French Fridays With Dorie - Bubble-Top Brioches

For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice.
~ T.S. Eliot

This is it - my first new year post, finally. Nearly a week into January, I'm taking my time to ease into 2012. No need to rush...I'm trying to savor every minute (and that's not even a new year resolution, by the way). What better way to start off with than by baking bread, and Dorie Greenspan's Bubble-Top Brioches at that? After a couple of weeks of missing out on French Fridays with Dorie, I was truly looking forward to baking these beauties!

The dough was soft, buttery and beautiful to work with. Part of the preparation method was to chill the dough in the fridge for at least 2 hours after the first rising, slapping it down every half hour or so until it no longer rises so actively. Then chill it overnight to attain a perfect brioche texture. Call me weird, but that slapping part was probably the most stress-busting fun I've had in a while. The dough was so accommodating to my hard whacks, it kept bouncing gently back. So inspirational, I should carry that resilient attitude inside me throughout the year. For always, even.

Whack the dough down until you leave your mark :)

In the past, I've tried baking several versions of brioches using slightly different techniques of preparing the dough but I must admit, this was the best-textured dough I've ever made. I was worried because it was very soft, almost batter-like to start with, but I simply stuck to Dorie's instructions and suddenly, magic happened! The dough was not even as sticky as I'd anticipated, and sadly for this post, no drama whatsoever was involved in rolling it into 'bubbles'. Pretty easy.

4 to 5 bubble-tops - I was just trying to be clever ( it didn't work!).

Do check out this fab brioche recipe in Dorie's cookbook, Around My French Table. It can be made into brioche loaves too. Hmm...I wonder if any of the Doristas did just that? Find out more about their versions  of this bread here.

Matcha Stollen with Rose Marzipan Filling

If I can't be beautiful, I want to be invisible.
~ Chuck Palahniuk

I had spent 3 Christmases in Germany while I worked there years ago, and every time the festive season rolled around, the shops, markets and bakeries were filled to the brim with beautiful baked goodies bearing the scents of cinnamon, almond, apples and all the heartwarming things of the earth. Stollens would be amongst the good things in abundance and I never missed the opportunity to purchase and savor them - lots of them! The ones I especially enjoy are the marzipan-filled stollens, so moist and heart-stoppingly rich...it's no wonder I was then double the size I am today!

You may have noticed that I have done zilch-all on this blog lately. It's not that I've stopped cooking or baking completely, for if you're on Instagram, you may have spotted some of my baked goods being captured and uploaded for posterity there. It just seems to me like everything I do right now is bordering on the (how shall I phrase this?)...UGLY. Yes, that's right. Not nearly postable, in fact downright yuckky. Or maybe that's just how I'm feeling inside.

Anyway, a quick peek at the blogosphere shows me that many people around the world are in a celebratory mood, and therefore coming up with joyous kinds of food. The festive season has dawned, Ms. Foodiva, so why don't you get with the program already? 

So yes, today I decide to crawl out of my own blue funk and attempt a blasphemous take on the Christmas Stollen. One with a green dough laden with premium matcha and filled with a homemade marzipan roll that's just on the shady side of pink due to the rose syrup I used to flavor it. Apart from the usual dried raisins and cherries, I also kneaded in some homemade candied ginger and candied lemon and orange peels, but didn't bother with the nuts and spices. As someone who's eaten plenty of stollens in her life, take it from me, you won't find this exotic one anywhere on the planet (yet) outside of my very own kitchen!

I won't tire you needlessly with the history of stollens and what the swaddled loaf signifies, but if you're interested you can have a quick read here. What I am going to regale you with, however, is the tale of what actually happened to me while I was baking this. After I was done making the marzipan and candied ginger/peels (which I dried under the hot sun and not overnight as should have been done), I set about to make the dough and film the process while I was at it.

You can imagine that the set up took a fair amount of time and by the second hour into the first rising, it was very nearly 5pm and the precious sun was sinking fast in tandem with my heart. Then I suddenly remembered  I had to be at another place at 5pm, an important appointment that had totally slipped my mind, so I had to abandon the dough and tend to real life first.

2 hours later (4 hours total first rising), I returned to find my dough hadn't exploded and as a favor to me, had risen very, very slowly. Phew... all was well.

