Baked French Toast! (aka Bread & Butter Pudding)

Growing up I hands-down hated bread and butter pudding. It was boring & bland & covered in sultanas (which I am most definitely NOT a fan of). Whenever it was on the menu, I was suddenly full after dinner and couldn't fit in another spoon full.

It wasn't until a couple years ago, when I saw the Pioneer Woman's recipe that I thought it was worth giving it a try. Her recipe (thank god) did not contain sultanas. When I tried it I was bowled over, it takes just like french toast! Here is my adapted version of the recipe -

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups milk
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 to 5 cups sourdough bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/3 cup nuts, chopped finely - pecans, walnuts or slivered almonds are my favourite
1 tsp cinnamon sugar
Maple syrup & thickened cream to serve

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 160C. Lightly grease a large pie baking dish or a 9 inch regular baking dish.

2. Beat together eggs, butter, vanilla, milk & sugar. Mix until all the sugar has dissolved.

3. Arrange your bread cubes tightly in the baking dish, keeping the crusts facing upwards around the rim. Pour the wet ingredients over the bread. Top with nuts & sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the top. Bake in the oven for 55 - 70 minutes or until crust is golden on top. You'll notice the bread puffs up whilst cooking.

4. Drizzle the pudding with maple syrup, serve with thickened cream.


Sunny xx

Nigella's Breakfast Berry Cheesecakelets

This was a Nigella recipe that I saw on the food network. I LOVE cheesecake so we were really keen to try these out. Dale scoffed these down. They are a pancake that tastes like a piece of cheesecake. The texture is a little unusual, with the cottage cheese being slightly stringy, but it’s definitely yummy.

Cheesecakelets:
1 cup cottage cheese
1/3 cup plain flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or 2 tablespoons vanilla essence)
3 eggs
2 tablespoons caster sugar

1. Separate 3 eggs. Add caster sugar, vanilla and cottage cheese and mix well. Add the flour & mix until combined.
2. Whisk the egg whites until foamy and no longer completely transparent. Fold both batters together.
3. Heat a non-stick pan to medium-high heat. Cook cheesecakelets as you would a pancake. When flipping, use a trusted spatula & flip with confidence! Serve immediately with strawberries and (my favourite) maple syrup.

Serve with one of these yummy condiments:

Balsamic Strawberries (this is my favourite):

1 punnet fresh strawberries (approximately 7 regular sized strawberries)
1 tablespoon balsamic
1 teaspoon caster sugar

Remove green leafy section of strawberries & cut in half. Place in a bowl with balsamic & sugar. Mix well and leave to macerate for at least 10 minutes.

Maple Blueberry Syrup (this is Dale’s favourite):

1 cup blueberries (I used frozen but you could use fresh if you have any!)
½ cup Maple Syrup

Place blueberries and maple syrup in a saucepan. Bring to the boil for 2-3 minutes & then pour into a jug & serve.

Sunny xx

Breakfast!

It is Saturday morning, Dale has left for work & I have settled in for a day of pre-easter-celebration cooking, cleaning & Poirot! This morning I made perfectly fried eggs on toasted turkish bread with chives on top and bacon on the side. It was scrumdiddlyumptious!

Have a great long weekend! Sunny xx

Microwave Scrambled Eggs

When I was a teenager, I was very fortunate to go to church with a very accomplished chef and musician. Of all the things he taught me about music, the main lesson I learnt from Jeff was how to cook scrambled eggs in the microwave. I know – a wealth of information in front of me and what do I remember? Scrambled eggs!

This is the easiest method I have ever come across & the washing up is minimal. This is also a great way to teach your teens how to cook their own breakfast on a Sunday morning!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
4 large free range eggs
¼ cup light cream
1 tablespoon butter

Method:

1. Crack eggs into a microwave safe bowl, I use a plastic one so that it doesn’t get too hot to hold. Add cream and whisk (or beat thoroughly with a fork) until completely combined & foamy. Add the butter and stir through.

2. Place the bowl into a microwave (making sure you take out your fork!!) and cook for 2 minutes. Check eggs – they should be half cooked & half runny. Mix eggs, breaking up any large parts.

3. Place eggs back in microwave and cook for a further 1 minute. Check. If they are cooked to your liking, serve. If not, cook in 30 second lots until done to your liking.

These are Dale’s favourite eggs & he loves them with a side of bacon, a hash brown & a drizzle of truffle oil on top! Another thing we love to do with these eggs is to make egg & bacon sandwiches with them. Here’s how:

1. Cook your eggs.

2. In a sandwich press, lay out your bacon and shut the lid – cooking for about 2 – 3 minutes (depending on how you like your bacon & how hot your sandwich press gets).

