Category: Breakfast

Breakfast

Stuffed French Toast

Lynnae

Anyone who know me knows how much I love to go to Disneyland. One of my favorite places to eat is Steakhouse 55 in the Disneyland Resort Hotel. For breakfast, they serve a stuffed French toast that is to die for. Since Disneyland is currently closed, we had to come up with our own version at home.

Steakhouse 55’s Stuffed French Toast

This french toast is NOT a quick and easy meal. In fact, you’ll want to make as much of it ahead of time as you can. I like to make the custard, and maybe even the filling, the day before.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl. Make the custard by combining the cream, sugar, and vanilla beans.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat and whisk until the sugar is dissolved.  Temper the eggs by slowly adding a ladleful of the cream mixture while whisking.  Add another ladle full of cream and whisk.  Slowly pour the remaining cream into the egg mixture, whisking to combine.  Cool to room temperature. The custard can be made the night before and stored in the refrigerator.

Slice a loaf of brioche bread into 3-4 slices. Use a paring knife to make a small slit on the side of each slice of bread.  Arrange the bread in a 9×13 pan and cover with the custard.  Soak for 1 hour.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Put the bread in a clean 9×13 pan and bake 45-55 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

While the toast is baking, make the filling.  In a medium bowl, combine the mascarpone, ricotta, strawberries, sugar, and vanilla.  Beat with an electric mixer until fully combined.  Transfer to a piping bag with a large round tip.  Chill until ready to use.

In a separate bowl, combine the strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, lemon zest, and blueberries.  Allow to stand for 10 minutes.  This will allow the juices from the strawberries to come out. Add the maple syrup and mix to combine.

Next, whip the cream. Add the cream, sugar, and vanilla to a separate bowl and whip with a hand mixture until soft peaks form.  You can also use a high-speed blender to whip the cream.

Pipe the ricotta and cheese mixture into the slit in the slices French toast.  Optional: sprinkle the top of the French toast with sanding sugar and melt the sugar with a kitchen torch.  Top with the fruit mixture and the whipped cream.  Garnish with a mint leaf if desired.

Hymas Family Favorites French Toast

Stuffed French Toast

From the Kitchen of Lynnae Hymas

Serves: 4-6Prep Time: 3-4 hoursCook Time: 45-55 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

Custard

  • 1-2 loaves of brioche bread, cut into 4-6 slices
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • 4 cups heavy cream
  • 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
  • 3 eggs

Filling 

  • ¾ cup mascarpone cheese, softened
  • ¾ cup ricotta cheese
  • ¾ cup strawberries, quartered
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Strawberry Topping

  • 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  • 2 cups strawberries
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • ½ cup real maple syrup

Whipped Cream

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Assembly

  • ½ cup sanding sugar (optional)
  • Fresh mint leaves (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

To make the French toast, using a paring knife make a small slit on the side of each slice of toast.  Make the custard by combining the cream, sugar, and vanilla beans.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat and whisk until the sugar is dissolved.  Temper the eggs by adding them to a large bowl, and slowly adding a ladleful of the cream mixture while whisking.  Add another ladle full of cream and whisk.  Slowly pour the remaining cream into the egg mixture, whisking to combine.  Cool to room temperature.  The custard can be made the night before and stored in the refrigerator.

Arrange the bread in a 9×13 pan and cover with the custard.  Soak for 1 hour.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Put the bread in a clean 9×13 pan and bake 45-55 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

While the toast is baking, make the filling.  In a medium bowl, combine the mascarpone, ricotta, strawberries, sugar, and vanilla.  Beat with an electric mixer until fully combined.  Transfer to a piping bag with a large round tip.  Chill until ready to use.

In a separate bowl, combine the strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, lemon zest, and blueberries.  Allow to stand for 10 minutes.  Add the maple syrup and mix to combine.

Add the cream, sugar, and vanilla to a separate bowl and whip with a hand mixture until soft peaks form.  You can also use a high-speed blender to whip the cream.

Pipe the ricotta and cheese mixture into the slit in the slices French toast.  Optional: sprinkle the top of the French toast with sanding sugar and melt the sugar with a kitchen torch.  Top with the fruit mixture and the whipped cream.  Garnish with a mint leaf if desired.

stuffed-french-toastDownload
Breakfast, Healthy

Aunt Sue’s Granola

Lynnae

This spring, my husband and I participated in a fitness challenge. I will post all about it in a later post, but it was both effective and hard. One of the rules was no refined sugar, so we were always looking for healthier foods that fit that criteria.