Normally after the process of baking, the fresh loaves are buttered two times before they get a coat of sugar. I buttered mine before and after baking, just to be on the safe side of decadence. What usually happens to the stollen after the sugar coating is that it is sealed to allow the fruits and spices (if you're using any) to develop their flavors. The sealing is also the reason a stollen can be stored and stay fresh for a long time.

The texture of this stollen is somewhere in between a bread and a cake and is an excellent alternative to a traditional Christmas cake. Although my rolling wasn't quite up to my usual standards, causing the marzipan cylinder to happily sit on one side, it didn't affect the taste of the loaf one bit. Yes, it's not my most beautiful stollen, but then so what...it's festive and rocks to the high heavens with original flavors. It certainly does not want to be invisible!

Matcha Stollen with Rose Marzipan Filling

(adapted from One Perfect Bite)
Makes: 1 loaf

Ingredients:
2¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons matcha powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 scant tablespoon dry instant yeast
1/2 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup raisins
2 tablespoons candied orange peel, finely chopped (see recipe below)
1 tablespoon candied lemon peel, finely chopped
1 teaspoon candied ginger strips, finely chopped
1/2 cup quartered, glaced cherries (mixed red and green)
250g rose-flavored marzipan/almond paste (see recipe below)
2 tablespoons butter, melted for brushing
icing or confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Method:
1. Mix salt with flour in a microwavable bowl. Place in microwave oven and heat on HIGH power for 1 minute. Whisk. Add matcha powder and yeast and whisk again to mix. Set aside.
2. Combine milk, butter and sugar in a microwavable bowl. Cook on HIGH power for 1 minute, or until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. When mixture is tepid add egg and whisk to combine.
3. Pour milk mixture into flour and mix well until the dough leaves the sides of bowl and forms a ball. Add candied fruits and nuts working into dough with hands.
4. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, or until fruits and nuts are evenly distributed.
5. Place dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 to 3 hours.
6. Turn onto a lighly floured board. Flatten and roll into a 14 x 8-inch rectangle, about 1cm thick.
7. Form almond paste into a log about 13-inches long. Place in the middle of dough, then roll dough around it. Pinch the and two ends of the cylinder and turn edges under. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place dough on parchment paper, cover with damp towel and let rise until double, about 1 hour. Brush loaf with melted butter, and set aside the remainder of the butter.
8. Preheat oven to 180C/375F. Bake in the center of oven for about 35 minutes, or until an even golden brown. Move loaf to cooling rack. Brush top with melted butter. Let cool for 30 minutes. Dust liberally with confectioners' sugar. Can be frozen up to a month and also keeps at room temperature for a few days if wrapped with plastic wrap.


Candied Ginger, Orange and Lemon Peels
(Adapted from Wild Yeast)


Ingredients:
1 medium lemon
1 medium orange
2-inches fresh ginger
water for blanching
2 cups caster sugar
1 cup water

Method:
1. Score the orange and lemon peel in quarters. Peel off, leaving the orange and lemon whole.
2. Peel and slice the ginger into thin strips, set aside.
3. In a saucepan, cover the peels with cold water. Bring to a boil, drain, and rinse the peels in cold water.
4. Slice each peel into 4 strips. Blanch the peel strips twice more, changing the water each time.
5. In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
6. Add the ginger and peels, then reduce the heat and simmer until the peels are starting to become translucent, about 45 minutes.
7. Drain the ginger and peels, reserving the syrup in a jar for future use.
8. Place the peels in a single layer on a wire rack and allow to dry overnight.
9. Store in an airtight container, or in the freezer. Store the syrup in the refrigerator.

Rose-Flavored Marzipan


Ingredients:
250g of peeled almonds
1/2 cup icing/confectioners sugar
1-2 tablespoons rose syrup (Monin)
1 small egg white

Method:
1. In a food processor, pulse the almonds until you obtain a very fine almond flour.
2. Add the sugar a quarter cup at a time and pulse until very well combined.
3. Finally add the egg white and one tablespoon rose syrup. Pulse until the mixture starts to resemble marzipan. Pinch a bit of the dough and press in between your fingers, it should feel soft and pliable. Add more almond flour and rose syrup if necessary.
4. Roll the dough in a plastic film and refrigerate it for at least one hour. After that take it out and place on a clean surface dusted lightly with confectioners sugar. Roll out the dough and fold it two or three times.Roll into a 13-inch long cylinder and return it to refrigerator. The dough is ready to be used when it is no longer sticky.

