Pierre Herme's Pistachio Waffles with Chocolate Cream

The raisins
½ cup golden raisins
1 1/3 cups water
1 ½ tablespoons honey
3 thin slices peeled fresh ginger
pinch of salt and fresh ground black pepper
4 to 6 threads of saffron according to your taste
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in tablespoon cold water

put the raisins in a strainer and rince them under running water for a minute. Toss the raisins into a medium saucepan along with the water honey, ginger, and salt and pepper and bring to the boil. As soon as the water bubbles, turn the heat to its lowest setti ng and simmer gently for 15 minutes until the raisins are puffed.

Using a slotted spoon scoop out the raisins and ginger discard the ginger. Save the syrup , and put the raisins in a small bowl. Whisk the saffron and cornstarch into the syrup and bring to the boil. Strain the syrup over the raisins. Let the mixture cool to room temperature then conver and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. (The raisins can be made a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator.)

The Waffles

1 large egg white at room temperature
½ cup chilled heavy cream
½ cup plus 2 ½ tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon double acting baking powder
3 large egg yolks at room temperature
2 tablespoons whole milk
½ cup sugar
pinch of salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 ½ ounces skinned pistachio nuts coarsely chopped

Beat the egg white until it is stiff but still glossy: keep it aside. Now, whip the heavy cream until it holds medium peaks: keep this aside as well.
Whisk together the flour and baking powder and set them aside for the moment. Working in a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, milk, sugar, and salt. When the ingredients are blended, use a rubber spatula to fold in the beaten egg white, followed by the whipped cream. Don’t worry about being thorough at this point. Slowly and gently fold in the flour mixture with the spatula. Still working gingerly, fold in the melted butter and then when it is fully incorporated the pistachio nuts. You’ll have a thick mixture one that will look more like a cake batter than a traditional waffle batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator to settle and chill for 1 hour.
About 10 minutes before you are ready to prepare the waffles, preheat your waffle iron. If you want to hold the finished waffles for up to 15 minutes, preheat the oven to 200 degrees fareheit. Lightly butter or spray the grids of your iron if necessary; brush or spray the grids again only if subsequent waffles stick.
Spoon the batter onto the hot iron- the amount of batter you need will depend on your waffles (in most cases, one waffle will need ½ o ¾ cups of batter). Using a metal spatula or wooden spoon, smooth the batter evenly across the grids. Close the lid and bake until the waffle is browned and crisp. If you’re going to serve the waffles now, transfer them to a cutting board; if you’re going to keep them until you finish the batch, place them in a single layer on a rack in the preheated oven. Continue making waffles until you finish the batter ( The waffles can be made ahead, cooled and kept covered at room temperature for up to 6 hours or wrapped airtight and frozen up to 1 month. Before serving, dust the waffles with confectioners sugar and run them under the broiler to reheat them and caramelize the sugar.)

To serve

Deep Chocolate Cream chilled

For each serving cut a waffle in half on the diagonal and place one half of the waffle in the center of a warm dinner plate. Put a scoop of chocolate cream in the center of the waffle, lean the other half ofg the waffle against the cream, and spoon some of the raisins and their saffron syrup around the waffles. Serve immediately, while the waffles are hot and the cream and raisins are cold.