The Perfect Sunday Breakfast

Sunday mornings were made for eating fantastic breakfasts, lazing around in your pajamas & doing relaxing activities like having picnics & reading your favourite book. But what classifies as a fantastic breakfast? For starters it helps if it's aesthetically pleasing - set out on a tray, on gorgeous serving ware with a special touch like a flower or beautiful cloth napkin.

My idea's of a perfect breakfast are:

- The classic: Eggs, bacon & a hash brown

- Eggs Benedict - the one breakfast I never cook at home!

- Waffles or pancakes with maple syrup & a good quality vanilla bean ice cream

- Fresh strawberries & vanilla yogurt perhaps with a piece of oatmeal slice (recipe to come!)

- Asparagus, fried haloumi & a poached egg.

- Cinnamon toast

All these served with orange juice, your favourite tea/hot chocolate or coffee. These breakfasts will brighten up any day & make life endlessly fantastic!

Enjoy your weekend!

x Sunny x

Scones

Nearly everyone loves scones. Personally I think there is nothing better on a Sunday afternoon than sitting down to scones with cream and jam, a great tea (see my tea post for inspiration) and good friends! And they are so yummy that one is never enough... just ask my workmates who beg me to make them every Melbourne cup day! So for those who agree with me, here is my favourite recipe!

Ingredients:

4 cups Self Raising flour
300 ml Thickened Cream
350ml Lemonade

Method:

1. Sift flour into bowl and make a well in the middle.

2. Pour cream and lemonade into the well of flour.

3. Mix until it makes a firm dough

4. Roll out and cut into rounds with a scone or cookie cutter.

5. Bake at 180C in a fan forced oven (200C if not fan forced) for about 10 - 20 minutes depending on the size of the scones. When they are golden on the top and fully puffed up take them out of the oven and cool on a wire rack. TIP: Scones rise higher if you keep them close to each other when they cook!

6. Serve with your preferred condiments whilst scones are still warm.

7. Stuff face

Enjoy my darlings!

xSunnyx

Parmesan Chicken Tenders

Ingredients

1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup or about 250g), melted
1 cup dried bread crumbs
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt or chicken salt (which ever you have on hand)
A large pinch of dried Italian herb mix
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
600g (approx) Chicken Tenderloins

Method

1. Preheat oven to about 210/220 Celsius in a fan forced oven.

2. In a bowl, combine the minced garlic with the melted butter. In another bowl mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, salt, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Dip chicken pieces into garlic butter, then into crumb mixture to coat. Double crumb if you want a crunchier finish.

3. Place coated chicken pieces on to a baking dish. Try to leave a little room between each piece. Drizzle with remaining garlic butter and bake uncovered 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Note that the chicken will get much more browned on the bottom side than on the top.

Serves 4-6 - or two very hungry people :) Try it for yourselves and you'll see what I'm talking about!

xSunnyx

85 Degree Bakery, Chatswood

If you haven't been to 85 Degrees Bakery, then you haven't lived! Its full of carby, sugary goodness! Me & my friend Amanda frequent the Chatswood store (326 Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW, 2067) and every time we go we like to see if they have these adorable sheep & naughty bear cakes! I haven't tried one but they would totally make your birthday that much brighter!! One day I'm going to try make one at home... one day haha.

Basic Crepes

I was the very lucky recipient of a crepe maker for Christmas (it's basically a round fry pan thing) and have been eager to use it. It was a gift from my parents, and holds a lot of sentimental value to me as my grandma's most famous dish is her crepes & now I can recreate them in my own home!

So this morning I opened the box, made a couple batches of batter & got cooking! There were a few recipes for crepes online so I tried a couple different ones. I found a batter containing sugar made them a bit rubbery & another batter took forever to unlumpify. Just like Goldilocks & the three little bears, the third batter was just right! Perfect, in fact. This is my favourite crepe recipe & I found it on Taste.com (one of my favourite places to trawl for new recipes).

