Brown sugar filled waffle: where to taste it at Christmas markets

The brown sugar filled waffle is a thin, soft waffle from northern France and Flanders, split in two while hot and filled with a cream of butter and vergeoise brown sugar. At the Christmas markets of the Nord and the Pas-de-Calais, it is sold singly, to eat while walking, or by the packet to take away, next to the sugar tart and the speculoos.

Where to eat a brown sugar filled waffle at a Christmas market

The markets that sell it are all in the Nord and the Pas-de-Calais. In Lille, it is the market’s Lille speciality. Arras sells sugar-filled waffles, Calais and Maubeuge vergeoise waffles. Béthune, Valenciennes, Tourcoing and Villeneuve-d’Ascq sell it under its full name, gaufre fourrée à la vergeoise. Roubaix and Cambrai sell it too.

At the stall, it sits next to the sugar tart, speculoos and bêtises de Cambrai, the sweet trio of the northern markets. It is eaten by hand, one at a time, or goes into the bag by the packet.

Vergeoise or vanilla filled waffle: two waffles from northern France

Vergeoise is a brown sugar drawn from the refining of beet or cane, widely used in the pastries of northern France and Belgium, and the filled waffle does not exist without it. The waffle is cooked thin and soft, split in two while it is hot, then filled with a cream of butter and vergeoise.

Lille knows another filled waffle, flat, filled with vanilla, tied to a historic pastry shop in the city. It is a distinct product, not to be confused with the vergeoise waffle of the chalets. And neither of them is the Liège or Brussels waffle, which are another subject altogether.

Brown sugar filled waffle in pictures