Scallops Benedict

Eggs Benedict is a common North American breakfast or brunch dish, consisting of two halves of an English muffin, each topped with Canadian bacon, a poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. It was popularized in New York City.  

Many variations of eggs Benedict exist, involving replacing any component except the egg such as:

  • Avocado toast eggs Benedict – substitutes toast in place of the muffin and adds sliced avocado.
  • California eggs Benedict – adds sliced avocado. Variations may include sliced tomato instead of Canadian bacon.
  • Eggs Atlantic – substitutes salmon which may be smoked, in place of Canadian bacon.
  • Eggs Blackstone – substitutes streaky bacon in place of Canadian bacon and adds a tomato slice.
  • Eggs Florentine – adds spinach, sometimes substituted in place of the Canadian bacon. 
  • Eggs Mornay – substitutes Mornay sauce in place of the Hollandaise.
  • Eggs Neptune – substitutes crab meat in place of Canadian bacon.
  • Eggs Omar (steak Benedict) – substitutes a small steak in place of Canadian bacon and sometimes replaces the Hollandaise with bearnaise.
  • Huevos Benedictos – adds sliced avocado or Mexican chorizo, topped with salsa and Hollandaise sauce.
  • Irish Benedict – substitutes corned beef or Irish bacon in place of Canadian bacon.

Being seafood lovers, Brion & I are having a pre-Christmas treat of scallops benedict for brunch today. Yum!

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Scallops Benedict
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Course Brunch
Cuisine American
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Ingredients
Chive Buttermilk Biscuits
Brown Butter Hollandaise Sauce
Course Brunch
Cuisine American
Servings
Ingredients
Chive Buttermilk Biscuits
Brown Butter Hollandaise Sauce
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Instructions
Biscuits
  1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder & baking soda. Using pastry blender, cut in butter until coarse crumbs. Add chopped chives. Toss together & make a well in the center. Pour in the buttermilk, stirring with fork to form ragged dough.
  3. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. With lightly floured hands, knead gently until dough comes together. Pat or roll into 1 1/2-inch thickness. Using floured cutter, cut out rounds. Place, well spaced, on lined baking sheet. Dough should make 6 large biscuits.
  4. Bake in the 400 F. oven for about 10 minutes before lowering the temperature to 375 F. & baking for an additional 10 minutes or until tops of the biscuits are light golden. Remove from oven & keep warm in a basket with a tea towel over it.
Hollandaise Sauce
  1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, watching it until the color turns light golden brown. Pour it off immediately into a heat proof measuring cup, leaving the sediment behind.
  2. In a blender, combine egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice & zest for a few seconds. With the blender on medium speed, slowly pour in hot butter in a thin stream. The sauce should thicken quickly. Pour into a bowl & keep the bowl warm in a warm water bath while preparing the other components of the scallops benedict.
Scallops
  1. Season the scallops with Old Bay seasoning, salt & pepper. Pan sear them in a hot pan with butter & olive oil for only a few minutes per side. Keep warm. Prepare scrambled eggs.
Assembly
  1. Slice biscuits in half, using bottoms as the base. Divide scrambled eggs evenly between the 6 bottom biscuit halves & top each with a couple of seared scallops. Pour some hollandaise sauce over scallops & sprinkle with chopped bacon. Garnish with chopped chives. Top with the second half of the biscuit if you wish.

Cheesy Egg & Bacon Breakfast Ring

A Christmas brunch with friends is always a fun way to kick off the season and see everyone before diving into family festivities. This event is the spark that lights the holiday season, and it doesn’t have to be a big elaborate affair. Keep it simple and easy … a brunch menu needs just a few things.

  • Something ‘homemade’ (such as egg/bacon filled pastry)
  • Something fruity (purchased is great)
  • Something to drink (mimosas/coffee)

Elevate your Christmas brunch with this easy-to-assemble savory pastry made simple with a tube of crescent rolls! Filled with scrambled eggs, crispy bacon and lots of melty cheese and served with a side of salsa. It’s kind of reminiscent of an egg croissant sandwich.

Pillsbury crescents are so versatile, you can make all kinds of things with them. Of course you could also make your own dough for this breakfast, but why slave in the kitchen when you don’t have to.