One weekend, we went camping with Aunt Sue and Uncle Andy. Aunt Sue is so good at eating healthy, and let us try her granola. It is sweetened with honey and is chuck full of healthy grains. It also happens to taste really good. So, I thought I’d share the recipe with all of you!

Aunt Sue’s Granola

From the Hymas Family Favorites

Serves: 8Prep Time:  30 minCook Time: 15 min

INGREDIENTS:

  • 5 cups quick oats
  • 1 cup Rice Krispies
  • ½ cup ground flax seed
  • ½ cup chopped and roasted almonds
  • ½ cup unsweetened coconut
  • ½ cup craisens
  • ¼ cup ground chia seeds
  • ¼ cup sesame seeds
  • ¼ cup sunflower seeds
  • ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ cup melted coconut oil
  • 1 cup honey

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the oats, Rice Krispies, flax seed, almonds, coconut, craisens, chia seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Mix together until the ingredients are evenly distributed.  Drizzle the coconut oil over top and stir.  Heat the honey in the microwave for 30-60 seconds and drizzle over the granola.  Thoroughly combine.  Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Divide the granola onto both and bake them at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Stir occasionally for even cooking.  Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.  It will harden into a sheet as it cools.  You can continue to stir occasionally while it cools if you prefer a very flakey texture, or you can break it into chunks after it cools if you prefer it that way.

Tips: You can usually find these ingredients in bulk from your local grocery store that carries bulk items. Grinding the flax and chia seeds in the blender will help keep them from getting caught in your teeth. You can also roast your almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, then chop them up. You can also store the ingredients in air tight containers or in the freezer.

aunt-sues-granolaDownload

Breakfast, Condiments

Clotted Cream

Lynnae

Last summer, 2019, my oldest son, Aiden, and I got to go on a school trip to England and Scotland (did I mention it was really an EPIC summer?). You remember when we were able to travel and go places. Sigh. We missed a full day of our tour due to a traffic jam, aka stuck on a bus with 20 teenagers for 8 hours. Good times. Anyway to make it up to us, the tour company scheduled high tea for us at Kensington Palace.

This was the real deal with tea, clotted cream and scones, finger sandwiches, and desserts. Hands down the best thing we ate while we were there.

I’ve never been much of a tea drinker, but I changed my mind that day. I only drink herbal teas, so the maitre d suggested their mint tea. Oh my goodness! 2 lumps of sugar because I have, ya know, a sweet tooth, and some cream and I thought I’d died and gone to heaven…even though it was like 90 degrees outside, and I’m pretty sure the Brits don’t really believe in air conditioning.

The other amazing part of the meal was the clotted cream. As an American, I’ve only had this once or twice before in my life, and the name doesn’t exactly inspire images of the most appealing sorts of food, but…think the creamiest softest butter you’ve ever had on steroids. It’s amazing, especially with a nice fresh and flaky scone (think buttermilk biscuit) and preserves. My mouth is watering as a write this.

Being from the States means there is really not much opportunity to eat clotted cream, and it’s definitely not something I’ve ever seen at the corner market. But, I found it is actually one of the THE easiest things in the world to make. It just takes a little time.

The ingredients are super simple—-cream. That’s it. You’ll need 1 quart of pasteurized cream. Just make sure it’s not ultra pasteurized, which I admit is a little harder to come by these days. I get mine from a local dairy.

Pour the cream into a 9×9 glass pan and bake it in the oven for 12 hours at 180 degrees. Please ignore my dirty oven. 🙂

Remove from oven and allow it to cool until it gets to room temperature. Cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator until it’s completely chilled.

When you pull it out of the fridge, it will have a crust or a thick layer on top. If you lift up one corner, you can pour off the liquid underneath. You may want to hold onto the liquid. It’s great for baking with. Biscuits maybe? Just sayin.

What’s left in the pan is now the clotted cream. Scoop it into a jar and cover. Some of it will be a little crusty in texture. You can just leave it as is or stir it all together and the crust part will blend in with the rest. It will keep in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I use it like butter. So yummy!

