Sweet Potato Cinnamon Buns

I will eat cinnamon buns anytime, anywhere, but Sunday mornings are made for cinnamon buns. Am I right?

Take a humble sweet potato and roast it to even more caramelised sweetness. Make some dough with it and slather it with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll and cut that sucker up and bake it to golden deliciousness. Smother it in a sweet, cinnamon-y glaze. And stuff it into your pie hole. Easy.

Sweet Potato Cinnamon Buns
adapted from here
Makes 6

For the Dough:
1 small sweet potato
75ml maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
125g plain flour
125g wholemeal flour (I use Atta flour)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
75g unsalted butter, at room temperature

For the Filling:
30g unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
45g pecans, lightly toasted and crushed

For the Glaze:
50g cream cheese at room temperature
2 tablspoons milk
100g icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Make the Dough:
Preheat the oven to 200C and line a baking tray with foil.

Prick the sweet potato a few times with a skewer, put it on the prepared baking tray and roast for 45 – 50 mintues, or until tender when pierced with a fork. Leave until cool enough to handle, cut it open and scrape out the soft flesh. Discard the skin, measure 150g and put it into the bowl of a food processor along with the maple syrup, spices, salt and vanilla extract. Blitz until smooth. (I sometimes do this a day ahead.)

Combine both flours and baking powders in a bowl. Add the sweet potato puree and mix to a smooth dough.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out to a 1cm thick rectangle. Spread the filling all over the dough. Using a long edge, roll the dough tightly into a log shape and cut it into 6 even portions. Line a baking pan with baking paper and put the buns, cut side up, into it, leaving enough room for them to rise and spread.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until golden.

Make the Filling:
Put all the filling ingredients into a bowl and mix together.

Make the Glaze:
Put the cream cheese into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until smooth. Add the milk, icing sugar and cinnamon and whip until you have a drizzling consistency. Drizzle over the warm cinnamon buns.

Croque Madame Muffins

It’s easier to get out of bed on these cold, dark winter mornings when you have something delicious planned for breakfast, don’t you agree?  There’s a little mixing and stirring involved here, but nothing too taxing.  Sometimes I make the mornay sauce the night before and reheat it gently on the stove before assembly – creating even more antici…pation (say it like Frank'n furter). This is the sort of breakfast food that appeals to the masses. Want to win friends and influence people? Bake a batch of these for brunch. Or just bake them for you, because you respect yourself so much. That works for me too.


Croque Madame Muffins
Makes 6
Slightly adapted from here

For the Mornay Sauce:
15g butter, melted
1 tablespoon plain flour
200ml hot milk
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
30g cheddar cheese

For the Muffins:

6 slices of white bread, crusts removed
45g butter, melted
6 slices of lean ham
6 egg yolks

Make the Mornay Sauce:
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and whisk, cooking and whisking for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and gradually add the milk, whisking continuously. Put the pan back on the heat and add the mustard and nutmeg and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes, stirring from time to time to prevent it from catching on the bottom of the pan. Remove from the heat and add the cheese, reserving some for sprinkling. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Make the Muffins:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Flatten the slices of bread with a rolling pin and brush both sides with melted butter. Line a 6-hole muffin pan with the bread. pressing it down firmly. Line the bread with a slice of ham and drop an egg yolk into each. Spoon 2 tablespoons of sauce onto each muffin and sprinkle with the reserved cheese and a little more pepper. Bake for about 15 – 20 minute, depending on how cooked you want the yolks. Serve hot.

Old Fashioned Jam Doughnuts

If this isn't a fabulous way to start the week, I don't know what is.   

NOTE: Stuff these divine, sugary puffs into your doughnut-hole (aka mouth) while still hot-ish.  It is mandatory for the hot jam to sear your chin as it bursts out.  It's a rite of passage.

Old Fashioned Jam Doughnuts

slightly adapted from here

Makes 14 - 16

400g plain flour

10g dried yeast

50g caster sugar

150ml lukewarm milk

80ml pouring cream

50g unsalted butter, grated

1 egg, beaten

Pinch ground cinnamon

Pinch fine sea salt

Sunflower oil, for deep frying

1 cup of your favourite jam (I used homemade marionberry jam)

100g vanilla sugar, for dusting

Line a baking tray with baking paper.  Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the flour, yeast and sugar.  Add the milk, cream, butter, egg, cinnamon and salt and mix on low speed until a smooth dough has formed.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface.  Roll it out to about 1cm thickness, then use a 6cm round cookie cutter to cut circles.  Place the circles on the prepared tray and leave to proof for 10 minutes.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan (I use a wok), to 175C.  Deep fry the doughnuts in batches, turning them over as they become golden and puffed.  They should cook in about 3 - 4 minutes.  Drain them on a wire rack set over a baking tray to catch any drips.  Roll them in the vanilla sugar while they are still hot, then use a skewer to stab a hole in the side of each doughnut and pipe the jam into the centre.  