A Beautiful Mess - Chocolate-filled Brioche Rolls, YBR and Awards

On, there are so many lives. How we wish we could live them concurrently instead of one by one by one. We could select the best pieces of each, stringing them together like a strand of pearls. But that's not how it works. A human life is a beautiful mess.

~ Gabrielle Zevin, Elsewhere

I was supposed to do a pasta post today, but I've done a bread one instead. It's the first day of the week and truthfully speaking, I think I'm experiencing the Monday blues. Just home alone by myself. Yep, the boredom can get pretty stressful. 

So a bit of kneading therapy was required today. I tossed away the pasta idea and replaced it with this slice-pinch-squeeze brioche one. Oh, and I made a video for it, my very first one. Okay, a pretty crappy one too since I'm the most technologically-challenged person living in this house. But it was a giggle to do, and relieved the boredom of the day somewhat.

Happy Bread

You have a masterpiece inside you, you know. One unlike any that has ever been created, or ever will be. If you go to your grave without painting your masterpiece, it will not get painted. No one else can paint it. Only you.

~ Gordon MacKenzie

*Update*: I have made a video for this bread here!

First of all, let me clarify that this bread is not a masterpiece that came out of my usual daydreams and doodles. No, I first spotted this on Eva Toneva blog and while she called it 'Holiday Bread', I decided even back then that I would rename it 'Happy Bread' because it made me light up inside just looking at it! My penchant for unusual-looking breads had me bookmarking this recipe immediately.

Malted Grain Dragon Tail Baguettes

There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.

~ Mahatma Gandhi

 

After a year of having a go at it, I am just slowly beginning to take pride in my bread baking skills. But then my confidence would endure a slapdown every time I peruse through the weekly contributions on Wild Yeast blog's "Yeastspotting" (I can't help torturing myself). Compared to all those artisan breads, my quickfix, yeasty creations only deserved a place at the periphery of great bread-dom. In fact, my breads are probably among the lowest of the bread castes. There are so many rules in bread baking, and because I'm naturally not good with rules, the thought of baking with starters, multiple proofings steps, employing various hydration methods/ratios, etc all tend to make me shudder. 

Bread Pudding-On-The-Go: Hot Buttered Molasses Bread Pudding Muffins

My contribution for this month's Bread Pudding of the Month Club hosted by Victoria of Mission: Food is something of a take-out version of bread pudding. Wrapped in homemade muffin liners and topped with crunchy, buttery bread flowers, these bread pudding muffins are adorably shabby chic. Yes, not only interior décor, muffins can now enjoy a chic reputation as well....

I flavored this bread pudding with distinct-tasting ingredients - cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, molasses and vanilla. Coupled with the smell of heated bread and milk, the aromatically-laden muffins gave off the most amazing smell the day I baked them. I felt comforted simply just sniffing them, so can you imagine my joy after tucking into one (or two, or perhaps three) of these?

The paper muffin liners you see here were really easy to shape. I just cut 5 x 5 inch squares out of parchment paper, folded each into wide cones then pressed them down into the bottom of a muffin tray cup using my fingers. To demonstrate how easy this ahem...technique is, below is a super-cute video of two young ladies making cupcake liners using origami papers. You can also purchase them ready-made from Fancy Flours, they even come in a variety of lovely colors.

I really like the size and portability of this bread pudding. You can take it to work, to a picnic or have it in your gym bag to munch on after your workout (hey, why not? You deserve it). Apart from that, I also love the crispy, bread topping made from extra, cubed bread coated in butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. The crispiness of the toasted topping was a wonderful contrast to the moistness of the bread pudding underneath it. The muffin tastes really, really good when it’s warm and even better when it’s topped with a dollop of cream or a single scoop of ice-cream. I simply sprinkled some icing sugar on top and it was already quite divine!

Hot Buttered Molasses Bread Pudding Muffins
Ingredients:
Pudding
8 cups cubed bread
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 tablespoons molasses (black treacle)

Topping
3 tablespoons melted salted butter
1 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

2. Cut bread into approx. 3/4-inch cubes. Set aside two cups of the bread cubes for the topping. Add the rest to a large bowl.

3. In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and molasses. Pour the wet mixture over the bread cubes in the large bowl and toss gently. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes so that the bread has time to soak in the liquid.

4. Divide the mixture between the 12 muffin cups. They should take about 1/2 cup each. Pour any remaining custard over the bread pudding/muffins.