Clotted Cream

From the Kitchen of Lynnae Hymas

Serves: 6-10Prep Time: 10 minCook Time: 12 hours (plus another 12-24 hours to chill)

INGREDIENTS:

1 qt. pasteurized cream

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pour the cream into a 9×9 inch pan.  Bake in a 180°F oven for 12 hours.  Cool to room temperature and then cover and refrigerate until completely chilled, 12-24 hours.  Lifting one corner of the now crusted cream, pour off the liquid.  The liquid can be preserved and used in baking as a liquid substitute. You can then scoop up the clotted cream and store in in a smaller container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

clotted-creamDownload

Breads, Breakfast

Buttermilk Biscuits

Lynnae

Nothing goes better with homemade jam than buttermilk biscuits. In this video, I teach my daughter Kate how to make biscuits.

The ingredients are simple–flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, buttermilk, and butter.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the cold butter and cut it into the flour until it is is in small pieces. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the liquid.

Combine just until all the ingredients are wet. Roll out into a 3/4″ thick dough, then, using a cup or a round cookie cutter, cut out your biscuits. Continue to use the scraps to re-roll out a sheet of dough until it is all used up.

Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Buttermilk Biscuits

From the Kitchen of Lynnae Hymas

Serves: 4-6Prep Time: 15 minCook Time: 15 min

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading and rolling
  • 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoons salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 1 ¼ cups buttermilk (can substitute milk using a ratio of 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice or the whey from clotted cream)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat the oven to 450°F. Combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl.  Add the butter and blend with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the buttermilk and stir just until combined, then transfer dough to a floured surface and knead 5-6 times.  With a rolling pin, roll out the dough until is ¾ inch thick.  Cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter or glass and transfer to an ungreased baking sheet with the edges of the rounds touching.  Gather up the scrapes of the dough, roll them out, and repeat.  Bake until the biscuits are golden brown, 12-15 minutes.  Serve hot or warm.

buttermilk-biscuitsDownload
Breakfast, Cheese, Dessert

Ricotta Cheese with Candied Almonds and Berries

Lynnae

A few weeks ago, I was watching an episode of the Barefoot Contessa, and she made this unusual breakfast dish. I had to try it! It was an instant hit and we’ve made it several times since. I spread the ricotta and almonds right onto my toast. No butter needed. Yum!

This is one way to use the homemade ricotta cheese recipe I shared a few days ago. You start this dish with warm ricotta cheese. To the cheese, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of honey. Fold it together and set the cheese aside.

The next step is to candy the sliced almonds. Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter in a sauté pan and add 1/2 cup of sliced almonds and a dash of salt. Stirring constantly, cook the almonds until they just turn golden brown. Do not leave them unattended. They will burn. Add 1/3 cup of real maple syrup and coat the almonds. The mixture should bubble up and caramelize. Set aside.

You can serve this with your favorite toast. (I turned a loaf of our sourdough ciabatta bread into crostini. I cut the bread into thin pieces, brushed them with olive oil, and toasted them in a 400 degree oven for 5-10 minutes until they were golden brown.)

From there, just plate the food. Put a dollop of ricotta in the middle of the plate. Top with almonds. And surround with toast and fruit.

This is absolutely a guest worthy dish. You can serve this as a sophisticated dessert or a light breakfast. Your guests won’t soon forget this meal.

Ricotta Cheese with Candied Almonds and Berries

From the Kitchen of Lynnae Hymas

Serves: 6-8

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 10 min

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 recipe of Homemade Ricotta Cheese
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2-3 tablespoons butter
  • ½ cup sliced almonds
  • Dash of salt
  • 1/3 cup real maple syrup
  • Fresh mixed berries such as strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, washed
  • Your favorite toast or crostini

INSTRUCTIONS:

While your homemade ricotta cheese is still warm, add the vanilla and honey and mix together.  Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small sauté pan.  Add the sliced almonds to the pan and sprinkle with salt.  Stir the almonds until they turn a beautiful golden brown color.  Add the maple syrup and coat the almonds in the syrup.  Remove from heat and set aside.

To plate, put a scoop of ricotta in the center of a plate and top with a spoonful of the almonds. Serve with 1-2 slices of toast and a mixture of your favorite berries.

sweet-ricotta-and-candied-almonds