Tag Archives: Breakfast

Jul25

I’m not dead, I swear…

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I’m not dead, I swear…

It has been yet another wonderfully busy, short summer. I did “my time” working at summer camp again which kept me from having the spare time to blog, so I have some catching up to do. I can’t say I didn’t have time to cook, because that is pretty much all I did for five weeks. However that cooking was in bulk… for upwards of 140 people a week. The only food pictures I took this summer were quick shots with my iPhone and nothing to write home about.

I am though, working on a menu for Sunday dinner today. We will be having a small family celebration of my daughter’s 14th birthday. Traditionally we are on vacation when her birthday comes (as we are again this year) but we like to have a little meal with the family. Today’s menu, at her majesty’s request, includes:

  • London Broil: Montreal Steak Seasoned and Grilled
  • Seasoned Potato Wedges
  • Roasted Vegetables
  • Caesar Salad

and for dessert:

Photos: (iPhone shots of my summer camp Friday morning baking routine. Yes, we serve breakfast in bed.)

Jun20

Cinnamon Brunch Cake

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Cinnamon Brunch Cake

Cinnamon Brunch cake

 

This cake originates from a cake mix that is doctored to produce a wonderful breakfast dessert. The recipe comes from Duncan Hines Cake Mix Magic Cookbook that a friend loaned me. I prepared the cake this morning because I was bored… actually I woke early and decided to bake. Plus I thought it would be a nice Father’s day treat. The cake is dense, yet moist. I didn’t have almonds so I used recently picked Georgia Pecans.

Incidentally, I am excited to use my new cupcake plate. I actually painted it myself during a recent visit to a local pottery store with my youngest. I love the way it turned out!

Cinnamon Brunch Cake

Duncan Hines Cake Mix Magic, page 82

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 cup fine chopped almonds (pecans)
  • 1 box white cake mix
  • 1 box instant vanilla pudding (4 serving size)
  • 4 eggs
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil (see note)
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp almond extract (I used vanilla)

Directions:

Pre heat the oven to 350. Spray a 10 inch Bundt pan with baking spray.

Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, set aside. Sprinkle nuts evenly in the bottom of the Bundt pan. Combine the remaining ingredients and beat for two minutes.

Spread half of the batter in the pan and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over batter. Pour remaining batter into pan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool about 15 minutes and remove from pan.

Glaze cake if desired. To prepare glaze, combine 1 cup of confectioner sugar with 1 – 2 tablespoons of milk. Stir until desired pouring consistency.

Note: To reduce some of the oil, I suggest using 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce, 1/2 cup of oil, and 1/2 cup of water. Or any combination of this reaching 1 1/2 cups of liquid. The applesauce renders a moister crumb.

May22

Brunch Sweets

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Brunch Sweets

Quite a while back I made a breakfast roll with just a few ingredients. I wanted to post it again since it is such an easy sweet addition to breakfast or brunch, especially for a small group. The first time I made it, the recipe originated from a great food blog ~ My Kitchen Snippets ~ a blog worthy of bookmarking… check it out.

I prepared the roll with apples and cream cheese. I suppose any fruit that goes with cream cheese would be a great substitute. For the original recipe and great illustrations, click here.

Fruit & Cream Cheese Loaf

Ingredients :

  • 6 oz cream cheese
  • 1 egg, separated
  • 3 tbsp of powder sugar
  • 1/2 cup apple pie filling with cinnamon
  • 1 (11 oz) tube of bread stick dough

Glaze:

  • 1/2 cup of powder sugar
  • 2 – 3 tbsp milk

Directions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

In a bowl combined soft cream cheese, powder sugar and egg yolk. Mix until well combined.

Unroll and separate the dough into two rectangles. On a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet, place the rectangles horizontally and press the steam together. Spread cream cheese mixture onto the center of the dough then dollop the fruit filling evenly over the cream cheese. Separate the dough perforations up to the cheese mixture (You might need a scissors for this) Slightly pull and stretch the dough strips. Start from one end of the loaf and alternate pulling the dough strips over the filling to form a “braid”. Make sure to tuck and seal both ends of the loaf.

Beat the egg white and brush it all over the loaf, sprinkle with sugar if desired. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown, remove and allow to cool.

For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp milk, adding more for desired consistency. Whisk until smooth. Drizzle all over the cool loaf before serving.

(Original recipe was posted on January 25, 2009)

Feb15

Grands Pull Apart Rolls

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Grands Pull Apart Rolls

Grands Pull Apart Rolls

Ok, so I have been monkey bread crazy lately, but hey, it’s an easy way to impress people with a rich and decadent dessert. This one is basically the same recipe as the Monkey Bread I just posted recently, except it uses Pillsbury’s Grands Cinnamon Rolls versus regular biscuits. It also is coated with the icing that comes with the rolls. Using cinnamon rolls to make monkey bread is kind of like using ganache on cupcakes verses frosting. Oh, and let me tell you the aroma of this baking is to die for. Two words here, “Eat Me”.

Grands Pull Apart Rolls (aka Monkey Bread)

Recipe adapted about a thousand times from Pillsbury

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1  teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 cans Grands Cinnamon Rolls

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine butter and brown sugar and stir until smooth. In a small bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Slice cinnamon rolls in quarters and roll each in the cinnamon sugar mixture and place in greased bundt pan. Pour butter mixture over sliced rolls.

Bake for 40 – 45 minutes. The rolls are done when it is firm or “springy” when pressed. *Watch for over-browning of top rolls. You can place a sheet of foil loosely on the top if needed.

Before icing - look at the gooey brown sugar!