Customize this pull apart breakfast ring with your favorite ingredients. Eggs, bacon, peppers, hash browns, ham, different cheeses, spinach, artichokes, asparagus … your choice!

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Cheesy Egg & Bacon Breakfast Ring
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Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large skillet, cook bacon over medium heat about 4 minutes or until cooked but not crisp, turning once. Set bacon aside; drain all except 2 teaspoons bacon drippings from skillet.
  3. In a medium bowl, beat 1/3 cup of the milk, the eggs, salt & pepper with a whisk until well mixed. Stir in leeks or bell pepper (if using). Pour egg mixture into skillet. Cook 5 to 6 minutes or until eggs are scrambled and thickened throughout but still moist.
  4. Unroll dough; separate into 8 triangles. On lined cookie sheet, arrange triangles with shortest sides toward center, overlapping in a star shape & leaving 4-inch round circle open in center. Crescent dough points may hang over edge of cookie sheet. Press overlapping dough to flatten.
  5. Place a slice of bacon on each of the triangles. Sprinkle 1/3 cup of the cheese into widest part of the dough. Spoon eggs over the cheese. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup of the cheese. Pull points of triangles over eggs and cheese, and tuck under dough to form ring (filling will be visible). Carefully brush dough with remaining 1 Tbsp milk; sprinkle with remaining 1/3 cup of cheese.
  6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool slightly, cut into slices and serve with salsa.
Recipe Notes
  • Pillsbury Crescent Rolls were introduced in 1965 and quickly became a household staple. The idea for these rolls came from a food technologist named Vic Mills, who also invented Tang, the powdered orange drink. The iconic crescent shape was actually created unintentionally by a Pillsbury engineer who was trying to design an easy-to-separate dough tube.

Spiced Parsnip Apple Scones

A fall frost warning announces the end of the road for most of the garden vegetables we’ve enjoyed over the summer. Happily, there are a few vegetables that reach their pinnacle of deliciousness when the cold weather arrives. Winter sweetening is a phenomenon that enhances the flavor of crops such as kale, collards and Brussels sprouts, along with root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, beets and parsnips.

Over the course of the growing season, these vegetables store up energy in the form of starches. When the temperatures start to drop, these starches are converted into sugars, which act as a natural antifreeze. Winter sweetening is especially profound with the humble, underappreciated parsnip.

Before sugar was widely available, vegetables were used to sweeten dishes such as cakes and jams. Carrot cake has stood the test of time, but parsnips add similar flavor and sweetness.

These vegetable/fruit scones mimic the spice and texture of a carrot cake, adding a mysterious subtle sweetness with the nutty flavor of grated parsnips.

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Spiced Parsnip Apple Scones
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Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly butter 12 scone tins or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a food processor, pulse oatmeal for a few seconds then transfer to a large bowl. Whisk oatmeal, flour, baking soda, spices, salt, flax & pecans together until well combined. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk egg, brown sugar, butter, mashed banana, orange zest, orange juice & vanilla together until well combined.
  4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients, stir a few times, then add raisins, parsnips & apple. Fold together gently just until blended.
  5. Scoop into scone tins or onto parchment lined baking sheet. Bake about 15 minutes or until scones test done with a toothpick in the center.
  6. Remove from oven & place on a cooling rack to cool. Top with a simple powdered sugar/lemon juice drizzle if you wish or just serve as is.

Everything Bagel Pull-Apart Bread

Pull-Apart Bread …. an interesting concept that has been called many names such as bubble bread or loaf, jumble bread, monkey bread etc. Initially it was formed pieces of yeast dough dipped in butter and baked in a loaf to be served with jam or preserves. In 1942, General Mills (Betty Crocker) promoted ‘Hungarian Coffee Cake’, which consisted of balls of yeast dough dipped in melted butter, then in sugar frequently mixed with cinnamon and/or chopped nuts. It was baked in a ring pan because the central tube helped prevent the center from being under baked and sinking due to all the butter. ‘Betty Crocker’ had a real way of turning unknown recipes into mainstream ideas.

By the 1990’s, General Mills promotions began entitling this sugar-coated treat as ‘Monkey Bread’. However, it may have been silent-screen movie star, ‘Zasu Pitts’, who provided this whimsical name. The term and recipe initially appeared in the Thursday, February 8th, 1945 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press (Canada) in the column ‘Culinary Clinic’. Zasu was most often remembered for her extraordinary name, huge eyes and fluttering fingers. Besides acting, she had a passion for cooking and published a 93-page cookbook in 1963.

