Start the day on a bright note with a special breakfast.
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Menu
Egg & Chive Parmesan Brulees
Cranberry & Coconut Bircher Muesli
Peach & Cinnamon Danish Pastries
Fruit Salad with Lime & Vanilla Syrup
Fruity French Toast with Orange & Honey Bananas
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Work plan:
- 1-2 days ahead: Make syrup for the fruit salad.
- Night before: Prepare oat mixture for muesli. Cook brulees. Bake Danish pastries. Assemble fruit salad.
- 1-2 hours ahead: Prepare apple and mint for bircher muesli. Whisk egg mixture for French toast.
- Close to serving: Arrange muesli in serving bowls. Reheat Danish pastries in oven. Cook bacon and reheat brulees in microwave. Fry French toast and bananas.
Web exclusive: Spiced Chocolate Coffee
Combining coffee and chocolate with spices and a hint of orange makes a delicious, easy pick-me-up drink.
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¼ cup instant coffee powder
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2 tablespoons hot chocolate or drinking chocolate powder
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1 tablespoon raw sugar
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1 teaspoon mixed spice
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2 strips orange peel, removed with a vege peeler (no pith)
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1 cinnamon stick
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1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
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To serve:
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Boiling water
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Softly whipped cream
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Ground cinnamon |
Place all ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Leave for at least a few hours to allow flavours to mingle (the oils in the orange peel may create some lumps in the mixture but this won’t affect the flavour).
To serve, place 2 teaspoons of the mixture in a mug or cup and top with boiling water. Spoon or pour some cream on top and sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. Makes 8-10 drinks
Egg and Chive Parmesan Brulees
Not a true brulee, perhaps, but delicious all the same, this dish is best baked just before serving. However, if you need to be super-organised, the brulees can be made ahead and gently reheated in a microwave while the bacon cooks.
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4 eggs plus 2 extra yolks
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1 cup cream
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2/3 cup milk
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Sea salt to taste
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2 tablespoons chopped chives
½ cup grated parmesan
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To serve:
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8 rashers streaky bacon
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Parmesan shavings and extra chives for garnish
To serve:
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Preheat oven to 180°C. Beat eggs and extra yolks, cream, milk and salt until combined. Strain mixture through a sieve into a jug and stir in chives.
Pour mixture into 4 greased ramekins (about 1-cup capacity). Place ramekins in a roasting dish and fill dish with enough very hot water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until egg mixture is puffed and semi-set. Sprinkle parmesan on top and cook for a further 5 minutes or until golden and set.
Remove ramekins from water bath and set aside somewhere warm while cooking bacon.
Swirl bacon rashers into rosettes and place on a lined baking tray. Bake 8-10 minutes until crispy.
Garnish brulees with parmesan and chives and serve with bacon on the side. Serves 4.
Cranberry and Coconut Bircher Muesli
This nutritious cereal includes oats, fruits and nuts. Begin making it the night before so the oats have time to soak.
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2 cups rolled oats
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½ cup dried cranberries
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½ cup thread coconut
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½ cup diced dried apple slices
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2 cups apple juice
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1 cup Greek yoghurt
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1 green-skinned apple
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2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
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4-5 mint leaves, shredded
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¼ cup pistachios, chopped |
Combine oats, cranberries, coconut and dried apple. Stir in apple juice, cover and chill overnight.
The next morning, fold in yoghurt. Slice apple into thin rings then into fine strips and toss in lemon juice.
Serve muesli topped with apple, mint and a scattering of pistachios. Serves 4-6 (makes about 5 cups).
Peach and Cinnamon Danish Pastries
This is a very quick, very easy “cheat’s” version of the Scandinavian speciality. The pastries can be assembled a few hours ahead and kept in the fridge until ready to cook, or baked ahead then reheated the next day in a hot oven.
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2 sheets butter puff pastry
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1 egg
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2 tablespoons milk
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410g can peach slices, drained (or use fresh peaches in season)
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About ¼ cup cinnamon sugar (Cinnamon sugar is available from supermarkets or you can make your own by combining ¼ cup caster sugar with ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon.) |
Preheat oven to 190°C fan bake. Cut each pastry sheet into 6 even squares (to do this it will be necessary to trim and discard a little off one side of each sheet).
Whisk egg and milk together to make an egg wash. Brush squares with egg wash and place 2-3 peach slices across each square diagonally. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Fold 2 diagonal corners of each pastry square across the peaches so they overlap and seal with a little egg wash. Brush tops with more egg wash and sprinkle with more sugar.
Place pastries on a lined tray and bake 8-10 minutes until golden and puffed. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly before serving. Makes 12.
Fruit Salad with Lime and Vanilla Syrup
Limes and kaffir lime leaves give this fruit salad a lovely fresh flavour. To prepare the lime leaves, fold them in half lengthways and cut off and discard the central rib, then cut the remaining leaf as finely as possible.
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- 1 cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthways
- 2 limes, juice and finely grated zest
- 2-3 kaffir lime leaves, cut very finely
- 4 gold kiwifruit
- 2 pears
- ½ rock melon
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Place water, sugar and vanilla in a small pan and simmer 5 minutes or until a light syrup. Take off heat, remove vanilla bean and scrape seeds back into syrup. Cool then add lime juice, zest and lime leaves.
Peel and slice kiwifruit, pears and melon and gently toss with syrup in a large bowl. To serve, spoon fruit into serving glasses and pour over any remaining syrup from bowl. Serves 4-6.
Fruity French Toast with Orange and Honey Bananas
This impressive cafe-style dish needs to be cooked just before serving but it takes just a few minutes if you’re organised.
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- 2 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Butter for frying
- 4 large slices thick-cut gourmet fruit bread
- 2 firm ripe bananas, halved lengthways
- 1 orange, juice and finely grated zest
- ½ cup liquid honey
- Ricotta or Greek yoghurt to serve
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Whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla. Heat a little butter in a heavy pan. Dip bread slices in egg mixture to coat then cook 1-2 minutes each side until golden. Set aside somewhere warm.
Add a little more butter to pan and sear bananas until golden. Add orange juice, zest and honey and heat through until bananas are soft. To serve, cut bread slices in half and stack on warmed plates. Top with ricotta and warm bananas. Drizzle syrup over. Serves 4.
Story: Jo Wilcox
Photographs: Melanie Jenkins
Stylist: Claudia Kozub
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