More Ketchup, Please
The Best Buttermilk Waffles, Courtesy of a 7-Year-Old
Plus, why Clara Dorman deserves her own show.
Welcome to More Ketchup, Please, our newest series that’s spilling the beans on all the different ways we cook for, and with, our kids. We've got some great guests stopping by to get schooled by their little ones on how to perfect family favorites. The more (cooks) the merrier? We think so.
Clara Pauline Dorman has never really left the kitchen. And she’s only 7. As a toddler, she sat across her mom (and co-founder of Food52), Merrill Stubbs, while she stirred things on the stove. Or played with the wooden spoons. These days, she invents family food traditions.
Merrill tells the story best here of her 6-year-old daughter, Clara, who came home from school one day bursting with excitement, saying, "Mom, I thought of a food invention and we should make it this weekend: macaroni and cheese waffles!"
Two years and some attempts later, the iteration that has found the most favor has eliminated the macaroni but doubled down on the butter and added on buttermilk. Now these waffles are made every weekend, and enjoyed sweet, savory, or somewhere in between.
“The great thing about these is that we make a big batch with plenty of spares,” says Clara.
| 2 | cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour |
| 1/2 | teaspoon baking soda |
| 1 | teaspoon baking powder |
| 1 1/2 | teaspoons kosher salt |
| 2 | tablespoons sugar |
| 3 | large eggs |
| 2 | cups buttermilk (the best you can get) |
| 5 | tablespoons (65 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled |
| 2 | cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour |
| 1/2 | teaspoon baking soda |
| 1 | teaspoon baking powder |
| 1 1/2 | teaspoons kosher salt |
| 2 | tablespoons sugar |
| 3 | large eggs |
| 2 | cups buttermilk (the best you can get) |
| 5 | tablespoons (65 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled |
“It’s really not about the food, it’s the tradition,” adds Merrill, “it’s a way for us to eat together and have fun together—at home we just eat it with our hands.”
Between cracking three eggs clean, dipping-and-sweeping, sniffing (and sometimes listening to!) her ingredients, and schooling her mom, Clara also makes some non-standard issue (for a 7-year-old) observations. Like “Baking powder is just like fairy dust” and “Make sure you’re on the same page as your helper in the kitchen.”
But perhaps the most important of all: “Whoever makes the waffles eats the waffles.”
We’re now officially open for requests to order in more episodes of the Clara Dorman Show.
Have a recipe you love making with your kids? Share it with us in the comments!
Written by: Arati Menon
Popular on Food52
8 Comments
Perfect video for today.
She needs her own show......
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