Delicious and low-caloric pumpkin waffles topped with condensed milk and prickly pear cactus jam. Great recipe for a fall brunch!
Can waffles be low-caloric? Yes, they can! I decided to enjoy autumn food to the fullest and make these delicious heart-shaped low-caloric pumpkin waffles with sweet toppings. It was my husband's idea though. We borrowed a waffle iron from him parents, I made the toppings and the day X was scheduled. 
Well, normally it's a little smaller. I wouldn't mind to have it in this size, though 🙂 You can buy it in Russian shops (in Germany I saw it in hypermarkets, too) or you can very easily make it at home. You just need 15 minutes of your time, milk, butter and sugar powder. You can store it in the fridge for more than a month. As for cactus fruits, that's another story of an impulsive buy, which turned out to have a happy end (jam). I bought them in a shopping rush just to try because I've never tried them before and they looked interesting to me. Later on I realized that you can't eat them raw without removing seeds. And there are really a lot of seeds! My husband and I had the same idea at the same time: jam. I can't say that I make jams too often but there was an emergency, cause I needed to use my cactus fruits. It came out even better than I expected! Cactus jam is one of the coolest jams I've ever eaten. If you haven't tried it yet, you missed so much!
I found out that both prickly pear cactus jam and condensed milk go very well with pumpkin waffles. As I said, I was going for low-caloric, so that toppings would balance the sweetness. You can use fresh or canned pumpkin. I prefer fresh, so I roasted it first.
You will find the full recipe for pumpkin waffles, condensed milk and prickly pear cactus jam below. Feel free to ask questions in comments if you want to know more details!
How to Make Delicious and Low-Caloric Pumpkin Waffles Topped with Homemade Prickly Pear Cactus Jam and Condensed Milk
Delicious and Low-Caloric Pumpkin Waffles Topped with Homemade Prickly Pear Cactus Jam and Condensed Milk
Ingredients
For the waffles:
- ½ small Hokkaido pumpkin, Red kuri squash or ½ cup canned pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 egg
- 1 ½ tablespoon brown sugar
- a drop of vanilla extract or 1 vanilla pod
- 2 tablespoon melted butter
- 120 ml or ½ cup milk
- 80 grams or ⅓ cup whole wheat flour (you can use all-purpose flour too)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch aof salt
For the condensed milk:
- 1 grams cup or 200sugar powder
- 1 ml cup or 200milk
- 0.7 grams oz or 20butter
For the prickly pear cactus jam:
- 4 medium-sized cactus fruits
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 100 grams or ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons pectin sugar
Instructions
To make the waffles:
- If you bake the pumpkin, start here: Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F. Halve the pumpkin and use a spoon to remove all seeds (you will only need one half for waffles, so you can save the other half for later or bake it now). Rub the pumpkin with vegetable oil, put the round side up in a baking dish and pour in about 200 ml water. Bake for 45 min or until tender. Let cool. Remove the pumpkin skin and puree the pumpkin flesh. You will end up with around 120 grams or ½ cups of pumpkin puree. Continue to the next step.
- If you use canned pumpkin, start here: whisk egg and sugar, then add the rest of the ingredients, including pumpkin. Mix with beaters until the batter looks homogeneous.
- Preheat the waffle iron. Use a large spoon to pour the batter in the middle of the iron. Pumpkin waffles require a little longer than traditional ones, but not more than 2 minutes, depending on the crispiness you want.
- N.B. If you want them to be crispy, don't put the ready waffles directly on a plate, let them rest a bit on an oven rack.
For the condensed milk:
- Put sugar powder, milk and butter in a tall pot over low heat and wait until it boils, stirring occasionally (there should be a lot of foam). When you see more and more foam, increase the heat to medium.
- Cook for 10 min. Remove from the heat and put in a container filled with cold water. Condensed milk becomes thicker as it cools down. Then you can fill it in a clean jar and keep in the fridge. From the amounts stated you will get around 280 ml or 1 cup of condensed milk.
For the prickly pear cactus jam:
- Sterilize your jar with a lid by boiling them in water for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut the cactus fruits in halves and remove the flesh together with seeds with a spoon. Put the flesh in a strainer over the bowl and mash it, squeezing with the back of a spoon as needed. Put the pureed fruits in a pot over medium heat and add lemon juice and sugar. Bring to the boil.
- Cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Add pectin sugar and stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly. Put in a jar. Let cool before refrigerating. This jam becomes thicker as it cools down.
- Top the waffles with condensed milk and prickly pear cactus jelly.
- Enjoy!
P.S. I was asked for recommendations for a heart-shaped waffle iron. This model seems good to me. It's a thing worth to own!
One more recommendation: I can't stop listening to this album: Save It for a Rainy Day. It brings a bit of warmth into this nasty autumn and reminds me of summer.
Greetings,
Elena
Elvira says
Hello Elena!
What waffle maker brand do you use? The link does not work for me. Thanks!
Elena Szeliga says
Hi Elvira, my waffle iron is not produced any more, but it is similar to this waffle maker. Hope that helps! 🙂