I used to love watching Disney cartoons as a kid and Donald Duck’s were always my favorite. Things always went awry for Donald, no matter what activity he was participating in. One of my favorite Donald cartoons (perhaps a predictor for things to come) involved cooking. It’s a 1941 cartoon called Chef Donald.
Donald is sitting at home putting together his book of recipe clippings when his favorite radio program comes on the air: The Mother Mallard Recipe program. Old Mother Mallard reads out a recipe for her Delicious Golden Brown Waffles and Donald, eager to cook some up for himself, assembles the ingredients as she reads them out. Unfortunately, he ends up substituting rubber cement for the required baking powder and the waffles turn out… less-than-perfect, to put it mildly.
The thing that really appealed to me in the cartoon was how thick and delicious the batter looked while Donald mixed it up. Since the whole recipe was read out in the cartoon, I decided to give it a try and see how it really turned out.
It was a fun project! My batter was not as thick as the cartoon batter – but then again, it didn’t have any rubber cement in it either. It was still pleasantly thick and the waffles did cook up well. The batter is very simple, with few ingredients and a mild flavor. Since it doesn’t have much fat in it, the waffles don’t stay as crispy as long as their higher-fat counterparts, but still taste delicious with syrup and fresh fruit. Since the waffles themselves aren’t sweet, they could also be used for savory applications.
I’ve included the original version of the recipe and my slightly tweaked (i.e. no rubber cement) version below.
Old Mother Mallard’s Delicious Golden Brown Waffles
Original Recipe
1 quart milk
1 lb flour
2 large eggs
“dash” baking powder
Mix all ingredients well and cook on a hot waffle iron.
Cook until golden. Serve immediately.
Slightly Revised (and Halved) Recipe
2 cups milk
2 cups all purpose flour
1 large egg
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Preheat your waffle iron.
Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl until smooth.
Grease waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray and pour in batter.
Cook until golden. Serve immediately.
Makes 3-4 servings, depending on iron size.
Teresa
May 9, 2008What a great idea – that episode was always one of my favorites as well. 🙂
Kristen
May 9, 2008Oh, that was always one of my favorites. Do they even show the original cartoons on the Disney Channel anymore? LOL
BMX
May 10, 2008Disney cartoon!! Donald Duck’ i love this character. I watch this episode many times 🙂
sha
May 10, 2008Oh this is great! I just happened to watch this episode last week on the Disney channel. It’s great to know the recipe works in real life, Donald should give it another go 🙂
Mary
May 12, 2008I love that cartoon! It used to throw me into wild fits of giggles as a little girl. The waffles look great too!
Corinne
May 16, 2008Wow, I remember that episode! What a great idea! I wonder how many other recipes are out there in a comic strip or old-time show waiting for some curious cook to try them?
I remember cookbooks for kids when I was younger that were based off the characters I read about.
Thanks for sharing!
Paola
May 16, 2008Thanks for this! My daughter is a HUGE Donald Duck fan so I shall be trying this soon (and letting her watch that cartoon!).
paola
pumpkinpie
May 20, 2008I made these this morning with dried blueberries in the batter, and fresh berries on top. They were great, even without syrup! I also used 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup of all-purpose flour.
Regina
November 20, 2009This is hilarious. I remember that cartoon well.