5. For the topping, pour the melted butter over the remaining 2 cups of bread cubes (I cut mine into flowers here). Toss gently. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle over cubes. Toss gently.

6. Divide the topping evenly between each muffin, placing them close to the center of each. You’ll probably have about three or four cubes per muffin.

7. Bake at 325F/170C for 30 minutes, until they’re set and the top is golden and crisp. Dust, while warm, with a little powdered sugar.

8. Cool on a rack for five to 10 minutes, and then enjoy with a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. If you’re not enjoying them right away, keep them refrigerated – they keep for 3-4 days.

Dragonfruit and Coconut-Lime Bread Pudding

“Enchant, stay beautiful and graceful, but do this, eat well. Bring the same consideration to the preparation of your food as you devote to your appearance. Let your dinner be a poem, like your dress.”


- Charles Pierre Monselet, French journalist

It's that time of the year and red-fleshed dragonfruit has made its appearance in the markets once again here. How long I have waited for you to return.... you fushia-pink, non-fire-snorting ball of juiciness! The dragonfruit is in time to be part of this recipe I've created especially for The Bread Pudding of the Month Club. My friend, Victoria over at Mission: Food hosts this monthly event and if any of you have made/are going to make a bread pudding dish this month, please do hop over there and join us!

In my previous recipes using dragonfruit, I mentioned that on its own, the fruit has very little flavor. Almost like a watered-down kiwi, with a similar texture when it's ripe. Because of this, I flavored the custard out of coconut milk and lime to give the bread pudding some tangible character. The dragonfruit was not completely hopeless because its flesh, when blended with the custard, gave the pudding its striking fushia-pink hue that turned to a baby pink color once cooked.

For as long as I can remember, I've held the perception that bread pudding of any kind and flavoring can only be enjoyed fully after a light meal of salad and... well, just salad. Many times when I've had a hearty main course plus appetizer, I've had to turn up my willpower and turn away this filling dessert. Even as my heart screams, "I WAAAANT!". Okay, I tell a white lie. Sometimes I do have a bite, but I can't really get into it, you know, because I'm so full by that time. If only the serving portions were smaller in the restaurants...

Wait, if I was the one making them, I could make them in a size my stomach can handle. So how does mini-bread pudding sound to you? Because that's exactly what I made. My individual portions were so 'mini' they were the size of a small teacup (150ml capacity). No danger of over-indulging here! And once the puddings were turned out for serving, they even fitted nicely on the saucer, just like a cup.

You can, of course, fashion the bread slices into any shape or cube it and dump it all in the ramekins without any grand order. I decided to cut my bread into rounds and arranged them stacked on top of each other in the ramekin. The smaller circles formed a flower-like pattern on top. Tastes the same, just looks prettier. Oh, such visual animals we all are....

Barbie would love these figure-friendly portions

Instead of serving the bread pudding with cream or any type of sauce, I decided to top it off with fresh fruit. Yes, more dragonfruit! You can save all the trouble by simply chopping and sprinkling the fruits on top of the pudding, but.... I served them as dragonfruit balls skewered with toothpicks and stacked upright on top of the pudding. The fruit balls were chilled in the fridge beforehand, so when you eat this, you can feel their juicy coolness against the warmth of the bread pudding on your palate. Three dessert fork-scoops later, my portion of mini-bread pudding was all gone. To quote Goldilocks, "It was just right".

                                                                            Baby pink love

Dragonfruit Bread Pudding on a saucer. Enjoy!

Dragonfruit and Coconut-Lime Bread Pudding
Makes: 4 small ramekins (150ml capacity)

Ingredients:
6-8 slices stale bread, cubed or cut into circles with cookie cutter
1/2 cup dragonfruit, chopped roughly
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 large egg
4 tablespoons caster sugar
1 lime, juice only
Vegetable oil, for greasing
1/2 of a dragonfruit, scooped into balls for topping

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 325F/165C. Fill a 9x9-inch baking tin with water halfway up and place on the middle rack in the oven. This will be the water bath.

2. Line the base of ramekins with cooking foil and brush their insides with vegetable oil to grease. Arrange the bread circles or cubes in each ramekin until it reaches the top. Set aside while you prepare the custard.

3. In a blender, add the chopped dragonfruit, coconut milk, egg and sugar and process until smooth. Pour this mixture over the bread in the ramekins and press the bread pieces down with the back of a spoon. Squeeze or drizzle a splash of lime juice over the top layer.

