The smell hits you before you can determine the source. The scent of sweet, caramelized batter and chocolate wafts over the ski slopes, tempting you like a siren lures a sailor. Kids beg, scream and cry for them. Adults describe encounters akin to epiphanies. If you’ve experienced it, then you know exactly what I’m describing: one of 25 Waffle Cabins located at ski resorts across the US.
At Okemo (VT), there seem to be perpetual queues in front of the two teeny log shacks that provides fresh, hot and sometimes chocolate smothered waffles to skiers and riders. The sheer joy brought on by the simple, yet perfectly executed fare is easy to see; there are always only smiles and exclamations of delight in the immediate vicinity of a waffle cabin. The secret? Pearl (or nib) sugar. Only melting into the dough as it cooks at a very high temperature, this type of sugar creates clusters of sweetness making each bite a little bit different.
Want to learn more about how these beauties came to grace the slopes of so many resorts? Check-out Seersucker Magazine’s article “The Best Waffle in America” for an insightful history.
Winter is coming,