Most of the early recipes called for rolling out the dough and cutting it into diamond shapes instead of forming balls. The widespread popularization of money bread corresponded to the advent of the commercial refrigerated biscuit dough in the 1950’s. One of the later innovations is to insert a little cinnamon-sugar coated cube of cream cheese in the center of each dough ball or drizzle with a cream cheese glaze.

Today, I’m taking the idea in a savory direction, combining buttery homemade dough, garlic herb cream cheese filling and my ‘go-to’ favorite – everything bagel seasoning!

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Everything Bagel Pull-Apart Bread
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Instructions
Dough
  1. In a large bowl, combine lukewarm milk with sugar & yeast. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until frothy.
  2. Add butter, egg, flour & salt. With an electric mixer, beat on low for about 3 minutes. Dough will be soft. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface. Using lightly floured hands, knead for 1 minute then shape into a ball.
  3. Place the dough in a greased bowl & cover with plastic wrap. Place in a draft-free area to rise until doubled in size about 1 1/2 hours. As dough rises, prepare filling. Butter a 11 3/4 x 4-inch ribbed semi-circle bread pan. Sprinkle with everything bagel seasoning making sure to get the seasoning up the sides & on the ends of the pan. Set aside.
Filling
  1. In a small bowl, using a hand mixer, beat all of the filling ingredients together until combined. Set aside but don't refrigerate unless making well in advance.
Assembly
  1. Flip dough on a lightly floured work surface & with a rolling pin, roll out the dough until it is 1/4-inch thick. Spread cream cheese filling on top & sprinkle with sliced green onions. Using a 3 1/2-inch circle cookie cutter, cut into circles. Fold circles in half & line prepared pan, round side down fitting into the 'ribs' of the pan. Tuck the remaining pieces that are leftover into the crevice's between the folded circles.
  2. Cover with oiled plastic wrap & allow to rise once again in a draft-free area until puffy, about 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 F. when bread is nearly finished rising.
  4. Bake until golden brown, about 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven & place on wire cooling rack. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then remove from pan, slice or pull apart & serve.
Recipe Notes
  • If you prefer, you can make your own everything bagel seasoning with 1 Tbsp each poppy & sesame seeds, 1 1/2 tsp each dried minced onion & garlic flakes & 1 tsp coarse salt.
  • For this pull-apart loaf I used a European ribbed semi-circle bread/cake pan. The size is bigger than a 9 x5-inch loaf pan so it is quite easy to fit all the dough into it.
  • Brion & I really enjoyed this bread made into a savory French toast for brunch.

Tomato Zucchini Strata

CELEBRATING LABOR DAY!

It’s hard to believe Labor Day weekend is here already! In our part of the world, it signals the last of those coveted summer days. Celebrated in Canada as a national statuary holiday weekend. Labor Day weekend gives us an opportunity to enjoy family & friends before summer is officially over.

Part of Canada’s appeal is its four seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer & Fall. We are entering the season of the fall harvest and the leaves on the trees begin their transformation to stunning shades of orange, red and yellow.

When I was giving thought to food for this day, a nice seasonal vegetable strata came to mind. For most families there’s ‘places to be and things to see’ on this day so why not start it with a breakfast dish that can be prepared the day before and baked in the morning.

Unlike quiche and frittata, strata originated in North America. The first known recipe, the cheese strata, dates back to 1902 and contains bread, white sauce and cheese.

A strata is usually a savory egg-bread casserole that’s baked in the oven or microwaved. Strata’s can be made with a variety of fillings including meats, cheese, vegetables or fruits. Usually, the bread and fillings are layered in a casserole dish with the egg mixture poured over top.  The dish can be prepared the night before (or at least 2 hours before cooking) to allow time for the bread to soak up some of the egg mixture. What you’re left with is a fluffy, bread-pudding-like meal that’s completely customizable using your favorite ingredients.

Hopefully this strata will be a good choice for your family on this holiday.