4. Carefully arrange the filled ramekins inside the preheated water bath and bake for 35-40 minutes until the tops are just browned. Leave to cool for about 5 minutes before serving. To turn out, run a thin knife around the edge of the ramekin and invert onto a small plate. Invert again onto a dessert plate so that the browned layer is on top.

5. For the fresh fruit topping, use a melon scooper to form about 8 balls from the dragonfruit flesh. Take 2 balls and skewer them with a toothpick. Press this fruit skewer on top of a bread pudding and serve immediately.

Bread Pudding Club: Cinnamon-Tangerine Bread Pudding

At the age of 15, I was sent off to boarding school. There was nothing particularly wrong with the food at boarding school, but there was no choice of menu and you were forced to eat whatever was served up. We never ate bread and butter pudding at home but at that school, we had it for lunch nearly every week. Since it was quite novel to me, I grew to love this British dish instead of hating it just because we had it so often at school (if you saw how they served it at the cafeteria, you would wonder why... its presentation in the large buffet trays was downright dog ugly!). Now anytime I come across bread pudding, it takes me right back to my boarding school days. Oh the joy!

When my friend Victoria of Mission Food mentioned that she was starting a Bread Pudding of the Month Club, I was immediately inspired by the vision of presenting this humble, homely dish as something a bit more exciting flavor-wise that I... gatecrashed her party. Ok, she did kindly invite me to join her in posting this bread pudding recipe (after I asked her). So, many thanks Victoria, for this fun opportunity and for your generosity of spirit.

Just about every culture that makes bread has its own version of bread pudding. The breads of Asia, though are quite different to European types of bread as many are unleavened. There are some which use yeast, yet are not baked in large, light loaves which lend themselves to slicing. They are somewhat flat compared to Western bread, but have very special flavors. Asian breads are not usually baked in an oven, since ovens are not normally a feature of the average Asian kitchen. Instead, they are griddle-baked, shallow fried or deep fried. In the case of Chinese breads, they are steamed in bamboo steamers or any other kind of steamer available. Most Asian breads are found in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) and other countries where the Indian influence is strong.

Hailing from neither China nor South Asia, bread was never a traditional staple for my family. You will understand when I say that I've only ever made bread pudding at home twice in my life. This was to be my third time, so I decided to take things easy. Easy on flavors, I mean. This time of year coincides with Chinese/Lunar New Year and as usual we are inundated with oranges, tangerines, satsumas, kumquats, etc. What better way to incorporate the abundant citrusy flavor than in a bread pudding, hey?

I used tiny-sized tangerines as they're seedless and the segments could be tucked nicely in between the bread slices. Cinnamon pairs well with the sweet, tangy taste of the tangerine, which pops in your mouth as you take a bite of the pudding. Orange-flavored caramel sauce poured over the cooked pudding and a dollop of whipped cream completed the dish. It was pretty good for my third ever experience baking bread pudding, and I can't wait for the next time! 

Victoria has created a special, tropically-inspired bread pudding today. If you want a whiff of her wondrous Piña Colada Bread Pudding below, you should head out to her site now!

Cinnamon-Tangerine Bread Pudding

Serves: 6
Ingredients:
8 slices stale bread
50g cold butter
1 litre milk
1 cinnamon stick or 1 teaspoon cinnamon
4-5 cloves
2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tangerines, peeled

Orange Caramel Sauce

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice or regular orange juice

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Method:

1. Remove the crust from the bread and slice each bread diagonally into 4 triangles. Chop the crust into small chunks and set aside.

2. Butter a shallow baking dish (1-2 inch deep) and leave the rest of the butter for later.

3. Arrange the bread slices along the base of the tart dish, leaning against each other in one layer. Fill the gaps along the outer edges with the chopped crust.

4. Slice/shave the cold butter on top of the bread slices.

5. Separate the tangerines into individual segments, peeling away using your fingers. Slide in 1-2 tangerines into the spaces between/behind the rectangular bread slices.

6. Place the milk, cinnamon and cloves in a pan and heat until just starting to boil, stirring constantly to prevent the milk from burning. Remove from heat and set aside while you prepare the egg mixture.

7. Whisk eggs and sugar in a small bowl, then add a cup of the warm milk and beat further. Pour this mixture back into the pan with the rest of the milk and stir until it just starts to simmer. Strain the mixture into another bowl to remove the spices and any foam.

