Tag Archives: brunch

Nov7

Nigella Lawson’s American Breakfast Pancakes

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How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson is my second favourite cook book for baking (the first being Belinda Jeffrey’s Mix and Bake), and it’s where I came across this lovely pancake recipe. I’ve been using it for more than ten years because the resulting pancakes are wonderful: light and fluffy, and lovely and thick, without being dense or rubbery. The mixture can be used immediately, though it can also be made ahead of time and allowed to stand in the fridge for whenever you need to use it. The batter I made for those in the picture here was left on the bench for only 10 minutes before cooking. The quantities below make 30 medium sized pancakes (just halve the quantities for a smaller crowd) and costs no more than $1.50 to make.

  • 2 tablespoons baking powder or 1 teaspoon bi-carb soda
  • 2 pinches of salt
  • 2 teaspoons icing sugar
  • 60 grams butter, melted
  • 600ml milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 500g plain flour
  • Butter for frying
  1. Place all the ingredients in either a food processor or stand mixer and mix together until all the lumps are gone.
  2. Transfer mixture to a 2L jug, or smaller if halving the recipe.
  3. Cook pancakes one at a time in a decent non-stick pan on medium heat. When you start to see bubbles blistering on the pancake it’s time to flip to the other side for no more than a minute.
  4. Enjoy topped with whatever you like: lemon and sugar, maple syrup and butter, bacon or berries or ice-cream.
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Dec21

Pancake Cups for a (Christmas) Crowd

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Christmastime provides just the opportunity for lazy breakfasts and slow mornings with friends and family – how delightful it is to take things slowly and remember that God entered our world as a person to save people like us! And pancakes are an affordable option for making things a bit more special than usual – for treasuring Christmas and the people God brings into our lives. But pancakes can be tricky too – the first few are always duds as the person cooking gets the temperature of the pan and their technique just right, and for that poor person cooking, it can be a task that takes most of the morning if there are lots of keen pancake eaters in the house. The recipe that follows is my attempt to solve this problem whilst still making Christmas breakfast special. The batter can be made the day before and stored in the fridge so there’s almost no work in the morning. If you require more pancake cups, simply double the recipe. Doing so fits inside a 2L food processing bowl perfectly. This recipe makes 16 pancake cups and using berries, cream and maple syrup, costs around $7 to make.

For pancake cups:

  • 225g plain flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 30g butter, melted
  • 300ml milk

Fill cups with your choice of:

  • 300g frozen mixed berries
  • icing sugar for dusting
  • cream for dolloping or drizzling
  • ice-cream
  • maple syrup
  1. Remove berries from freezer and begin thawing in a bowl. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius (180 degrees if fan-forced).
  2. Grease muffin holes using a little extra melted butter or spray oil.
  3. Put all pancake cup ingredients in a food processor and blitz for 30 seconds until combined. Use immediately or store in fridge for when needed (If you do this, the batter will thicken slightly. If this happens, don’t stress – just thin it out with a whisk and a little extra milk just before using it).
  4. Fill 1/3 – half of each muffin hole (no more) and bake in oven for 8 minutes. After this time, the pancakes will be golden brown and flat. As soon you take them from the oven, use a soup spoon to push each one down in the middle, creating a crater/cup shape. Pop out of the tins onto a shared plate and top with berries and dusted icing sugar. Enjoy!
Dec21

Bacon and Eggs for a (Christmas) Crowd

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Christmas is just around the corner, so I thought it timely to share some recipes you might find helpful for inspiring or planning your Christmas menu. Today’s recipes are designed to help you enjoy the large number of people you might have visiting, without extra kitchen and food stress. Cause what’s the point of all that effort if it ends up owning you?

Years ago, I watched my friend Bron make bacon and eggs much like the recipe below and since then my husband Steve has fiddled around with various ingredients when making them – he’s finally settled on this recipe, but also sometimes cut a disc of store-bought puff pastry and popped one in the bottom of each muffin hole – which ends up becoming something like a yummy little bacon and egg breakfast pie. Depending on your choice of eggs, this easy, portion-controlled breakfast for 12 will cost a little over $6 and take no more than 20 mins to make.

  • 12 eggs
  • 200g bacon
  • spray oil or a little melted butter
  • 1/3 jar of tomato chutney
  • salt and pepper
  1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees, (180 if fan forced) and grease a 12 hole muffin tin very well using spray oil or melted butter.
  2. Cut bacon into thin strips or wedge shapes and distribute evenly across the bottom of the 12 muffin holes.
  3. Put half a teaspoon of tomato chutney on top of the bacon and crack and egg on top of the lot in each muffin hole.
  4. Bake for approximately 15 minutes (but start checking earlier) and once cooked, immediately use a sharp knife around the edges of each portion to dislodge from the pan. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy.
Nov26

Bircher Muesli

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I’ve always loved Bircher Muesli. Actually, I’m pretty happy with oats of any kind and porridge is an any-time-of-the-day thing at our place, often for dinner on a slack winters night. Despite my love of all things oatey, I’d never even thought to try making my own Bircher Muesli, so when Anna sent me this dead easy and uber-cheap recipe, I was keen to give it a go. I am so glad I did! Perfect for breakfast or brunch hospitality, I’m sure I’ll be making this refreshing and comforting mix of oats, apple, almonds and yoghurt again and again. The quantity that follows makes enough for 4 decent serves, so just multiply away to suit the number of friends you’re serving. Just remember with this one to make it at least a day ahead – and enjoy the benefit of not having to do much the day people come over. Total cost less than $3, with fruit to serve additional.

  • 1 cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
  • 1-2 grated apples
  • ½ cup apple juice
  • 1 large handful sultanas (I used craisins cause I was out of sultanas)
  •  ½ handful of roughly chopped, unsalted almonds
  • ¼ cup vanilla or Greek yoghurt (you’ll need a little extra for serving too)
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • Chopped fruit and/or frozen berries for serving

1.   Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate overnight.

2.   In the morning it should be the consistency of cold porridge. Stir and if necessary add a little bit more yoghurt or milk to increase the creaminess.

Serve with fresh chopped fruit and/or berries and some extra yoghurt.