Yerba Mate Waffles

Healthy herbs, rooibos, honeybush, decaf tea, and yerba mate.


Jan 3rd, '11, 04:53
Posts: 17
Joined: Nov 21st, '10, 18:47

Yerba Mate Waffles

by matcha/mate.enthusia » Jan 3rd, '11, 04:53

Although some may consider this rather bizarre, I recently devised an interesting non-infusion use for yerba mate leaves (Guayaki brand)--baking them into waffles. I found it to be rather delicious, giving the waffles a refreshing earthy flavor when folded sparingly into the batter which nicely counterbalanced the sweet tartness of raspberry and other fruit syrups. My own eccentric tastes aside, this led me to wonder as to the other potential (perhaps more conventional) culinary uses for mate explored by others. Matcha is frequently used for baking, ice cream, etc.--has anyone here eaten or heard of dishes prepared with mate leaves?

matcha/mate.enthusia

User avatar
Jan 3rd, '11, 14:14
Posts: 852
Joined: Mar 4th, '10, 22:07
Location: somewhere over the rainbow

Re: Yerba Mate Waffles

by Poohblah » Jan 3rd, '11, 14:14

My goodness. How yummy! Mate always goes well with breakfast, in my opinion. One of my favorite breakfast beverages is a 1/2-1/2 mix of orange juice and mate. Mate seems to be a good counterweight to sugary and fruity ingredients.

I'm not much of a cook myself. I haven't heard of any culinary uses of mate beyond my own eccentricities.

Jan 3rd, '11, 21:05
Posts: 17
Joined: Nov 21st, '10, 18:47

Re: Yerba Mate Waffles

by matcha/mate.enthusia » Jan 3rd, '11, 21:05

Poohblah wrote:My goodness. How yummy! Mate always goes well with breakfast, in my opinion. One of my favorite breakfast beverages is a 1/2-1/2 mix of orange juice and mate.
Nice! I'll have to try that. Tonight, in fact, I will.

Edit: I didn't have enough orange juice, unfortunately, but I did find that a blend of approx. 2/3-mate-1/3-grapefruit juice produces a mellow yet deliciously bittersweet flavor in which the "bite" of each is lessened, but neither flavor is diluted. Grapefruit juice can overpower mate easily though, hence the proportions.

Mate ice cream. . .now that would be perfect!

User avatar
Jan 4th, '11, 17:49
Posts: 852
Joined: Mar 4th, '10, 22:07
Location: somewhere over the rainbow

Re: Yerba Mate Waffles

by Poohblah » Jan 4th, '11, 17:49

yes... some ice cream parlors sell so-called "green tea ice cream." I have no clue how much real tea is in the ice cream, but it's delicious.

Mate goes well with any citrus, really. A local mate cafe sells iced lemon mate and lime mate, which are both very good and popular. Though to be honest, I think they spike those things with honey as well.

User avatar
Jan 4th, '11, 18:09
Posts: 2228
Joined: Jul 22nd, '09, 10:55
Location: Capital of the Mitten
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact: AdamMY

Re: Yerba Mate Waffles

by AdamMY » Jan 4th, '11, 18:09

I think most Green Tea ice creams, or basically any green tea infused dessert typically uses something similar to Matcha, food grade or possibly even powdered sencha or bancha. Either way they tend to be rather tasty, and it possibly is the best way to get a mellow green tea flavor into something as flavorful as a dessert, also a good way to add a bright green color.

+ Post Reply