I'm not sure that's fair. I mean, the sunlight does go through the trees. You could just as easily say "the rain fell through the trees" or "the airplane crashed through the trees." And to me "the sunlight fell through the trees" implies not just sight but also touch. (Probably because I have cats who like to curl up in the warm patches.)

You can also say "the music drifted through the air," because sound (like light) is a wave that actually moves through the air. Or "the perfume wafted through the air."

So it's not because "people assume you're seeing it." It's because waffles don't fly. if you said "the waffles drifted through the air," the point I would understand was that you were on a spaceship—it's not relevant whether you saw them, heard them, or felt them. If you mean that you smelled them, then it's the smell that's drifting. If you mean you heard them (err, that doesn't work with waffles--how about Rice Krispies?) then it's the sound of the Rice Krispies that's drifting through the air. Now, if there were a hologram on a moving base, then you could have the image of whatever drifting through the air.

Maybe you were trying to make a different point, but I don't think the sunlight and waffles make the point you want to make. Because, as I said, sunlight goes through the trees, in a literal sense (well, in the most strictly literal sense it goes between the spaces in the branches/leaves/whatever). But waffles do not literally drift through the air. However, the smell does literally drift through the air.