heard of it before. I think of it as "thinking on the right track" towards a cookbook or getting published if it happens as a story in my head.

The waffles look yummy!