3. Butter two pieces of bread and layer some bacon & scrambled eggs on each – be sure not to over fill. Cook in sandwich press until bread is golden brown. Serve with a coffee!

We often make these when we have a long drive ahead of us. We wrap them in grease proof paper, pour our coffees into our individual thermoses & hit the road!

Enjoy, Sunny xx

Baked Eggs with Spicy Sweet Beans

I first saw this recipe on Better Homes & Gardens (a lifestyle show in Australia) on a week night after work & it looked super yummy so I wrote down the recipe & put it in my ‘to-do’ folder. The idea of eating anything with curry powder in it for breakfast seemed weird to me, but I thought I’d trust the smart people at Better Homes & Gardens to know what they were doing.

In the end the curry powder was really understated, adding to the flavours but not giving it a ‘curry’ flavour which I was super happy about. These also weren’t what I would call spicy which, not being a massive fan of heat, I was thankful for. However, if you were into that kind of thing – you could always add a pinch of chilli flakes to the recipe.

Now, some of you just scrolled down to see the large list of ingredients & thought ‘screw that!!’ but don’t freak out, you’ll find most of these are already in your cupboard! Plus if you make the beans the night before you can cut down the cooking time from 40 minutes to 10 minutes in the morning. This is a fantastic idea for a brunch with friends, to feed your hungry family or when you have house guests who expect breakfast in the morning!

Serves 6 - Don’t be fooled by the portions looking small, these little babies are VERY filling! Plus you’ll be serving it with loads of soft, fresh bread.

Ingredients:

1 small onion, finely diced
1 leek (the whites only), finely diced
1 teaspoon crushed garlic
1 can cannellini beans
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
5-6 sprigs of fresh thyme (if using dried, only ½ tsp)
1tbsp tomato paste
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 ½ tbsp raw sugar (you can use caster sugar if you don’t have raw)
1 ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
6 eggs
6 tbsp cream
6 tbsp oil
2 extra sprigs of fresh thyme
Fresh bread for dipping

Method:

1. Heat a medium sized saucepan to high heat, adding a dash of olive oil. Cook onions, leeks and garlic for 3 minutes. Drain the can of cannellini beans.

2. Add the curry powder and mustard to the onion mix. Pull the leaves off the thyme springs and add to the onions. Discard stems. Thoroughly mix spices through the onion mix and season with salt. Cook for 30 seconds, then add the cannellini beans.

3. Place tomato paste and crushed tomatoes to the beans. Stir then add the sugar and cider vinegar. Add 125mls water & bring to a simmer. Turn to a low simmer for 20-25 minutes.

*If making the beans the night before, decant into a bowl, cover & refrigerate overnight*

4. Spoon 2 tbsp of beans into each ramekin. Make a hole/well in the middle of the beans and crack an egg into the hole. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Spoon 1 tbsp cream and 1 tbsp oil over each egg. Top each ramekin with the leaves of a sprig of thyme. Cook in a pre-heated 200° Celsius oven (400°F) for 4-5 minutes or until eggs are set. Serve immediately with dipping bread.

Sunny xx

Bourke Street Bakery

Check out my post on The Life of Sunny about the Bourke Street Bakery!

x Sunny x

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

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

Pancake Thursday!

Picture provided by taste.

I just adore pancakes on a sunday morning! Pancakes are so budget friendly and take only a couple minutes to whip up. I used to make mounds of them on a saturday morning after a big night when I would wake up to 5 - 8 men asleep on my loungeroom floor & really really hungry! So here is my fool proof recipe...

Ingredients

2 cups Plain flour (if you like thin pancakes) or Self raising flour (if you like fluffly pancakes)
1 ½ cups Milk
1 Egg
2 tbs White sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence
30g Butter melted

Method

~Sift flour into a mixing bowl. Add milk, egg, suga, vanilla essence & melted butter and mix for a couple of minutes. Dont worry if there are still a few lumps here and there.
~Heat a non stick frypan on medium & melt a little more butter in it. Cook pancakes one at a time for a minute or two each side (depending on how big you are making them).
~Eat.

Its so simple, and I really dont know what people still buy the packet mix where you just add water when it only takes you a minute or two extra and costs you a fraction of the price!

My favourite Variations

~ Put some choclate chips into the batter and serve with ice cream for dessert.
~ Sandwich pancakes with a vanilla cheese cake mixture by mixing cream cheese with a few tbs sugar and a tbs vanilla extract.
~ Serve with mixed berries, whipped cream & maple syrup.
~ Serve with a bit of lemon juice on top & a sprinkle of caster sugar.

Now go forth and eat pancakes!

Love & kisses on both cheeks,
Sunny xxx