Your guide to the perfect gourmet brunch at home, that’s also easy! From classic soufflé to cheater strudel, we’ve got you covered. Inspired by a slew of new reality competition shows – The Big Brunch and Drink Masters (highly recommended btw – comedian Tone Bell kills it as host, and Toronto’s own drink master Frankie Solarik makes an incredible head judge) among them – we are ready to go deep on deliciousness.
Eggs are easy, but kind of a pain when you’re putting on a beautiful brunch and don’t feel like being a short order cook for the day. And this is supposed to be a gourmet brunch, therefore soufflé is truly the only way to go. And not just any soufflé, this recipe comes from the esteemed grand dame of Southern cooking, Chef Edna Lewis. And it’s foolproof.
Here’s Sohla el-Wahlly to effortlessly taking us through it in the Food52 kitchen:
When’s the last time you made strudel? If your answer is never, that’s no surprise. The real thing requires the dough to be rolled out thin enough to read a newspaper through. While that’s not impossible (here’s an excellent recipe from House of Nash Eats), we’ve got a cheater version for you from everyone’s favourite octogenarian billionaire.
What it lacks in prep time it more than makes up for in eye-popping beauty. Martha’s Cherry Cheese Strudel is a delicious mash-up of cheese danish and cherry strudel and it’s shockingly simple to make. If you haven’t worked with frozen puff pastry before, this is a perfect recipe to start with. Here’s a video to show the technique for that faux braided laurel crust.
All that cheese-y decadence requires some balance, and for that we go to Grossy Pelosi. OMG we love a Pelosi salad – he has such a knack for hitting all the right salad-y notes. His FFS, or Favorite Fall Salad features butternut squash, kale and pumpkin seeds combined with a peppy garlic and citrus dressing.
He’s also a whiz when it comes to classic home baked goods, so here’s his delightful Pumpkin Pie Coffee Cake recipe. Because after this menu, you’re still going to need something to finish with. A coffee cake is ideal for lingering, and that’s what brunch is about. Taking time around the table to linger over coffee and — RECORD SCRATCH!!! – we almost forgot the booze!
a sparkling and spicy bourbon cocktail courtesy of The Kitchn
Obviously, brunch is also about booze. If you’ve been watching Drink Masters on Netflix you might be tempted to bust out some liquid nitrogen, or gel spheres, but let’s put on the brakes and consider what kind of cocktail is best.
Drink Masters on Netflix is an excellent primer in extreme mixology, but, at least for our purposes, perhaps best kept for entertainment rather than tutorial.
The buzzwords of this entire post are “easy” and “gourmet” after all. So keeping to that theme, and giving mimosas a pass, how about a pitcher of cocktails, made in advance, and chilled to perfection in the fridge? Sparkling Raspberry Ginger Beer with Bourbon or a pitcher of Pisco Grapefruit. For non-drinkers a Pear & Rose Punch is an elevated blend of cardamom, rosewater and vanilla with juicy pears.
Brunch is heavenly at home. Whip up some of these recipes and see for yourself.