A Berry Happy Breakfast - Part 2 - Berry Bread.

Bread. Berries. Breakfast.

Need I say more?

No, but I will - this is me after all and I don't think I've ever written a short post. 

This is the second recipe from my berry haul at the weekend, of course not including the not insubstantial amount of blueberries I ate on the way home.... ahem.  And my second entry to the Breakfast Club, ran by FussFreeFlavours and hosted by Simply Food.  Told you I like berries!

When I look at this recipe I think it's more of a cake than a bread, but to eat bread for breakfast makes me feel better than if I scoff cake first thing (mentally that is, not necessarily physically!). It doesn't have much sugar in it, the berries are sweet enough - and it's perfect for those berries that have seen better days. In fact, my major berry haul went bad quite quickly (well the strawberries and blackberries did, raspberries are still perfection in a punnet) which I guess is why they were so cheap - another reason to not feel guilty for eating cake bread for breakfast! I feel a list coming on.

There is no yeast in this recipe either, but I don't believe you need yeast to make a cake bread (See bacon and cheese bread here). What do you think?

To be fair, it's irrelevant; it was gorgeous for breakfast with a cup of string tea and yes, I'll admit it, I dunked. Who wouldn't? It was still warm and slathered with salted butter, which ended up creating a little film on my tea. Sounds gross. It wasn't. I guess the guilt factor evens out the health factor of A Berry Happy Breakfast - Part 1. Everything in moderation I say!

So, enjoy baking this cake bread... then please, please enjoy eating, guilt free as a Sunday morning treat (or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....)

Look at that. A short post after all.

Berry Bread

Breakfast Berry Bread... Cake... Bread.
Whatever!

• 250g plain flour
• 150g vanilla sugar (or add the seeds of 1 pod)
• 200g chopped nuts (I used walnuts and pecans, very roughly chopped)
• 2.5 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 40g butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 200ml milk
• 150g mixed berries, chopped to the size of a raspberry if needs be.

1. Pre heat the oven to 180 and line a loaf tin (min is approx 8" long).

2. In a bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients to combine.

3. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk all the wet ingredients with a fork before pouring into the dry ingredients and mixing until combined.

4. Stir in the berries.

5. Bake in the oven for 50 - 60 minutes until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean

6. Eat warm


OK, I realise this second to last instruction makes it a cake. I give in.

Enjoy anyway!

It's a Berry Happy Breakfast! Part 1 of 3 - Berry Breakfast Trifle

One of the best thing I've found about blogging are the Events and Challenges other bloggers have devised (and I may do my own one day - who knows!?) because they challenge you to try new things and blog about recipes you wouldn't normally blog about. And that's why FussFreeFlavours Breakfast Club challenge is one I look forward to - My brekkies are generally boring - and when I saw that this months host 'Simply Food' had chosen Berries for their theme, I jumped with joy. I love 'em!

Juicy, tender, sweet, in season, and most excitingly, LOCAL! Best of all this adds up to CHEAP! Sadly, this also meant I went a bit mad at the grocers at the weekend and bought:

• 3 punnets of juicy, shiny red strawberries, 
• 2 large punnets of dusky dark pink raspberries, 
• 3 punnets of juicy blackberries 
• 2 punnets of blueberries. 

That's a lot of berry goodness.  And how much did I pay!? Well, if I'd have been in Sainsburys, I would have closed my eyes at the check out and just handed over my credit card. But no need with my local grocer, as the whole lot came to a very tidy £6.50! That won't get you far in Sainsbury's I tell thee.

As I walked home (feeling rather sumg... again), I began to think about recipes as I picked away at my purchases, munching my way home. There would be a lot of berry goodness in my kitchen that afternoon (hence why this post is Part 1 of 3)!

I'll save the other two for later in the week, but I planned a gorgeous breakfast for hubs and I of Berry Breakfast Trifle followed by Blueberry Pancakes.

I got home and unpacked my shopping, planning to make the pancake batter to rest overnight and... oh dear.   I'd eaten ALL of the blueberries (except a sorry looking few left in the punnet that I quickly wolfed down when I saw them - does anyone else feel sorry for foods left behind so have to gobble them immediately? Or is it just an excuse for gluttony?).

I digress. But the pancake idea fell as flat as a.. well a pancake.  So, we are left with just a Berry Breakfast Trifle.  Not a bad consolation prize bad though - it was a real treat and a half, a healthy one at that. Perfect for healthy breakfasts that look like you've put a lot effort into - they look great. The only downside I can see to these gorgeous breakfast treats is that you can't make them in advance - if you do, you get gooey granola, and no one wants gooey granola.

This recipe uses my Gorgeously Good Granola (available for sale on Etsy too, I'll have you know!), so make a big batch and it'll last you the week (or just buy some of mine - yum!)

Berry Breakfast Trifle

Berry Breakfast Trifle

• One big handful of Granola per person (do you like my precision here?)
• Selection of juicy berries, large ones chopped. (I used raspberries, strawberries and blackberries. Sadly not blueberries).
• A large pot of natural yoghurt (you'll need 150g-200g per person
• Drizzle of honey

1. In a large glass (I used a chunky wine glass, but squat tumblers would looks fantastic), put roughly 2cm of granola in the bottom. Top with yoghurt (just a small dollop) and sprinkle generously with berries.

2. Continue to layer until you have filled the glass, finishing with yoghurt, and topping with more berries, a sprinkling of granola and a drizzle of yoghurt.

And that's it! I feel a fraud calling this a recipe; let's go with an assembly, an idea to create a filling, impressive low fuss, low fat, full flavour brekkie.

Enjoy!