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Tomato Zucchini Strata
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Course Brunch
Cuisine American
Servings
Course Brunch
Cuisine American
Servings
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Instructions
  1. In an extra-large skillet, melt butter over low heat. Add tomatoes & zucchini. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until tomatoes begin to lose their firm round shape; remove from heat.
  2. Place half of the bread cubes in a greased 2-quart baking dish. Top with half of the zucchini mixture & half of the cheese. Repeat layers with remaining bread cubes, zucchini mixture & cheese.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, parsley, basil, chives, garlic salt & pepper. Carefully pour egg mixture evenly over bread mixture in dish. Using the back of a spoon, gently press down on layers. Cover and chill at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 325 F.
  5. Remove casserole from fridge. Bake for 60 minutes or until puffed, golden & set. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Breakfast Wrap Tortilla

The TikTok tortilla trend is one of the best ‘hacks’ on folding tortillas to come out of 2020 Covid quarantine.

Starting online with a simple threefold of a large flour tortilla, each layer contains a different ingredient that folds into a perfect triangle that is then toasted in a skillet or panini press for a hand-held snack. This wrap method is especially convenient for those on the go as the folds prevent the hot fillings from spilling out, which can happen with normal sandwich wraps or quesadillas.

Plus, the trend ensures that you’ll get a perfect bite of fillings every time.

These folded wraps are endlessly customizable, which makes them great for summer when we are all so busy with summer activities. Making a quick wrap and being able to run out the door or maybe just steal a quiet moment on the deck seems like the perfect idea to me.

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Breakfast Wrap Tortilla
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SERVING
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SERVING
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Instructions
  1. Lay out a tortilla flat. In the middle of the tortilla along the bottom half, make a cut half way up the tortilla.
  2. Put your ingredients into the four quadrants of the tortilla.
  3. Start with one section and fold them one over the other.
  4. Place the stacked tortilla in a greased skillet or panini press until golden brown.

French Toast Board

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!

Today as we celebrate Mother’s Day, many special memories come to mind. My mother passed away in 1978 but even after 44 years, time has changed nothing. I still miss the sound of her voice, the wisdom in her advice, the stories of her life and just being in her presence. I miss her today as much as the day she left us. At the time of her passing a friend said to me, ‘your mother is always with you’. At the time, I didn’t quite understand what she had meant but as the years have passed it has become clear to me.

We are fortunate to still have Brion’s mother, Dolores, in reasonable health. It is with loving thoughts we celebrate her today for her loving and kind ways.

On this Mother’s Day, I would also like to acknowledge my sisters Marilyn & Rita, who give so much of themselves to be the great mom’s they are.

French toast breakfast board for Mother’s Day is the perfect way to celebrate mom this year. Brunch boards make a beautiful display of food while inviting guests to casually graze at their leisure.

Breakfast boards are a lot like charcuterie boards: they include a variety of different tastes, textures, and flavors from a simple brunch menu. The variety and options are endless and there’s something for everyone to enjoy from it.

French toast is so simple to make and must be one of the most comforting breakfast carbs with its crispy, golden exterior and creamy, fluffy interior. Overnight French toast is a recipe that is simple and indulgent. When you make it the day before, the morning meal is tasty and effortless! Just bake it in the oven on Mother’s Day morning to complete your French toast board. Thanks to a long overnight soak in a heavy cream-infused custard, which transforms the sliced challah into a pudding-y delight. A French toast board usually consists of:

*French toast- thick slice bread such as challah, brioche or French

*French toast toppings – such as candied pecans, powdered sugar, maple syrup, chocolate chips and cinnamon/sugar mixture.
*Fruit – 
strawberries, blueberries, caramelized or natural bananas, kiwi, blood oranges for extra color or any personal choices you have.
*Butter –
always a staple.
*Something savory –
bacon, sausage, hashbrowns and/or scrambled eggs.

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Overnight French Toast
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Course Brunch
Cuisine American
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Instructions
Night Before
  1. Slice bread into 1" thick slices & let dry on the counter for a couple of hours (or place in a 300°F oven for 10 minutes using caution not to brown the bread).
  2. Place melted butter, brown sugar, & cinnamon on a large rimmed baking sheet about 17" x 12". Mix well and spread on the bottom of the pan.
  3. Arrange bread in the pan over the brown sugar mixture.
  4. Combine eggs, milk, vanilla & maple/rum extract.
  5. Gently pour half of the egg mixture over the bread ensuring all of the bread is soaked. Flip the bread & pour the remaining egg mixture over top.
  6. Sprinkle with chopped nuts (if using) & 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Cover the pan with plastic wrap & refrigerate overnight.
In the Morning
  1. Remove the pan from the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for 20 minutes
  2. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  3. Bake for 30 minutes until a GOLDEN brown.
  4. Serve with butter & other items on your French Toast Board.