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Waffles with Maple Peanut Butter Syrup

It was my sons birthday a couple of days ago.  He requested these waffles for his birthday breakfast... then he wanted a hipster burger at a trendy cafe for his lunch... then he chose one of the best French restaurants in town in which to end the celebrations.  It's a good thing he only has one birthday a year... and isn't old enough to order Champagne yet.

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Waffles with Maple Peanut Butter Syrup

Makes about 8 large waffles

For the Waffles:

1 1/2 cups "00" flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

3 tablespoons caster sugar

80g unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs

1 1/4 cup buttermilk

80g dark chocolate, chopped

For the Syrup:

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup maple syrup (or more or less according to how sweet you like it)

Hot water for thinning

Sliced banana for serving

Make the Waffles:

Preheat your waffle iron.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk them to combine and aerate.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, eggs and buttermilk together.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  Don't over mix.  Add the chopped chocolate and stir until just incorporated.

Cook the Waffles:

Pour a 1/2 cup portion of waffle batter into your preheated waffle iron and cook until golden brown. I've got a non-stick waffle iron that doesn't require greasing, but if you think your waffles will stick, you can spray the surface with a small amount of cooking oil spray. Remove the waffle to a plate and keep warm while you cook the remaining batter.

Make the Syrup:

Put the peanut butter and maple syrup into a small saucepan and set over a low heat to melt and combine them.  Add enough hot water to give you a drizzling consistency.  Keep warm

Stack waffles on plates, top with sliced bananas and drizzle with warm syrup.

Toasted Puffed Rice Cereal - Vegan & Gluten Free

Healthy Coco Pops... need I say more?




Toasted Puffed Rice Cereal - Vegan & Gluten Free
adapted from here

100ml grape seeds oil
100ml maple syrup
100g dark muscovado sugar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
170g (1 bag) puffed rice
100g pecans, roughly chopped
100g natural almonds, roughly chopped
50g sunflower seeds
50g pumpkin seeds
50g sesame seeds


Preheat the oven to 190C.  Line two large baking trays with baking paper.  Set aside.

Combine the oil, maple syrup, and sugar in a small saucepan and set over medium heat to dissolve the sugar.  Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat and set the pan aside.

Put the salt, spices, puffed rice, nuts and seeds into a large bowl.  Pour the syrup mixture over the dry mixture and use a couple of large spoons to turn and mix the mixture until everything is evenly coated with the syrup.

Divide the mixture evenly between the baking trays and toast in the oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, stirring the mixture and rotating the pans half way through the cooking time for even toasting.  Leave to cool completely on the trays.  Once cold,transfer the cereal to a large glass jar.

I served mine with soy milk, fresh berries and coconut yoghurt.

Moroccan Crumpets with Orange Blossom Labneh and Orange and Vanilla Bean Marmalade

When I ate these for breakfast this morning, my teeth and I had the pleasure of sinking into the sweet, aromatic marmalade, through to the creamy, perfumed labneh and then down, all they way into the golden, fluffy crumpet.  I closed my eyes and imagined I was in some leafy, exquisitely tiled riad in Marrakesh.  Then opened my eyes and saw all the dirty breakfast dishes over the kitchen counter and realised it was all a beautiful dream... except the crumpets were real.

NOTE: Make the labneh the day ahead.


Moroccan Crumpets with Orange Blossom Labneh and Orange and Vanilla Bean Marmalade
slightly adapted from here
Makes about 24 crumpets

For the Labneh:
500g of the best thick plain yoghurt you can get your hands on (I used a goat milk yoghurt)
2 tablespoons orange blossom water

For the Crumpets:
1 sachet (7g) dried yeast
1/2 teaspoon caster sugar
300ml lukewarm water
240g plain flour
130g course semolina, plus extra for sprinkling
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
200ml lukewarm milk (I used low fat)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Cooking oil spray for greasing

To Serve:
Recipe for Orange and Vanilla Bean Marmalade here (or use your favourite orange marmalade)

Make the Labneh:
Put the yoghurt and orange blossom water into a bowl and mix.  Spoon it into a piece of muslin, gather up the edges, tie with string and hang it from a shelf in the refrigerator with a jug underneath to catch the liquid.  The next day, discard the liquid and untie the muslin.  You will have a thick mixture which is cream cheese-like in texture, but much tastier.  Keep refrigerated until needed.

Make the Crumpets:
Put the yeast and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer.  Use the paddle attachment and with the mixer on low speed, add the water.  Mix briefly, then switch off the mixer and set the mixture aside for 15 minutes, until foamy.  Add the flour, semolina, cream of tartar, salt and milk.  Turn the mixer back on and mix at low speed for 8 minutes.  The mixture will be a thick batter rather than a dough.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 1 hour.  After about an hour, the mixture will be bubbly and will have doubled in size.  Add the baking soda and mix on high speed for 2 minutes.

