It was a Snow Day yesterday. To some people that means running amuck, building snowmen, sledding down hills and generally being merry. Not me. I choose food.
There’s something about Arctic conditions (pause for the drama) that doesn’t say ‘explore’ to me. It says hunker down, cook something for the soul only, select your TV marathon of choice (I’ve been catching up on The Assassination of Gianni Versace, myself) , draw the blinds, lock the door and enjoy the warmth.
Usually my morning visit to the Kitchen consists of a quick coffee, grabbing my pre-made breakfast to take to work and feeding the dog. However, a weekend full of snow means I get more time to enjoy the confines of my Kitchen, rather than see them as a means of passing through and starting the day.
Which brings me to this recipe. The product of some Kitchen tinkering and using up of some ingredients but absolutely delicious nonetheless. It makes use of some stale ends of a Tiger loaf I had in the bread bin as well as a bag of frozen cherries I had in the Arctic depths of my freezer. So nothing here is fresh… how fitting for a snowed in situation. Hardly snowed in, but roll with me.
This is a luxury rooted breakfast. There’s something very decadent about the intense velvet draping of the hot cherries over the charred, sticky cinnamon scented egg toast that wobbles around as it’s brought to the table.
Star by evaluating your bread. You want it fairly stale. If it’s already stale, slice your bread – my measurements here are enough for 3-4 small slices of Tiger bread. If your bread is soft and fudgy, harden it up a little by slicing it and toasting it for a few seconds so that it crusts a little (but doesn’t toast).
Now make your egg bath for the toast. Crack two eggs into a shallow bowl, add a splash of milk, a tablespoon of soft, brown sugar and half a teaspoon of cinnamon. Whisk this together so it creates a coffee coloured hot tub. Place your toast in the bath and press down gently. Leave to sit to soak up the eggy liquid.
While the toast bathes, put a tiny drop of water in a saucepan and pour in a cup of frozen cherries. Add a teaspoon of brown sugar and put on a high heat. Once the water starts ferociously bubbling, turn this down to a simmer and leave to bubble away. Now, turn your toast over so the other side has a chance to soak up the eggy milk.
Put a tablespoon or so of soft cheese in a bowl, add a teaspoon of milk and beat with a fork to loosen to the cheese to a creamy, dribbly consistency. Put to one side.
Melt a dab of butter in a big frying pan and swirl it around so it coats the surface of the pan. When it’s hot and bubbling, take your toast pieces one by one (shake off any excess egg mix) and place down into the sizzling pan. Leave for roughly 2-3 minutes, pressing down gently now and then so the whole toast surface gets the heat. Gently flip the toast so the other side can fry, roughly 1-2 minutes.
By this time, your cherries should have defrosted, burst open and amalgamated with the sugary water and turned into a pouring, sticky, jammy like substance. Put your toasts on a plate, dribble over the cream cheese and drape with the hot cherries.
Serve with a coffee and a good TV show. Let others tomfool in the snow. You’ll live vicariously through their Snapchats anyway.
Stay warm, guys.
Oh my god this looks and sounds amazing and certainly beats a tun of processed tomatoe soup that most people lean to of a cold winters day! Perfect for any time of day!
Thank you very much! 🙂 x
What a breakfast! Leaves ya wishing for another snow day!
Thank you so much! No more snow days though, I’m not built for these climates! 🙂 x