Ingredients:
1 cup (150g) plain flour, sifted
a pinch of salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups (310ml) milk
15g butter, melted


1. Place sifted flour & salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre. Use a whisk to mix together the eggs, milk & melted butter.

2. Pour milk mixture into flour & whisk until smooth. Cover & refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3. Heat your crepe maker or crepe pan to medium. Lightly grease with butter. Pour about 1/4 cup mixture on to your pan, spread out or swirl pan until batter is thinly covering most of the surface. Cook until golden, then flip & cook for another 30 seconds or so. Serve.

Suggested toppings:
- This morning I spread a bit of Nutino (Italian nutella) on my crepe, rolled it up & served it with whipped cream.
- Squeeze some lemon on top & sprinkle with sugar.
- Top with maple syrup & ice cream
- Serve with strawberries & whipped cream.
- Recreate yum cha Mango Pancakes by filling with mango & cream then rolling into a delicious package.

xSunnyx

My Favourite Chocolate Cake

(serves 8)

Ingredients:

200g butter, chopped
300g good-quality dark chocolate
1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup self-raising flour
pure icing sugar, to serve

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease a 6cm deep, 20cm (base) round cake pan. Line with baking paper.

2. Place butter, 200g chopped chocolate and hot water in a heatproof, microwave-safe bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH (100%) for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring every minute with a metal spoon, or until smooth.

3. Add cocoa to warm chocolate mixture. Stir until smooth. Stir in vanilla, caster sugar and egg. Sift flour over chocolate mixture. Stir gently to combine.

4. Pour half the batter into cake pan. Chop remaining chocolate and sprinkle half over batter. Top with remaining batter and chopped chocolate. Bake cake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre has moist crumbs clinging.

5. Allow cake to cool completely in pan. Remove and dust with icing sugar. Serve. This cake keeps well for up to 1 week stored in an airtight container lined with baking paper.

I hope you enjoy it as much as i do! i like to heat my slice in the microwave for 40 seconds and then top with cream or ice cream and suddenly nothing else in the world matters! Its quite a rich & moist cake so a little goes a long way!

Love and sunshine,

xSunnyx

Fried Brie

OK, let me start by saying - if you're on a diet, don't even look at this!

I have seen many fried brie recipes but never dared to go there... however Valli Little inspired me to give it a shot. I used one of her recipes but over time it has evolved into my own no-fuss version!

Remember with this recipe - a little goes a loooong way! I usually serve a couple small wedges next to a lightly dressed salad. And for the record - it's the sweet chili sauce that makes it, so please please please use it!

Ingredients:

2 cups breadcrumbs
2 tbs of either finely chopped fresh parsley or basil (or none if your not a herb person)
3 tbs plain flour
1 egg, beaten
2 tbs milk or cream (whichever you have on hand)
350g (approximately) of brie or Camembert cut into 8 small or 4 large wedges
Oil for frying - I use sunflower or vegetable but I've tried with olive and still tastes as good
Sweet chili sauce - my favourite brand is Trident.

Method:

1. Mix breadcrumbs & parsley together. Place breadcrumbs and flour in separate bowls (or plates). Whisk the egg & milk/cream in another bowl.

2. Toss wedges first in flour, then egg mixture, then in the breadcrumbs.

3. Place on a plate & chill in the fridge for 30 minutes (or up to four hours ahead).

4. Pour enough oil in a pan so that it reaches a few millimetres up the side. The oil should be hot enough that it turns a cube of bread golden in 30 seconds.

5. Fry the cheese on each side until golden. Drain briefly on paper towel. Serve immediately with sweet chili sauce.

I tend to flip back and forth between brie and Camembert (which ever is on sale) and it comes out perfect every time! This recipe makes enough for four people.

Valli recommends using Panko breadcrumbs, a coarse & light Japanese breadcrumb variety. Personally, I like the regular stuff :)

Enjoy my darlings!

xSunnyx