Cook the Crumpets:
Put a frying pan over medium heat.  Pop four egg rings in the pan and spray the rings and pan with cooking oil spray.  Sprinkle a little of the semolina into each ring and pour some batter in, to half fill the rings.  Cook on the first side for about 5 minutes.  The top will start to set and bubbles will appear and burst on the surface as it cooks.  Remove the egg rings and flip the crumpets over.  Cook on the second side for about 2 minutes, until golden.  Keep the crumpets warm while you cook the remaining batter.

To Serve:
Serve warm and slather with copious quantities of labneh and marmalade.

Ricotta Hotcakes with Whipped Honey Butter

We spent most of yesterday in the ED with our son who has a suspected fractured wrist. I got the call from school in the late afternoon to say he had hurt his wrist landing awkwardly during a game of basketball and would likely need an x-ray.  We went straight from the school bus to the hospital and arrived home six hours later in the dark, hungry and tired.  I scrounged some bits and pieces together for a hastily made late supper of vegetable wraps before we all went to bed.  I let him sleep-in this morning and gave him the day off school to recover from the trauma and the late night.  We enjoyed a late, indulgent breakfast of these super fluffy hotcakes with the most divine whipped honey butter, to make up for the deprivation of yesterday.  The x-rays were inconclusive, so he is in a cast and will have another x-ray in a week to see if there has been any movement, indicating a fracture.  Until then, we need to treat it like a fracture... Though I noticed he didn't seem to have any difficulty using a knife and fork!



Ricotta Hotcakes with Whipped Honey Butter
slightly adapted from here
Serves 6 - 8

For the Whipped Honey Butter:
125g unsalted butter
1 - 2 tablespoon honey (depending on how sweet you like it)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Hotcakes:
1 1/3 cups fresh ricotta
3/4 milk
4 eggs, separated
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch sea salt
Butter, to cook the hotcakes

To Serve:
Icing sugar

Make the Whipped Honey Butter:
Put all the ingredients into a small food processor and blitz until smooth.  Spoon into a serving dish and set aside.


Make the Hotcakes:
Put the ricotta, milk and egg yolks into a bowl and whisk to break up the ricotta and yolks and set aside.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.  Add the ricotta mixture and mix until just combined.

Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold them into the batter in two batches.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat.  Put a knob of butter on the end of a fork and smear the surface of the hot pan with it.  Use just enough to lightly coat the pan.  Drop 2 tablespoons of mixture per hotcake into the pan, cooking two at a time.  Cook on the first side for 2 minutes, until golden, then flip and cook on the second side until golden and cooked through.

To Serve:
Stack hotcakes onto plates, generously dollop with whipped honey butter and sprinkle with icing sugar.  Sliced fruit or berries would be nice too.

Date and Banana Breakfast Bread with Homemade Pecan Butter

When you start the day with banana bread, you know it's going to be a good day.

Date and Banana Breakfast Bread with Homemade Pecan Butter

adapted from here

For the Bread:

250g mejool dates, halved and pitted

75ml grape seed oil

125g thick yoghurt (I use a bio-dynamic yoghurt)

1 tablespoon vanilla

4 ripe bananas, peeled

2 eggs

150 Atta flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

100g ground almonds

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 apple, coarsely grated

50g natural almonds, roughly chopped

For the Nut Butter:

200g pecans

Pinch sea salt flakes

To Serve:

Thick yoghurt

Oranges cut unto wedges

Make the Bread:

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Get yourself a large sheet of baking paper and crumple it up into a ball.  Run it under a tap and squeeze it out.  Uncrumple it and line a 25cm cast iron skillet with it.  Set aside.

Place 200g of the dates in a food processor along with the oil, yoghurt, vanilla, bananas and eggs and blitz until smooth.  Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground almonds, poppy seeds and turmeric and pulse until just combined.  Add the grated apple and stir with a spatula to incorporate.

Spoon the batter into the prepared skillet and spread out to the edges.  Top with the remaining date halves and the chopped almonds, pushing them into the batter a little.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly.  Serve warm, but it's equally good at room temperature.

Make the Nut Butter:

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Spread the nuts out onto a baking sheet and toast for about 8 - 10 minuts until golden and aromatic.  Leave to cool on the tray, put them into a food processor with a good pinch of salt and blitz until smooth and creamy.  The process takes a little while to achieve the buttery consistency, but keep stopping the processor and scraping down the sides and you will end up with a lovely nut butter in the end.

To Serve:

Cut wedges of the bread and serve with a generous dollop of yoghurt, some orange wedges and a big smear of pecan butter.