Category Archives: Breakfast
Chestnut Flour & Sweet Potato Muffins
When I first found chestnut flour here in Italy it was an absolute revelation. It is amazing – naturally sweet with a real toasty flavour. In its honour, and paying homage to my adoration of sweet potato, I created these gorgeous gluten-free, sugar-free muffins – they’ll stop you in your tracks!
There’s no need for any sweetener as the potato and chestnut are naturally sweet…if you’ve got a particularly sweet tooth add a little honey – get hold of chestnut flower honey you’ll be in heaven!.
Orange, Carrot, Ginger, Honey and Bran Muffins
Orange, Carrot, Ginger, Honey and Bran Muffins by Sarah (sorry no photo yet, but next time we make them).
Healthy Muffins (or so I would like to believe!). We haven’t used any sugar in this recipe, just honey, so try the mixture before you cook it as it may not be sweet enough for your taste buds. You can always add more!
Prep Time 15 mins
For the muffins:
250 g self raising flour
1 cube of fresh ginger, grated, or 1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tbsp mixed spice
3 tbsp honey (or more or less to taste)
1 tbsp treacle
100 ml milk
100 ml olive oil
2 large eggs (preferably home grown!)
3 carrots, grated
1 largish orange
1 cup of bran
For the topping:
125g sultans or raisins
1/2 packet cream cheese
small amount of icing sugar for topping
preheat oven to 180oC
1. Sieve flour into a large bowl. Add the mixed spices and ginger.
2. Beat eggs lightly and then beat in the milk, treacle, honey and olive oil.
3. Grate the carrots and orange zest and add to the dry mixture.
4. Stir in the bran and the sultanas.
5. Stir egg mixture into the flour mixture gently. The mixture should not
be too stiff or too runny, just add a little milk if too stiff.
6. Spoon out into 12 (approx) cake cases.
5. Bake on 180oC for about 20 minutes. You can test with a piece of
spaghetti to make sure they are cooked in the centre. It should come out
clean, with no bits of cake mixture stuck to it.
6. Mix the cream cheese with the icing sugar, or if being really healthy, more honey.
7. Leave muffins to cool and then ice with the frosting.
8. EAT!
We often substitute some of the ‘flavours’ for others. I think when in season, this recipe would be good with walnuts too.
PS If you can’t get treacle don’t worry, they are just as good without it, we just love the treacle flavour.
Alice’s Hearty Breakfast by Paula Ryan
Alice’s Hearty Breakfast
a slice of bread preferably wholemeal, not too thick
a heart shape cut out of the middle with cookie cutter
heat a desert spoon of butter and one of olive oil in frying pan on medium heat
pop in your bread slice (and the heart cutout separately)
break an egg into the heart
when the egg starts to set I flip it over as I don’t like runny eggs but that’s up to you
serve with the heart cutout on top of the egg.
(with a kiss on the top of the diner’s head for good measure)
Bread Pudding for the French Toast Lover by Amber
Bread Pudding for the French Toast loverThis recipe is adapted (but quite varied) from a poster named: andiesenji at http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?%2Ftopic%2F128208-extra-rich-bread-pudding-for-mock-french-toast%2F
I really, really liked this and will definitely do this again. It was my first time making bread pudding, and it was well worth it! My photography skills just do not do it justice!! and the creme fraiche topping kept sliding off. HA!
8 med eggs
3 cups milk
1 cup cream
2/3 cup sugar + more for coating
4 tablespoons brown sugar + more for coating
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
20-40 grates of fresh nutmeg (I only did 20 and it wasn’t enough.)
1/4 cup slivered almonds
Butter for frying and for coating pan.
8-9 cups of day old cinnamon raisin bread cubed into small croutons
1. Cube bread into small croutons.
2. Beat eggs, milk, cream and 2/3 cup of sugar, vanilla, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl until combined.
3. Butter 9 x 13 pan, add bread and cover with milk mixture.
4. Allow bread to soak for at least 30 minutes (at this point you can preheat your oven to 180 degrees.)
5. Sprinkle almond over top and bake for 45-60 minutes until cooked through, but still “wet.”
This is a valid dessert in and of itself so you can serve it as is.
To Make “French Toast,” refrigerate for 24 hours.
To serve, slice pieces of “French toast” to the size of your liking and very lightly coat with sugar. (Maybe you can even skip this step, but I did not.) And brown in butter on both sides. Serve with your favorite sauce or even maple or golden syrup.
To serve, slice pieces of “French toast” to the size of your liking and very lightly coat with sugar. (Maybe you can even skip this step, but I did not.) And brown in butter on both sides. Serve with your favorite sauce or even maple or golden syrup.
I made a whipped cream/crème fraiche mixture by whipping one small container each with a couple of spoonfuls of sugar and vanilla.
I also made a whiskey sauce I found on the internet, but found it completely unnecessary.
