Waffatopia celebrates National Waffle Day next week
You can bet that whoever said a waffle is like a pancake with a syrup trap never sank his teeth into an authentic Liege-style waffle from Waffatopia.
The inherently sweet confections made from brioche pastry dough, not waffle batter, are indeed full of deep little pockets, but you’re much better off if you don’t think of them as traps.
Instead, eat the waffles the way the folks in Belgium, where they were invented, choose to eat these handmade, hand-held specialties: without syrup or any topping at all.
Moments before they loaded up their vibrantly painted Waffamobile that was bound for one of their famous corporate waffles-and-ice-cream parties on Tuesday afternoon, Waffatopia owners — husband and wife Brian and Andrea Polizzi — explained how their four-year-old business was sparked by a mutual love of Belgium’s most popular street food.
“In Belgium they warm them on the street for you, maybe sprinkle them with sugar, and that’s it. A few shops here and there will serve them with ice cream,” Andrea noted. “So it’s a simplistic idea and when we tasted them we knew there was something a little different about them and we tried to figure out why.”
The couple soon discovered that the uniqueness of the Liege waffles, which they discovered during frequent visits to the small country, was due to the sweetness supplied by Belgian pearl sugar.
“The nuggets of sugar are compacted in such a way that when they’re rolled into the dough ball — and we do hand roll every single one — whatever touches the heat of the waffle iron actually caramel-
izes so you do get that semisweetness to the waffle and you don’t have to add additional flavors or toppings,” Andrea added.
In their quest to bring Belgium’s prime culinary contribution to the U.S., the couple nixed the idea of a food truck early on and began making their waffles at a professional kitchen in West Chester, while marketing them successfully at various farmers’ markets, including East Goshen Farmers’ Market.
Last year their search for the perfect facility led them to Colwell Industrial Park in Conshohocken, where the waffles are made from scratch, individually wrapped and sold in boxes of eight or 12 waffles on site Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and by appointment.
“As we introduce the Liege waffle to folks, because it is such a new product in the U.S., one of the things we always say is that they do have their own flavor. The plainest variety is in Europe, which has just a hint of vanilla, and that’s it,” Brian explained. “The Liege waffle still has very limited availability in the U.S. You might see it on rare occasions in a café or a food truck, or even at a place that brings in frozen dough. But we make everything from scratch here.”
The original Waffatopia flavor, Cinnamon Vanilla, has now evolved into a full line of offerings that tweak classic flavor profiles, frequently with a seasonal accent, such as Lemon Blueberry, Banana Nutella, Belgian Chocolate Stuffed, Maple Bacon, and, coming down the road for fall and Christmas, Pumpkin Spice and Gingerbread.
“With Waffatopia we thought we might be able to make a decent business out of just a vanilla waffle, but what else are we going to do to really specialize in this product, and that’s how we evolved into all the different flavors,” Brian noted.
While they still maintain a farmers’ market presence at the Ambler and Spring Mill farmers’ markets, Brian said that Internet sales via www.Waffatopia.com constitute the majority of sales these days.
“The day they are baked is the day they are individually packaged, boxed and shipped fresh all over the country,” he noted. “The customer then has the ability to refrigerate them short term or freeze them.”
The waffles can be enjoyed at room temperature but both Brian and Andrea recommend warming them up.
“I think the butter in the dough is reconstituted from the heat,” Andrea pointed out.
As the world celebrates the invention of the waffle iron on National Waffle Day, Aug. 24, Brian and Andrea are gearing up for their own celebration, much of it driven by their exceedingly charitable nature.
On Aug. 24 the couple will load up the Waffamobile and head into Philadelphia to hand out their freshly made waffles to commuters outside Suburban Station, 17th Street and JFK Boulevard, between 6:30 and 9 a.m. Then, between noon and 2 p.m. that day, the “Waffamobile” will be stationed at 18th and Walnut streets at Rittenhouse Square with free waffles for some lucky folks’ lunchtime indulgence.
The free-waffles-for-all celebration then comes home to Waffatopia on Friday, Aug. 25, 3 to 7 p.m., and Saturday, Aug. 26, between 10 a.m. and noon, with one free waffle per visitor.
The giveaways also coincide with a mindfulness of the area’s largest hunger-relief organization, Philabundance. For every box of waffles purchased through Waffatopia.com between Aug. 24 and 26, the owners will donate one pound of waffles to Philabundance.
Setting the stage for this altruistic gesture, on Saturday, Aug. 19, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Waffatopia hosts a rain-or-shine fundraiser for Julia’s Grace Foundation, which “brings happiness and support to children with cancer and their families.”
Registration is required to attend the event, on either the Waffatopia or Julia’s Grace Facebook pages.
For a suggested donation of $5 to Julia’s Grace, guests can enjoy a waffle in any of several available flavors, DJ music and also buy chances for raffle prizes.
“Giving back is something we feel we should do, and that all small businesses, if they have the capability, should do,” Brian said.
Waffatopia is located at 1050 Colwell Lane, Suite 302, behind Super Fit in Conshohocken.