8. Carefully spoon the custard onto the bread slices until they are completely soaked and the custard reaches to just below the rim of the tart dish.

9. Bake at 175C for 40 minutes. The pudding will expand in the oven, but will settle down once cooled.

10. For the orange-caramel sauce, bring orange juice to a simmer over medium-high heat in a saucepan for about 5 minutes to reduce. Strain through a fine sieve into a bowl, add cream, and set aside. In another saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add sugar and continue to cook, stirring frequently until sugar is lightly caramelized, about 3 minutes. Add the orange juice mixture, stirring constantly. Simmer for 5 minutes and strain through a fine sieve.

11. Serve the pudding warm, drizzle with orange-flavored caramel, top with a dollop of whipped cream and a dusting of powdered sugar.

Eggs On a Cloud

My second International Incident Party - the theme this month is *Eggs* and the party's co-hosted by Penny of  Jeroxie and and Trix of Tasty Trix. Wonderful, the culinary intepretation of this theme is greater than our outer galaxy (custards, souffles, cheesecake, French toast, creme brulee, bla, bla, etc), so how do I go about this? Thanks Penny, the egg theme has really made me think... hard.

Okay, so this is it. I decided to depict the humble egg in as narrow an intepretation as I could muster - it still looked very much like an egg. Have you ever tried the breakfast dish, Eggs On A Cloud? Not the French version of oeufs à la neige (snow eggs or floating islands on crème anglaise), no, that's way too hard/early for breakfast. Mine is an easy, breakfast eggs-on-toast version and it looks... interesting.  And more than a little pretty. I mean, can you just imagine cutting through a runny, half-baked egg yolk sitting amidst an airy, cloud of egg-white? Mmmmm.... I definitely can.

Eggs on a Cloud with Tomato-Pear Stack topped with Buttered Mashed Potatoes

I started with the bread, and reckoned that since the egg was going to be light, the base has got to be quite sturdy and filling. Multigrain wholemeal bread seemed to fit the bill, so I went ahead and baked a lovely loaf. What can I say? I had time to kill.

I lurrrve my bread fresh!

Tomatoes usually feature in this type of breakfast dish, so I sliced some, coated them in white rice crumbs (gluten-and-everything-free; it's my recent great find!) and toasted them under a grill. There was this pretty Forelle pear sitting forlornly in the fridge and so like a fairy Godmother-wannabe, I decided it should join the Eggs party. Skin on, cored and sliced, I stacked the pear up alternately with the tomatoes and topped it all with some (very runny) mashed potato. Not even an oil drop in sight, and if that's not a healthy breakfast, I don't know what is.

If you're wondering what Eggs on a Cloud tastes like, well, it tastes very much like egg. LOL, well what did you expect? Saying that, texturally the airy egg cloud feels much like cotton candy does in your mouth! That's the best description I can think of. Thanks again to Penny and Trix for being the perfect hosts of this eggstraordinary party. Now go and check out what the other participants did with their eggs (scroll right down to the bottom for the links).

Tomato slices encrusted with white rice crumbs

Tomato-Pear Stack

 

Before and after

Eggs On a Cloud

Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Eggs
4 slices bread
4 large eggs, separated
salt and pepper, to taste

Stack:
4 tomatoes, sliced thickly
2 large pears, cored and sliced across
2 large potatoes, sliced, boiled and drained
2 tablespoons butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F.

2. Prepare the stack first. Dip the cut sides of the tomatoes in white rice crumbs and toast under a hot grill for about 10 minutes until the crumbs turn golden. Remove from the oven and stack the pears in between the crusted tomatoes.

3. Blend the hot, boiled potatoes with the butter and spoon on top of the stack. If it is still hot, it will be runny. Cool slightly if you want it to stay on top of the stack.

4. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a mixing bowl until fluffy and stiff peaks have formed. Spoon egg whites and shape into pretty "clouds" on each slice of bread, forming a dent in the center. Slide an egg yolk into the center of each egg white well. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to season or if you want, some grated Parmesan or chilli powder for a bit of spiciness!

5. Place bread and egg slices on a baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes until the egg whites are lightly golden and egg yolks are just set. Remove tray from oven and using a large, sturdy spatula, plate Eggs on a Cloud immediately. Serve warm with the tomato-pear-potato stacks.