Bacon & Corn Griddle Cakes

A griddle cake is another word for a pancake, but it seems to be used more often to indicate something more rustic and less breakfast-y than the word ‘pancake’. This makes it the perfect description for these bacon and corn cakes.

People began using the word ‘pancake’ during the 15th century, and the word became standard in 19th century North America. Previously, people referred to them as Indian cakes, hoe cakes, johnnycakes, journey cakes, buckwheat cakes, griddle cakes, and flapjacks. Early North American pancakes were made with buckwheat or cornmeal.

Pancakes have really stood the test of time with their extensive history. Each culture seems to have a unique take on them. People eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all over the globe. Some examples of this transcultural food include crepes, potato latkes, Irish boxty, Russian blini, Welsh crampog, Indian poori, Hungarian palacsinta, and Dutch pannenkoeken.

Today I’m making some savory ‘griddle cakes’ stuffed with corn, crumbled bacon, onions, chives and Monterey Jack cheese. What’s not to love about that!!

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Bacon & Corn Griddle Cakes
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Course Brunch
Cuisine American
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GRIDDLE CAKES
Course Brunch
Cuisine American
Servings
GRIDDLE CAKES
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Instructions
  1. In a medium skillet, cook the bacon pieces until they begin to brown. Add the onion and continue to cook until the bacon is crisp and the onion is softened. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of the bacon mixture for topping the griddle cakes upon serving- and set it aside.
  2. While the bacon is cooking, combine the flour, chives, baking powder, salt and paprika in a medium bowl. Stir in the milk, egg and oil, just until moistened. Stir in the bacon mixture, corn and cheese. The mixture will be thick, if you wish, add a little more milk to thin out the batter.
  3. Heat and grease a griddle or large skillet. Pour a heaping ¼-cup of the batter onto the griddle and cook until it is golden brown- 3 to 4 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining batter.
  4. Serve stacks of griddle cakes topped with a sprinkle of the reserved bacon/onion and warm maple syrup.

Bagel Breakfast Bake

Today, February 19, is Family Day in Canada … a uniquely Canadian holiday occurring each year on the third Monday of February. It gives Canadians the chance to spend more time with their families and to celebrate the importance of the home and family life.

Alberta was the first province to adopt Family Day as a statutory holiday in 1990.

Although going out for brunch is always great, sometimes it’s nice to invite some of your family and friends over for a homemade brunch. Family day seems like the perfect opportunity for a bagel breakfast bake.

Did you know that ‘brunch’ is one of Canada’s favorite pastimes? It’s one of those meals that’s a little hard to describe. Timing-wise, it fits just after normal breakfast hours and could run as late as 3 pm. Generally, it’s considered a replacement for both breakfast and lunch. Plus, you get the best of both meals on offer; you might choose decadent French toast loaded with fresh berries, Canadian maple syrup, and whipped cream… or you might just as easily have steak and eggs. At brunch, anything goes… and often does!

The origins of brunch can be found in England in the 1890s. It was described as a wonderful post-church meal that would eliminate the need to get up early to eat on Sundays. Brunch has stayed true to its origins, especially in Canada, as a primarily Sunday meal to be consumed after church—or after a sleep-in. ‘Once upon a time’, most restaurants were closed on Sundays, so the concept of brunch became synonymous with hotels and motels in the early 20th century. At that time, folks looking for a bite to eat after church could drop into a local hotel restaurant on the way home and enjoy a delicious meal. Of course, this resulted in more restaurants remaining open on Sunday mornings, as they were leaving a huge pile of cash on the table by being closed.

Brunch’s continued popularity with restaurant-goers throughout the 20th century eventually has made it into a plausible everyday meal, although still mostly eaten during the weekend, to be enjoyed at any point between breakfast and lunch hours.

