Spring mornings are so full of freshness, shards of sparkling sunshine dance on the windows & there’s a sense of “newy newness” in the air. After the dreary drudge of a cold Winter, Spring brings a very welcome & refreshing change. Outside, bursts of beautiful blossoms are emerging from their buds, swathes of leaves suddenly appearing as if overnight & birds are belting out their latest songs, as they flit & flutter amongst the trees. It’s as if we’ve awoken from a deep slumber, like a fairytale Princess in an enchanted castle. I do appreciate not all mornings are fresh coffee & fairytale fabulousness, however this airy light breakfast can brighten even the dullest of days.
As you probably know by now, mornings are my favourite time, perfect for baking, caking & for whipping up a wonderfully easy breakfast à deux – French Toast! Known as Pain Perdu by our French cousins, it means “lost bread” or bread that would otherwise be discarded & is a delightful way to turn lost bread into loveliness. This is my take on the classic French Toast – delicately crispy outside, fluffy inside & thoroughly delicious, accompanied by a pile of fresh berries & warm orange syrup for dipping. There are days when I cook a savoury version of this too, but more about that later!
Everyone has their own level of cooking confidence & this is a really easy recipe for both beginners & seasoned cooks. There is a little pre-cooking prep, but it’s all done by hand & definitely no fancy equipment is needed – well, apart from a tea strainer (that’s as fancy as it gets). Are you ready to bake it happen? Hands washed, aprons on & here we go!
What you need:
4 Large Free Range Eggs
4 Slices Thick Cut Bread (a couple of days old is best), cut into quarters
Half a teaspoon Vanilla Extract (the proper stuff, not “essence”)
100g Salted Butter
4 Medium Oranges or 3 Oranges & 2 Mandarins (whatever you’ve got)
Half a Lemon
1 generous Tablespoon Golden Syrup
Handful of Fresh Raspberries & Blueberries (washed)
Handful of Fresh Strawberries (washed)
What to do:
First, let’s make the orange syrup for dipping. Cut the oranges in half & using a fork, squish out the juice from each orange half into a small saucepan (don’t worry about pips & pith, we’ll deal with that shortly). Repeat with the half lemon. Keep the leftover peels for the composter (they make great soil).
Next, add the syrup & then gently heat the sauce on the stove, carefully stirring until the syrup has melted into the juice.
Get two ramekins or small cups & a tea-strainer, then slowly pour the liquid into the strainer over each cup. This removes any pith & pips that fell into the pan – pop them with the peels for composting. Leave to one side to cool.
Now to prep the fruit! After washing your raspberries & blueberries, pop them onto a dry cloth or kitchen paper, pick up the corners & give them a little shake. This removes the excess water without bashing your berries too much. Share them between a couple of small dishes.
Wash & dry the strawberries the same way, then remove the leaves & stalk (hulling). I like to get a drinking straw for this process – push the straw up through the pointy end of the strawberry & the stalk & leaves will pop out like a mini tree from the top. Again, these can go in the composter. Slice the strawberries into quarters & add to the other berries. Although I’ve used berries here, you can use whatever fruit you like – tinned peaches, pears, apricots, pineapple, bananas, grapes, they all work fabulously.
Next is the egg mixture for the bread. Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl with the vanilla extract & whisk by hand until fluffy & foamy. Keep the whisk at the side when done, you’ll need it again.
Place a frying pan on a medium-high heat & add a quarter of the butter to melt. Take the first two slices of bread quarters & dip each one in the egg mixture, then place in the pan immediately.
After about a minute, give the pan a little shake to loosen them, then turn them over (they should be nicely golden underneath). Add another quarter of the butter to the pan & give everything another little shake, so the butter gets all around the toast.
Cook for a further minute, flip it over & if it’s golden, then it’s ready (if you like it a little more cooked, give it a few more seconds until you’re happy with it). Tip onto a plate & set aside.
Return the pan to the heat, add another quarter of the butter & before dipping the next lot of bread, just give the egg mixture a quick whisk to fluff it up, then repeat the steps above.
Pop your French toast on a serving plate, with the dishes of orange juice dip & fresh fruit – et voilà, it’s ready to eat!
If you prefer your toast a bit sweeter, add your own twist by dusting with a little powdered icing sugar or cinnamon before serving. That’s it, tuck in while it’s still warm! If you want to fancy up your French toast, try using day old croissants or even fruit bread & swap out the syrup for warm chocolate sauce (a very easy dessert for after dinner sweetness).
And for those who like their syrup a little extra zingy, try adding about a teaspoonful of grated fresh ginger to the juice before heating – perfect for adding a little spice to your syrup. This also makes great shots to brighten your morning – try adding the juice of two extra oranges, a whole lemon instead of half & when cooled, pour into little glasses (it freezes well too, so you can make it in advance in ice cube trays).
Fancy a savoury slice instead of sweet? Leave out the vanilla & add a pinch of sea salt & black pepper to the egg mixture, then fry in olive oil instead of butter.
