Citrus Baked French Toast

        I must let you guys know the most important fact about this before I go any further: it is the most ridiculously simple, sweet breakfast, which yields irresistible results. You can throw it together in minutes the night before, get up on a lazy morning and put it in the oven for 30 minutes. Sip on your coffee and relax, then voila yourself and others will beam with happiness. 
      French toast already has a simplicity appeal.  However, this kicks it up a notch to essentially all hands off in the morning with still getting to eat an epic breakfast. Isn't that just so awesome? 

     It was particularly perfect for my purposes of a brunch potluck on Sunday. The night before, my roommate and I went out to a concert that we had been long awaiting. Around 8 o'clock, I took the whole 10 minutes this requires to put it together, placed it lovingly in my fridge, and prepared to dance the night away. 

        After a luxurious sleep-in sesh the next morning, I woke up, took it out of the fridge, preheated the oven, and popped it in. I walked away and got ready for company-you might be able to hear my sigh of relaxation right now. Thirty minutes later, I was meet with puffy topped, golden brown, custardy, warm, blissful French toast and the guests began to arrive. My friend was kind enough to bring a whiskey and cayenne maple syrup that make the custardy texture and bright citrus flavors simply sing with happiness in my mouth. 

      For brunch party folks or those simply wanting a mouth-watering, smell-wafting dish in their house on a lazy Sunday morning, I cannot emphasize enough how much this is for you. A lot of baked French toasts call for much more of everything: more eggs, both milk and cream, more this, more that. I can fully attest it is not necessary for the texture you seek. You only need the basic things you probably already have on hand to create a whimsical weekend morning of French toast, coffee, and appreciation of the finer things in life. 

Ingredients:
1 loaf challah (nothing fancy needed)
3 c whole of 2% milk 
3 eggs
3 TBSP butter
3 TBSP brown sugar
1/2 TSP salt
1/4 TSP cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon

Instructions: 
1. The day before, slice the challah in 3/4-1" slices. Lay it out and let it sit on your counter for the day, flipping over when you happen to be in the kitchen (no worries if you're not around though).
2. At night, arrange the slices in a 9x13 baking dish in two layers. Sprinkle half the zest on the first layer, lay down the second, and sprinkle the rest on top. 
3. In a bowl, melt the butter, let it cool for a few minutes. Next, whisk in the milk, eggs, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. 
4. Pour the mixture over the bread, cover, and place in the fridge over night. 
5. The next morning, take the French toast out, uncover and let it sit out while the oven preheats to 350F. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is lightly golden and puffed up. Remove, cool for 5 minutes and serve with butter and maple syrup.  

For the Whiskey Maple Syrup:

Melt 4 TBSP of butter in a sauce pan over low heat. Next add in 2 C pure maple syrup, 1/4 TSP cayenne, a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg, 1/4 C+ 1 TBSP whiskey, and stir until the ingredients have mixed together evenly. Remove from heat, allow the syrup to cool, and transfer into a glass serving bottle. 

This could be you. 

Love,

Boulder Butter 

Buttermilk Chess Pie

       When I was a kid, My Grandfather used to come down to Atlanta to spend Thanksgiving with us. During one of his visits, my dad, sister, grandfather and I were driving in the car, and we got into a discussion of everyone's favorite types of pie. (For the record, mine was apple with crumble topping at the time.) Dad and Hattie listed theirs and finally Grandfather named "Chess Pie." Much to Grandfather's disappointment, none of us had even heard of Chess Pie. We inquired as to what it was and Grandfather explained "It is like pecan pie, without the pecans." To this, my Dad responded, "So you mean it is just the goop?" At this moment, my Grandfather become endearingly indignant, and in a deep tone spoke the voice of a wise pie sage, "It is so much more than just goop, Scottie." The three of us of course burst out in laughter.

       Although it was the pie my Grandfather named as such an ultimately tasty treat many years ago, I only just now bought my large jug of buttermilk and went home ready to experience this pie. From when I finally looked up what was in it-cornmeal, eggs, lots of delicious buttermilk, and some bright citrus- I knew Grandfather had been right to take such a tone with us. It is so much more that just goop.

       It is a lusciously gentle lemon custard, just slightly and pleasantly textured by a small amount of cornmeal. The filling is reminiscent of a southern grain style pudding which is then baked inside a perfectly, flakey, buttery crust. The buttermilk gives the classic smooth, buttery, goodness so characteristic of its presence in baking. However, the biggest and most welcomed surprise was the top of the custard. Instead of being soft and pudding like, the sugar and cornmeal form an extremely thin sugar top crust. Therefore, when you first tap your fork down over the top to sink in, there is the smallest and most satisfying crunch. This is the Southern pie the majority of America still needs to find out about, because it is just gosh darn delicious. Thank you Grandfather for being the sage of pie eating, even when your younger generations were clueless!

Very slightly adapted from The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook by Cheryl and Griffith Day

Ingredients:
1 9-10" unbaked pie crust (I used Back in the Day's but pick your favorite)
4 TBSP (1/2 Stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 C sugar
4 eggs
1 TBSP all purpose flour
2 TBSP yellow cornmeal
1 pinch of fine sea salt
3/4 C buttermilk (low-fat)
1 TBSP lemon juice
Zest of 1/2 of an orange and 1/2 a lemon

Oven Temp: Start 350 (first 10 minutes), down to 325 (last 45-55 minutes)

Instructions:

1. Roll out your pie dough to a 12" round and place it into a greased 9" baking dish. Cut off the excess piecrust and poke the crust with a fork. Allow the piecrust a final rest of an hour in the fridge.
2. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven.

3. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter with a hand mixer (or paddle attachment in your stand mixer) until it is light and fluffy.

4. Add in the eggs in, one at a time, until they are fully incorporated.

5. Add the flour, cornmeal, and salt and beat on low until just incorporated.

6. Add the lemon juice, buttermilk, and zest and mix to combine.

7. Remove the crust from the fridge, pour in the mixture and bake at 350 F for the first 10 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 325 and continue to cook for 45-50 minutes, until the filling is set.

8. Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cook for at least 2 hours at room temperature before cutting.

Plum Custard

         I have recently been feeling a lot of nostalgia for my southern roots. Particularly, when it comes to food. I was not really "into" food when I lived in the South. I mean, I really enjoyed it, and I was always happy to eat it, but I did not start to nerd out to food until college. Since then, I have not spent an extended amount of time back home. Recently however, the south has captivated me in its food culture and traditions, and I have been longing to go back and do a food tour, especially around Georgia. I mean how cool would it be to go and drive around the state looking for the best flavors it has to offer? Not saying this will happen anytime soon, but it is something I have become mildly obsessed with over the past few months. One of the places I would definitely include on such a tour is the Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia.

        A Back in the Day Bakery cookbook  was published about a year and a half ago and from the moment I saw it on the shelf, my eyes widened with a desire to bake everything in it. A few months later, I saw it on my step-mom's counter when I was home, and again I was filled with the same longing. Finally, I have acquired my very own copy. I instantly looked through the recipes and went into the kitchen the moment I had to time to enter my happy place!

         When I asked my step-mom, Bam, what she had felt about the book, she said it held flavors of comfort for her. It is old-time food with classic, dependable, delicious southern charm. Bam was the most kitchen oriented family member I had growing up, and really most of my deep food memories of childhood come from her kitchen and cooking. I still dream of her monkey bread on Christmas morning :) She love to try new foods for us and there were many fun dishes that came from her hard work in the kitchen. So when I was looking through the book and deciding what to make first, I went with this recipe because custard is one of her particular favorites. With the overwhelming nostalgia I have been feeling the South, my own home, and childhood food memories created by Bam, I thought there was no better place to start working through the book, than to pay a small homage to one of the people that inspired me in the kitchen long before I knew it. 

        This is an awesome recipe because it is essentially a foolproof custard. You do not have to scald the cream mixture first and there is no tempering of eggs. It is as simple of baked custard as you are going to get to make, yet the flavor and texture is in no way compromised. It is rich and creamy, with a smooth mouth feel. The juicy plums made it bright with a fruity sweetness, and the cool temperature made it refreshing to eat. It is perfect for a light pick me up on a hot afternoon yet rich enough for after dinner treat. It is particularly wonderful with the addition of the whipped cream, which achieves a balance of varying delicate textures studded with the bursts of plums throughout each bit. Its one of those desserts you can easily go back for seconds...and you will. So please, please take advantage of the plums in season right now, and put them in this creamy dessert, sure to please your palate and put a smile on your face.

Adapted from Back in the Day Cookbook by Cheryl and Griffith Day

Oven Temperature: 350 F

Equipment: 9-inch pie plate

                     Hand or stand mixer

Ingredients:

4-5 small to medium plums, peeled, pitted and cubed

4 large eggs, separated (keep whites cold until ready to use)

1 C sugar

1/2 TSP fine salt

2 TBPS unsalted butter, melted

1 TBPS all-purpose flour

1/2 TSP vanilla extract

1/2 TSP almond extract

1 C whole milk, at room temperature

Optional:

Powdered Sugar for Dusting

Whipped Cream for serving

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and position rack in lower third of oven.

2. To prepare the plums: Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cut small crosses on the tops and bottoms of the plums. When the water is boiling, drop the plums into the pot for about 60 seconds (you will see the skins begin to peel back. The time may vary depending on ripeness so watch them and pull when you see this effect.) Transfer plums into a bowl of ice-cold water. Remove plums and you should now be able to easily peel the skins off just with your hands. Cut around the pit, remove flesh and cube the plums into small pieces.

3. Line the bottom of the pie dish with the plums in a generous layer (about 1/2 way up the side of the pie plate).

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until blended.

5. One at a time, add the salt, melted butter, flour, extracts, and milk, whisking thoroughly between each addition until the ingredients are combined.

6. Using a stand or hand mixer, whip the egg whites on a high speed until soft peaks have formed. Watch carefully, as whites can go through the stages of whipping very quickly.

--A soft peak will have a white and slightly glossy appearance. When you lift your whisk with some of the mixture, it will have a peak, but it will fall over to the side.

7. At a lower speed, whisk in the egg yolk mixture until it take on the look of a light custard (about 2 minutes, but again watch during the process and look for that custardy appearance.)

8. Pour the custard over the plums and bake for 30-40 minutes, until the edges are set, there is slight browning on top and the middle still jiggles just a little.

9. Remove from oven and allow the custard to cool.

10. Just before serving, dust with powdered sugar and top with a small scoop of whipped cream.

Making whipped cream: This is always worth the minimal effort it takes to make fresh whipped cream at home. It is so significantly better every time and so easy.

Simply combine 1 C of heavy whipping cream, 1-2 TBSP of powdered sugar, and a splash of vanilla extract. Beat with a hand mixer until you have achieved stiff peaks and dollop the finished product on top of your dessert.

Happy Baking Folks!
P.S. Fun fact about me: I really love plums! They are beautiful and delicious.