Jan23

Monkey Bread

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Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread

It’s been a while since I posted on Monkey Bread (March of 09 to be exact), but I make it several times a month. With only 5 ingredients, even the simplest of bakers can create it. There are quite a few variations on how to prepare the bread, but I think the end result is almost always the same.

If you are looking for a melt in your mouth/sink to your buns recipe, try this OMG Cinnamon Roll Cake too.

Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

  • 2 rolls (8 count each) refrigerated biscuits
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the inside of a 12″ fluted or tube pan with cooking spray.

Remove biscuits and separate. Slice each into quarters. Combine sugar and cinnamon in bowl or large Ziploc bag. Roll biscuits in cinnamon sugar and arrange in baking pan. (If using a bag, drop several biscuits at a time in the bag and shake to cover.)

Combine melted butter and brown sugar, stir until smooth. Pour evenly over biscuits.

Bake for 28 – 32 minutes, or until the center is no longer doughy. I often lightly cover the pan with foil during the last 10 or 15 minutes to prevent the top from over browning. Another way I check for “doneness” is to tap on the top of the bread with my finger. If it is soft and does not spring back, it needs a few more minutes.

Jun21

Sock it to Me Honey

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Sock it to Me Honey

 

Sock it to me

The last time I posted (which seems like forever-ago) it was the Honey Bun Cake. In the mean time, I have been very active working at a summer camp. Of the hats I wear there, one is helping in the kitchen. So much of my time has been consumed with feeding 100 plus people three times a day. Back on track though to the Honey Bun Cake. My dad asked me to make something for him to take to church. The class he attends employs what I might consider people of older persuasion (ha ha). So I didn’t want to just give him a 9 x 13 pan to take. Enter the Sock it to Me Cake. Essentially it is the Honey Bun Cake, aka Cinnamon Roll Cake, aka… baked in a Bundt pan. Same cake, more formal look.

I don’t have any internal pictures of the cake, but seeing that I received an empty container, I figured it must have been pretty good. My dad thought sure he’d bring leftovers home… he says most of the time they just “nibble” in his class. I might bake another one, just so I could see what the inside looked like!

I made some very minor alterations on the cake to ensure the moisture in the cake. I don’t know why… it was cleaned out while still warm… but anyway. I shopped around quite a few recipes and thought these changes would be nice. I have underlined my changes.

Sock It to Me Cake

Cake:

  • 1 yellow or butter cake mix
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup oil
  • 1/4 cup applesauce
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons vanilla (I forgot to add this!)

Filling:

  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons reserved cake mix

Icing:

  • 3 tablespoons butter, very soft
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 – 3 tablespoons milk (more may be needed)

Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a Bundt pan with baking spray.

Combine the filling ingredients and set aside. Many recipes call for 1 cup of pecans, but I don’t like nuts…

Combine all of the cake ingredients and stir until smooth, (most of the lumps should be gone). Pour one half of the cake batter into the pan and top with the brown sugar filling. Carefully spread the filling over the batter. I try to leave a little space around the outside of the cake. Top with remaining batter and place in the oven. Bake for 50 minutes, slightly longer maybe, but mine was perfect at 50. A toothpick should come out clean.

Let stand in cake pan about 10 minutes then transfer to serving dish. While the cake is cooling, prepare icing. Combine all of the ingredients and stir until smooth. More milk and/or sugar may be added to desired consistency. Before icing, poke holes over top of cake with a thin skewer (this is to let the icing pervade the center of the cake, ensuring moisture). Pour icing over the top.

 Sock it to me 2

May24

Baked Potato Frittata

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Baked Potato Frittata

IMG_1040 copy2

Saturday morning is our “big breakfast” day. Usually we will have either pancakes, or some type of egg dish. Today I had some baked potatoes (from last night’s dinner) to use up. They were already seasoned and buttered, so I just chopped them and used my hash brown frittata recipe to finish the dish. It’s basic and simple… and it’s gone.

*In addition to using the baked potatoes, I used 7 regular eggs instead of Egg Beaters. Topped it out with sour cream and salsa.

IMG_1041 copy

May9

Scratch & Sniff: Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

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Scratch & Sniff: Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

IMG_0625 copy 3

IMG_0609 copy 1

I was too tired to go to the grocery store, so we had to settle for whatever the pantry would provide…  This is how most of the dinners went this week. Sadly, there were not a lot of choices. On nights like this, I often resort to breakfast for dinner… enter, the pancake. Pancakes are never refused in this house, and I enjoy “mixing up” the flavor just for fun. As a last minute idea, I sauteed some thin sliced apples and placed them on top of the cinnamon pancake batter. The combination of cinnamon, sugar and apples was tremendous. It reminded me of a snickerdoodle. Here’s how I did it:

BTW, if the ease of preparation doesn’t convince you, the aroma of cinnamon sugar and apples will.

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes

Ingredients:

  • Pancake batter (your preference)
  • 2 medium apples, thinly sliced
  • Cinnamon sugar
  • Syrup
  • Whipped topping

Directions:

Sprinkle some cinnamon and sugar over sliced apples. Spray a small fry pan with butter spray and saute the apples until they begin to soften. Meanwhile, prepare your favorite pancake batter. Add cinnamon sugar to taste. On a hot griddle or fry pan, pour equal amounts of pancake batter and top with an apple slice, pressing down just slightly, but not covering the apple. Continue to cook the pancake as normal, flipping only once. Serve with syrup, powdered sugar and whipped cream if desired.  

Notes:

  1. I have found that it works better to place the apple slices on top of the batter, versus pouring the batter over the slices.
  2. I didn’t measure the cinnamon and sugar. I rarely do. I have trained my nose to measure certain seasonings.