This works really well with seeded bread too, adding a little extra crunch to each bite. I like to serve this version with a quick homemade brown sauce for dipping – stir a good splash or two of Balsamic vinegar into 4 tablespoons of tomato ketchup, add a pinch of pepper & that’s it!
However you like it, whether it’s a birthday, holiday or just a Tuesday, this delicious delicacy is a fabulously fragrant treat anytime! Stay hungry! Aimee 😉 x
The seasons have started to shift, it’s almost as if you can taste it in the air, as we swap long lazy Summer days for softer sunsets & cosy nights. Hot-headed August has passed the baton to sultry September, bringing with her the bountiful & beautiful beginnings of a delicious Autumn. There is nothing as therapeutic as an early morning meander in the countryside, especially during September! Gloriously gorgeous berries adorn the brambles & hedgerows, while trees are groaning under the weight of their fruity loot. Nature is amazing, turning tiny Spring blossoms into an Autumnal array of plump berries & fragrant fruits, with a little help from her pollinator peeps of course!
Firstly, we’re going to make the plum compote. Half the fruit, carefully remove the stones (you can put them in the composter). Set aside a few plums in a dish, cover & pop in the fridge to keep them firm for later (these will be for your topping).
Gently heat until the sugar dissolves into the water, carefully nudging everything around the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula. Bring to a boil & simmer gently for about 15 minutes on a medium heat, stirring regularly to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. It should reduce to a sunset-coloured jammy syrup that smells like Autumn.
Turn down the heat, remove the spices & orange strips, then a
Roll out the pastry a couple of inches larger than your tin & about half a centimetre thick. Lay it carefully over your rolling pin & gently lift onto the baking tin, allowing it to drape into the middle. Push it into the edges gently, so that it covers the entire base & sides of your tin evenly.
Grab a bit of greaseproof paper, screw it up to make it easier to shape to your tin & then loosely place on top of your pastry. Tip some baking beads or dry pasta shapes onto the paper, spreading them all across the top & filling the pastry case.
Tip the Mascarpone cheese, double cream, Greek yoghurt, lemon curd & vanilla extract into a large mixing bowl & briefly whisk together until thick & fluffy. It’s going to be piped on top of your dessert, so it needs to be thick enough to do so. If it’s too thick, add a little more Greek yoghurt to loosen a little (a couple of teaspoons should do the trick). Once you’re happy, pop the bowl in the fridge to chill.
Now for those pretty plum slices we made earlier! Place the slices skin-side up at intermittent gaps across the top, like shards of sunshine peeking through the clouds. Add a couple of mint leaves at intervals – you don’t need many, just a few will do. Pop your dessert in the fridge for about ten minutes or so.
This delicious dessert would make a pretty Autumnal centrepiece for a special dinner or celebration. Refreshingly tangy, softly spiced plum compote, crowned with a feather-light fluffy cloud of Mascarpone cream & fresh plums, all sat atop a crisp, melt-in-the-mouth pastry base. If you have any of that delicious plum compote left over, it’s a magical multi-tasker – it tastes rather lovely spread on hot buttered toast, or try a spoonful with a few slices of cheese & crackers too.
Weekends are perfect for baking & I especially adore Sunday mornings! It’s as if time stands still, those precious couple of hours when it’s just you, your cup of coffee calmness & the birds singing outside. Although I do love baking anytime, there’s a ravishingly relaxing appeal about weekend baking – up & at ’em early, whipping up a batch of bakes, their heavenly scent perfuming the whole house while everyone sleeps. Plus, we all have those days where only cake will do, even for breakfast. This is one of my favourite family “weekend baking” recipes & it fills that cake-shaped gap we sometimes have.
When I wrote this recipe, I wanted the fluffiness of a cupcake combined with the moist fruitiness of a muffin, so I created my brown sugar cuffins – no, that’s not a spelling error! My cuffins are just what Sunday mornings need – a delicious cupcake-muffin hybrid that’s a little bit lazy & fabulously faff-free. There’s not a drop of oil in sight, definitely no buttercream & there’s more whisking than stirring (electric whisking too, so very little effort required). They’re not going to win any awards for their supermodel looks either – cuffins are meant to be gloriously rustic homemade fayre, rather than delicate dainty perfection. Over the years, I’ve used different fillings (raspberry & white chocolate is always popular), but these are my favourite version. I’ll admit, they’re not the healthiest option, but they are exquisitely satisfying & if you do eat them for breakfast, you’ve got the whole day to burn off those calories!
The recipe below makes a dozen cuffins, although I like to bake double this amount & freeze some for future cuffin cravings (it’s real, trust me!). Ready to bake it happen? Hands washed, aprons on & here we go!
Leave them for a couple of minutes, until the syrup has soaked nicely into the top of each cuffin. If you allow to cool completely, you can freeze them in small batches using a bag or air-tight container. They take a few minutes to defrost on a cooling rack & will still be as moist & fluffy as when you first baked them – perfect for when you crave a cake, but don’t want to bake!
Before the rest of the family get up, go pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, grab a cuffin or two & indulge in a little cakely goodness before you start your day! Stay hungry! Aimee 😉 x