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Bagel Breakfast Bake
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Course Brunch
Cuisine American
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Instructions
  1. Arrange bagels in a 9 x 9-inch square baking dish.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cheese, bacon, green onions, 1/2 tsp salt & 1/4 tsp pepper. Pour over bagels, pressing down slightly to submerge. Cover & refrigerate at least one hour or overnight.
  3. Preheat oven to 350 F. Uncover dish & bake 45-55 minutes or until set.
  4. Allow to cool 15 minutes before serving; garnish with additional green onion if you wish.

Benedictine Liqueur Christmas Braid

Christmas bread has a lot of different interpretations. The most traditional iterations involve sugar and spice, and often—but not always—yeast, and ultimately have strong cultural associations and country ties. One thing we can all agree on is that Christmas bread is celebratory, whether or not we observe the holiday. From the unleavened matzo of Passover to the German stollen of Christmas, from the British hot cross buns baked on Good Friday to the Russian kolach baked for any special occasion, bread in its many forms brings people together, linking traditions and generations.

The scent of Christmas spices, bread baking, and fresh-cut pine define holiday memories. Generations ago, the rich dough itself – lush with butter, eggs, dried fruit, sugar – relayed a cook’s generosity, her willingness to share the most precious ingredients in her pantry. The time and effort it took to make and bake the Christmas loaves expressed the cook’s devotion and love.

Last year, I was introduced to the liqueur known as Dom Benedictine. After doing much research into this interesting liqueur, I incorporated it in some savory and sweet recipes. We really enjoyed them so this year I was interested in doing a bit of recipe development to create a Christmas bread with it.

The story of Benedictine dates back to 1510 when a Venetian monk of the Abbey of Fécamp, Dom Bernardo Vincelli, created an elixir intended to support good health. It includes a combination of 27 herbs and spices derived from plants from around the globe, including juniper, myrrh, saffron, vanilla, thyme, coriander and more. The liqueur tastes primarily of honey and baking spices, with citrus peel, herb, and stone fruit notes.

So here you have it, my newly created Christmas bread tradition. Hope you can try it and enjoy it as much as Brion & I have.

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Benedictine Liqueur Christmas Braid
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Ingredients
Bread Dough
Lemon Glaze
Servings
SERVINGS
Ingredients
Bread Dough
Lemon Glaze
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Instructions
  1. Marinate raisins, candied fruit & cranberries in Benedictine liqueur overnight, Stir occasionally.
  2. Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water with 1 tsp sugar. Set aside for 5 minutes.
  3. In a large bowl, sift 2 cups of the flour. Stir in yeast mixture & lukewarm milk. Cover with plastic & let stand in a draft free place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Punch down firmly & work in beaten eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, lemon zest, vanilla & pieces of softened butter.
  4. Sift remaining 3 cups of flour with salt, cinnamon & cardamom & work 2 cups in to form a soft dough. Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead in remaining cup of flour & fruit mixture. This becomes a very soft & buttery dough but is not sticky.
  5. Invert the dough onto a lightly floured work surface & dust with flour. Cut the dough into four equal pieces & then stretch & roll each piece into a rope about 20 inches long. Lay the ropes parallel to one another (vertically). Pinch them tightly at the top, then fan them out.
  6. Begin by taking the strand farthest to the right & weave it toward the left through the other strands using this pattern: over, under, over. Take the strand furthest to the right & repeat the weaving pattern again: over, under, over. Repeat this pattern, always starting with the strand farthest to the right, until the whole loaf is braided, Tuck the ends under to give the loaf a finished look.
  7. Carefully transfer the braided loaf to a parchment-lined 13x18-inch baking sheet, brush with egg wash. Cover the loaf loosely with plastic wrap & allow to rise in a warm, draft-free spot until about 1 1/2 times the size, about 1-2 hours. Toward the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 F. & set an oven rack in the middle position.
  8. Gently brush risen dough again with egg wash. Place in an air-bake pan to prevent the bottom crust from browning too much.
  9. Bake 40-45 minutes or until a nice golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Combine powdered sugar & lemon juice/zest to make glaze. When braid is completely cool, brush loaf with lemon glaze & decorate to your liking.
Recipe Notes
  • To see a more in-depth article on Dom Benedictine Liqueur, check out my blog from December 21/2022 - Benedictine Liqueur Cupcakes.