The Breakfast Pastries Topic

[Verjuice]

Who else picks up one of these with their coffee in the mornings? For/iafter/before breakfast? Or maybe as a pick-me-up with your afternoon coffee or tea?

Muffins, scones, cinnamon rolls, coffeecakes, breakfast breads, croissants, doughnuts, eclairs, sticky buns, Danish-- what do you favor?

This morning, waiting for my muffin (I favor either morning glory or corn), I realized that everyone in front of me had ordered a scone, which I never order, because I usually find them really disappointing.

I've never eaten a whole Danish either; most of the ones I've seen in bakeries just look, well, damp.

I like the occasional almond croissant, too.

And you?

Edited February 16, 2005 by Verjuice (log)

[Ling]

cinnamon rolls and croissants (plain, cheese, or chocolate--doesn't matter) are my favourites

[Jeffy Boy]

Taro buns. I often pick one (or two) up at the Chinese grocery store near where I often stop for lunch. They are always so fresh! I bring one back to the office to have with a coffee in the middle of the afternoon.

[Pan]

I often stop at Moishe's, the kosher bakery around the corner, on my way to work. Here are some of the things I get:

Black & whites

Apple strudels

Chocolate cigars

Cinammon danishes

Chocolate danishes

Cheese danishes

Poppy hamantashen

Of course, I usually get one per trip.

And occasionally, I get an onion roll, a bagel, or a bialy instead of something sweet.

For gifts or when bringing sweets to dinner at a friend's or relative's place, I'll buy one or more of the larger strudels (walnut or poppy) or/and a cookie assortment.

[chiantiglace]

Orange brioche with almond glaze. Of course I usually make my own unless otherwise out of town and am never up at mid-morning because usually fall asleep around 5a.m.

[TurtleMeng]

I realized that everyone in front of me had ordered a scone,  which I never order, because I usually find them really disappointing.

I've never eaten a whole Danish either; most of the ones I've seen in bakeries just look, well, damp.

I like the occasional almond croissant, too.

And you?

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I love scones, but not Starbucks stuff. First, they are bad. Second, they are huge. Third, the above two combinations makes it intolerable.

Try making some scones when you have time, maybe over the weekend. They are not only good for breakfast but for afternoon tea. Heck, I would eat a freshly, PROPERLY made warm scone with Devonshire cream any time. No, I would eat two. I don't make them too big though. Besides, scones are very easy and quick to make. No waiting for rising, quickly mixed, hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

OK, end of talking about obsession. I like croissants, but only if they are very good. Most stuff you buy is....ugh....I should not sound snobby because I used to eat croissants from Costco in college for breakfast EVERYDAY.

I have yet to find a decent Danish in this universe.

[nightscotsman]

When I get to work in the morning at about 1:45 am the previous day's breakfast pastries are just making their way to the employee dining room from the various hotel outlets. I sometimes grab an apricot danish (with apricot halves and pastry cream) or an apple streudel, though the blueberry cheese danish are really good (round, with wild blueberry filling in the middle and cream cheese filling hidden in the crust around it - sort of like those Pizza Hut "stuffed crust" pizzas with the cheese in a ring inside the outer crust).

We make all our croissants, danish and brioche in-house from scratch - come to Bellagio, we'll make a danish believer out of you.

[Ling]

My favourite homemade breakfast pastries are raisin scones made with an ungodly amount of butter and cream. I also like homemade egg tarts, but store-bought ones from Chinese bakeries are also very delicious. I'm not yet adventurous enough (or talented enough) to produce my own croissants, though.

[kitchenmage]

I work at home so my morning tea usually includes homemade goodies. I almost always have a few things in the freezer: cinnamon rolls, bagels, chocolate chip cookies. (Oh, those aren't breakfast? Oops. )

Plus I have the indulgence of being able to decide as I pour my first cup of tea that I'd like something fresh with my third cup of tea and making it happen. Now there's an indulgence for you. (there are a few upsides to the life of a writer)

At our old house we had <i>blueberries</i>. I mean, we REALLY had blueberries--about 30 bushes. I'd still have some in the freezer when the next year's harvest was coming in. So I used to always have blueberry muffins, and bags and bags of frozen berries for fresh coffeecake and other spur-of-the-moment treats. Our new place has 4 blueberries, much smaller but bearing, so I am looking forward to the harvest, however meager it may seem by comparison.

I'm with you Ling, haven't gone after making croissants yet. In my case I have no excuse as I've been baking seriously since you were a small person (if that's your picture and you're really as young as you look). It's next winter's project--all the "difficult" pastries...and maybe more chocolate.

[Phatlouie07]

chocolate muffin and any kind of danish are my favorites.

[cakewalk]

Oh no. I can already see that instead of my usual fruit-and-yoghurt breakfast, today is not going to start out well! (Diet-wise, that is.)

Amy's Bread sells slices of a very wonderful toasted almond brioche. This is one of my favorite treats. Their whole-wheat Irish soda bread ain't bad either.

I find the muffins I buy at just about any shop in NY to be terribly disappointing. However, it doesn't stop me from trying again and again.

I love that comment about Danishes looking "well, damp."

