Inspired by the sight of apples littering the ground beneath the tree, this seemed like a natural extension. The story goes that the ice cream cone was invented at the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair when an ice cream vendor ran out of bowls and served the rest of his ice cream in waffles folded into cones from the next vendor, who’s stand wasn’t quite so busy. The waffles are also delicious for breakfast, sans ice cream and caramel, (unless you’re having one of those days, in which case anything goes!)

Applesauce

It’s important for applesauce to use soft fleshed apples, as they will break down very easily and give you a nice silky sauce. I don’t bother putting it into the blender or food processor, I just whisk it while hot and break up the apple into a coarse puree. I think a bit of texture is nice. Macintosh work well for this, or if you’re like me and have an old tree in the yard it’s a great way to use up the wind fallen fruit.

2 lb apples
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup water

Peel and dice apples and place in a pot with a tight fitting lid.
Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and water
Cover, and bring up to a simmer over medium low heat
Reduce heat to low, and cook until apples are tender
Whisk together to puree (summer apples with soft texture will puree very easily)
Allow to cool to room temperature

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Waffles

2 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
3 eggs separated
1 ½ cups milk
¼ cup oil

Place flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt into a bowl and mix well
Place egg yolks, milk, and oil into another bowl and whisk together
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just well combined
Whip egg whites until stiff and fold into batter
Cover batter and place in refrigerator until needed

Preheat waffle iron and cook according to the manufacturer’s directions

Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 cups whipping cream

Scald cream and keep warm
Combine the sugar and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan
Bring to a boil and cook over high heat until sugar turns a golden colour.
Remove from heat, and add the scalded cream, a little at a time, being careful as it has a tendency to boil up
Whisk together and bring back to a boil, strain, and cool to room temperature

To assemble the sundaes

Take a freshly made waffle, cover it with a decent sized dollop of applesauce (1/4 cup) and top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Drizzle with caramel sauce and serve while still warm
Go back for seconds