Annie Z. told me about a breakfast she had in Arizona that involved multigrain hot cereal, brown sugar, yogurt, fruit, and granola. I had all of these things in my kitchen, I just never thought to put them together. It was pure genius -- so much more than the sum of its parts.I don't know if this is anything like the original, but my version kicks Cheerios' butt any day. Trust me; we've eaten this every day this week and we are still looking forward to more!
It doesn't really take a lot of time, just a little prior preparation.If you made the multigrain bread from last month, you'll have 7-grain hot cereal mix ready to go. Make that according to the instructions on the package. While that's cooking (either in the microwave or on the stove), get your fruit ready. Today I used a mix of frozen berries and fresh strawberries. Frozen berries are super convenient -- pour them into a bowl and microwave for a minute to thaw. Now, gather up the other toppings. I make my own yogurt and granola (kick-ass recipe below), but you can just buy yours. The only other thing you'll need is brown sugar or maple syrup, if you prefer.
Assembling:
1. Put your cooked cereal in the bowl.
2. Sprinkle some brown sugar to taste.
3. Scoop on some yogurt.
4. Pour on the berries.
5. Top with your favorite granola (make sure it kicks ass).
So, to change it up a little, here's a completely different recipe - not bread, not practical, not humble. Kind of the exact opposite. Here's a recipe from my school days for those classic, old-fashioned sweet & dense Petit Fours. The procedure is pretty straight-forward, but the key is planning ahead.
Almond Paste 4 oz
Sliced Almonds 3 oz
Sugar 7 oz
Soft Butter 7 oz
Eggs 9 oz
Cake Flour 3 oz
Apricot or Raspberry Jam as needed
Need: One half-sheet pan, parchment paper, stand mixer with paddle
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the sheet pan with parchment paper.
In the stand mixer, cream the almond paste and sliced almonds. The almonds will break up some in the process. Add the soft butter and mix together until smooth and somewhat fluffy.
Add the sugar and mix together until homogenous. While continuing to mix on medium low speed, add the eggs one by one.
Scrape down the mixer bowl and paddle and mix again to ensure the batter is smooth. Add the flour and mix just until combined.
Spread the batter into a lined sheet pan and bake until the cake golden brown and bounces back. Let the cake cool in the pan, and then flip out onto the back of another sheet pan lined with parchment. Cut the cake into 1/3’s long ways.
Take one 1/3 and spread with jam, in a smooth even coat. Place the next 1/3 on top and repeat the process. At the end you should have 3 layers of cake and 2 layers of jam. To continue, roll out a very thin piece of marzipan or fondant and place that on top of the cake. This will allow the top surface of the squares to be smooth.
Wrap the cake well and freeze for at least 60 minutes, or up to several days.
Then use a very sharp serrated knife and cut the cake sheet into 1 ½” squares or cut into another fun shape with a teeny cookie cutter.
Petit Fours Icing:
9 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar (about 2 pounds)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract & 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Combine ingredients in top of double boiler and heat over boiling water just to lukewarm (do not overheat icing or it will become dull). Remove from heat, leaving icing over hot water to keep it thin. If desired, tint parts of icing delicate pastel colors with food color. If necessary, add hot water, just a few drops at a time, until of pouring consistency.
Glaze cake pieces by placing upside down, a few at a time, on wire rack over large bowl or baking dish. Pour Petit Fours Icing over top so entire cake piece is covered at one time. Glaze that drips off cakes into bowl can be reheated and used again. Decorate tops with silver dragees, piped ganache or royal icing.
Times may be hard but it's important to preserve tradition -- for example, Sunday brunch with the family. This week, we made our favorite French toast recipe using Blackmarket Bakery's Currant and Cinnamon Brioche.
This turned out wonderful, as usual, with a crispy crust, rich, soft middle, and lots of juicy currants. Our problem arose when we used up all the brioche and still had leftover batter. What to do? My gaze fell upon the Berry Cream Cheese Croissant.
This sounds crazy until you put it in your mouth; then you wonder why you never tried it. It was outstandingly incredible. The croissant dough fried up beautifully, and the raspberries and cream cheese filling were sealed in by the batter so they didn't ooze out and make a mess. Did I mention how tasty this was? It's exactly the kind of decadence we need in these hard times. You can skip the maple syrup, whipped cream, and strawberries cuz it's got it all built in, thus saving money AND calories. (Okay, maybe not calories.) Bon apetit!
--jeniffer*
Blackmarket Bakery's Depression French Toast
(adapted from The New Best Recipe)
1 large egg
2 T butter, melted (plus extra for frying)
3/4 C milk
2 t vanilla extract
2 T sugar
1/3 C AP flour
1/4 t salt
2 to 3 Blackmarket Bakery Berry Cream Cheese Croissants (or Cinnamon
Currant Brioche), sliced about 1" thick
Heat heavy skillet over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Beat egg lightly, whisk in butter, then milk and vanilla. Add sugar, flour, and salt. Whisk until smooth.
Swirl 1 T butter in hot pan. Dip bread just until coated and let excess drip off, then lay on hot pan -- filling side down. Repeat until the pan is full. Fry until golden then turn; the other side will cook faster. If you like more crust, cook all four sides. Add 1 T butter to
skillet for each new batch.