Good hamentaschen, with a nice crumbly dough, are my favorite. (After the almond brioche, that is.)

I've never made scones. TurtleMeng, if you have a (simple) recipe, can you post it?

I'm sure I'll think of more good breakfast treats as the morning progresses.

[CompassRose]

My favourite ever breakfast baked treat is leftover home-made birthday cake -- Black Forest cake, to be exact. Mmmm.

I like muffins, too. For a while, I would prep up my muffins the night before (dry ingredients in one container, wet ones in another) so that I could mix and go in the morning -- it was then that I discovered that most muffin batters will cook happily in a waffle iron, too.

I love scones, but for some reason rarely make them. There's also a crunchy-granola health-food bakery here that makes a fantastic muesli bun, simply stiff with nuts and dried fruit. Their main location is way out in Big Box Land at the edge of town -- but a few years ago, they used to have a stand in a nearby mall, and I'd get one of those almost every morning.

[Verjuice]

This morning, my sister and I shared a cranberry almond poppyseed muffin from a wonderful bakery-- unfortunately, it was made using cheap almond extract and tasted kind of like nail varnish. I like the idea however and will attempt them at home.

Their chocolate and almond cream croissant was great, though.

I also had a bite of a maple cinnamon walnut danish, and the pastry dough wasn't nearly as soggy as it looked to be on their other danishes... then again, I love maple so much that I might not be able to form an objective opinion!

Scones, scones. I'm always and forever hoping that my next scone will not feel like an explosion of sawdust in my mouth, and will not taste like raw dough. My response to seeing them is Pavlovian at this point... I start reaching madly into space for a glass of water...

[JSkilling]

I'm with you on the scones, never could see the popularity of them as they are always dry and crumbly. Now, with Devonshire cream and strawberry preserves dolloped all over them, who cares??

Okay, I like the damp cheese danishes Even with my ever expanding tastes, I just love them!!

But for now, it's yogurt, hard boiled eggs and possibly some melon. Fifteen pounds HAVE to come off...

[TurtleMeng]

Scones, scones. I'm always and forever hoping that my next scone will not feel like an explosion of sawdust in my mouth, and will not taste like raw dough. My response to seeing them is Pavlovian at this point... I start reaching madly into space for a glass of water...

I'm with you on the scones, never could see the popularity of them as they are always dry and crumbly

I've never made scones. TurtleMeng, if you have a (simple) recipe, can you post it?

Oh, you guys wrong scones. I will defend them. I am an afternoon tea nut (once stood for 1 hr in freezing cold somewhere in NY to try a supposedly famous place), and a big reason is to just eat the scones. Fresh and warm is a must.

I like the recipe from Baking Illustrated as below, it does give you the trouble of getting some heavy cream, but I think it tastes so much better. I've tried quite a few recipes.

2 c (10 oz) unbleached AP flour

1 T baking powder

3 T sugar

1/2 t salt

5 T cold unsalted butter, cut into little pieces

1/2 c currants or cranberries or whatever

1 c heavy cream

preheat to 425

place all the dry ingredients in a bowl or food processor. whisk together or process with six 1-second pulses

cut in the butter until the mixture is like coarse meal. (With the food processor sprinkle the butter pieces and process with twelve 1-second pulses). Mix in the dried fruits. Transfer to a bowl.

Stir in the heavy cream with a fork until the dough begins to form, about 30 seconds.

Tranfer the dough and all dry flour bits to a countertop and knead by hand just until it comes together into a rough, slightly sticky ball, 5 to 10 seconds. (it's important to NOT overwork the dough). Pat the dough into a thick circle.

From here, you can shape the dough into whatever shape you desire. I like to use a biscuit cutter and make little round scones. Some people cut out triangular wedges (but they remind me of Starbucks again )

Place on a baking sheet and bake about 12 minutes. Cool about 10 minutes before eating.

We make all our croissants, danish and brioche in-house from scratch - come to Bellagio, we'll make a danish believer out of you.

Thanks for the offereing, Neil, I am SOOOOO hungry now (esp after I wrote the "I am hungry" thread in General Foods). You know, it's only a 4-hr drive. I think I might be able to convince hubby to drive over, if not today, maybe wknd.

[Verjuice]

Some people cut out triangular wedges (but they remind me of Starbucks again   )

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Yeah, wassup with the triangles? Come to think of it, I remember a couple years back, being offered some tiny warm currant cream scones with devonshire cream and preserves on British Airways a few years back (upgraded to business class, yay) and they were fabulous. Don't know how authentic they were, but their texture reminded me of a really moist, tender biscuit made with lots of lard. The texture was sublime and unlike anything else I have ever had. But I still don't know if they were scones per se.

Will give your recipe a try. Will use plump Monnuka raisins and hope for the best.

[Melanger]

The triangle shape makes it much more efficient to produce the offending scones. They can roll out large sheets of the dough to a rectangle shape and then cut it into triangles with very little scrap. If they were to cut circles out of the rectangle of dough they would have a lot of scrap which would have to be squished back together and recut (in order to minimize loss). In a large scale setting all of that reshaping can take quite a bit of time and furthermore, will diminish the consistency of the product. First roll-out=tender scones, Second roll-out=less tender scones, Third roll-out (heaven forbid)=kitty litter substitute.

Neil, I had the pleasure of stopping by JPM last week, boy am I a sucker for the cherry danish. Does the danish team make all of the fillings or are they made elsewhere? It was the nicest cherry filling I have ever had. The raspberry was great too, ok, so was the blueberry...yum! The individual pastries looked even better in person! Keep up the good work.

[jgarner53]

I have to concur on the scone thing. Almost every commercial one I've had has been dry and inedible. Even the blueberries or cranberries were dry. Ecch.

I'm not much of a muffin fan, maybe because most of the ones you see are huge to the point of being ridiculous. A nice, tidy, small raisin bran muffin (remember the old classic 6-week muffin recipe?), or homemade blueberry with plenty of salted butter, OK.

I guess I'm a stickler for quality, which I generally find to be lacking in store-bought pastries (unless I happen to be at Bellagio, I guess).

Real, fresh danishes are up there with croissants in my book: crisp, flaky, buttery, with some lovely filling. Mmmmm.

I've only tried making croissants once (from Baking with Julia), and they were a colossal failure. We just started them in school, and I have high hopes that this batch will be better. Our detrempe was just lovely. We laminated today and bake next Wednesday (oh, the woes of part-time pastry school!)

[CanadianBakin']

I love scones!! One recipe that I really enjoy is by Fine Cooking. I think it's in their last years Holiday Baking issue.

Classic Cream Scones

9 oz all-purpose flour

2-1/4 oz white sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2-3/4 oz dried currants (optional)

3 oz cold cubed butter

6-1/4 oz heavy cream

2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

Same instructions as TurtleMeng except lightly whisk together the yolks and cream before adding. Form into a disc measuring about 7"across and 1"thick. Cut into 8 wedges.

Brush with 1 large egg and 1 Tbsp milk beaten together. Sprinkle with sugar. Separate onto parchment lined pan. Bake at 400F for 18 - 22 minutes.

It's easy to vary. Using the same basic recipe I do Maple Pecan with a maple glaze and Lemon Cranberry using dried cranberries, pure lemon oil and a lemon glaze. Both are mmmm.... good!

And for the cinnamon bun lovers that don't have the time to make them, this recipe at King Arthur Flour has all the cinnamony goodness but in a scone that's quick to make.

[McDuff]

Amateurs.

Miller High Life and cold pizza, Breakfast of Champions.

[Patrick S]

Amateurs.

Miller High Life and cold pizza, Breakfast of Champions.

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Breakfast is the most important beer of the day, as they say.

[*Deborah*]

I will admit to a fondness for cold pizza.

More standard breakfast baked goods include Danish (cheese Danish, mmmmmmm), croissant (aux amandes if possible), petit pain au chocolat, bran-cranberry muffin, or a warm sesame bagel from Saint-Viateur, with either cream cheese or smoked salmon mousse from the fishmonger on Park Avenue near Bernard. Since I don't live in Montréal any more, I seldom get that last item.

Another Montréal thing that I haven't really seen elsewhere is a bougatzis (sp?) which is a Greek pastry with custard...not really meant for breakfast I suppose!

I like nice buttery toast, too, which is what I more typically have if I have anything baked for breakfast. Maybe with some nice bitter orange marmalade, seedless raspberry jam, blueberry jam, apricot jam, or sometimes even peanut butter.

Sometimes on the weekend I will bake myself scones or just nice plain biscuits...also slathered with butter, of course.

[McDuff]

The earthy crunchy groceria sent me to London in Sept, and I got to be very fond of the Danish with the pastry and the fruit I found everywhere. Even the little takeaway Sainsbury's kind of things had good ones. Having made more than my share of them, I do like a good Danish and light sweet coffee. But, now that I think of it, a bialy with cream cheese, smoked salmon, a little red onion and some capers isn't bad either. I found out, pretty much to my horror, at the doctor's yesterday, (won't go near the scale at home) that I've put on a few lbs. What's a fella to do? I love my own baking. I made Malgieri's spice pound cake a week or so ago and we ate it in less than a day.

[kitchenmage]

Same instructions as TurtleMeng except lightly whisk together the yolks and cream before adding. Form into a disc measuring about 7"across and 1"thick. Cut into 8 wedges.

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I get good results with this style scone (using eggs) as well. I've also had luck with putting them on a pizza stone that's seriously preheated--really helps with the rise and texture, although it may take a minute off bake time. And if I don't have cream, I use more butter and less milk (rather than cream)--okay, okay so it's a hack but it works.

[Ling]

I'm with you Ling, haven't gone after making croissants yet. In my case I have no excuse as I've been baking seriously since you were a small person (if that's your picture and you're really as young as you look). It's next winter's project--all the "difficult" pastries...and maybe more chocolate.

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Yes, that's me in my avatar. I'm 22.

ETA: my mom used to make croissants from scratch when I was a kid! Eating her homemade cream horns was a food epiphany for me. I honestly remember biting into those gigantic pastries at the time and marvelling how food could possibly taste that good.

Edited February 17, 2005 by Ling (log)