Did you know the word brunch originated in England in the 19th century, a blending of the word breakfast and lunch? In Canada, the concept of brunch became popular in the early 20th century — a Sunday meal to be consumed after church or providing the opportunity to sleep in on the weekend but still enjoy breakfast foods at a later time of the day. Brunch can be a regular event in your home; consider brunch for Mother’s Day this year.
Traditional breakfast food such as bacon, eggs, fruits, french toast, and cheese are often popular items to serve for brunch. I have always loved preparing recipes that don’t require a lot of last-minute preparation and me being in the kitchen instead of time spent with my family and guests.
The recipes I am sharing are the perfect items to make ahead, require a bit of time heating in the oven before serving and are always so well received. I love serving brunch buffet style so guests can help themselves to the items and portion sizes they prefer.
For brunch, you should always offer a combination of sweet and savoury items, so I am sharing recipes for my “famous” baked French toast and mini egg frittatas. Round out your brunch menu by providing chilled juice, sparking water, mimosas, fruit, simple green salad, cheese and some sweet pastries.
Brunch Recipes
Mini Frittata
Homemade egg bites are a perfect make-ahead breakfast/brunch and a great way to use up leftover vegetables and other ingredients.
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Servings: 12
Equipment
- 12-cup muffin tin
- Large baking pan (large enough for the muffin tin pan to sit in )
- Mixing bowl and whisk
Ingredients
- Egg base
- 10 large eggs
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt or sour cream, full fat
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Spicy red pepper and pepper jack
- 1 cup red pepper, small dice, sauteed
- 1 cup pepper jack cheese, grated or cubed
- your favourite hot sauce, to taste
- Broccoli and smoked cheddar
- 1 cup broccoli, cooked, chopped into small pieces
- 1 cup smoked cheddar, grated
- 1 tbsp grainy dijon mustard
Mushroom and Spinach
- 1 cup mushrooms, chopped into small pieces, cooked
- 2 cups spinach cooked
- 1 cup swiss or aged cheddar cheese
Use this recipe as a guideline and fill your egg cups with a variety of different ingredients like bacon, sausage, ham, and cheese, or no cheese!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F
- Generously grease a 12-cup muffin tin and place inside a larger baking pan.
- Divide your chosen ingredients between the cups, they should be about 2/3 full.
- Whisk together eggs, yogurt, salt and pepper and pour evenly over each cup.
- Pour about one to two inches of hot tap water into larger pan*. Grease a piece of foil large enough to cover the pan and cover with greased side down.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and remove muffin tin from pan. Let cool. Use a butter knife to loosen from pan. Serve warm or refrigerate or freeze for later.
Notes
Storage: Let it cool completely and store it covered in the fridge for five days. Or wrap individually and store in the freezer for up to three months. Let it thaw in the fridge overnight or defrost in the microwave.
*If you don't have a pan large enough to put the muffin tin into, you can skip the water bath and the foil cover and check if it's done after 20 minutes and continue baking as needed until just set.
Caramelized Baked French Toast
Servings: 4
Equipment:
- 9 x 11 baking dish/casserole
- Mixing bowl for egg mixture whisk
Ingredients
- 1 loaf of Challah bread , unsliced so you can slice it to 1” thick pieces
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup whipping cream (if preparing the night before use 1.5 cups of cream as it will be more absorbed by the bread).
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Pinch of sea salt or pink himalayan salt
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup melted butter
Instructions
- Sprinkle brown sugar in the bottom of the baking pan, drizzle melted butter evenly over the brown sugar.
- Slice the bread into 1-inch thick pieces.
- Make egg mixture by combining the eggs, whipping cream, cinnamon, salt.
- Dip the bread into the egg mixture, dip both sides generously, then place on top of the butter brown sugar mixture.
- Pour the remaining egg mixture over the bread.
- Cover with parchment paper and then foil and put in the fridge overnight or bake.
- When ready to bake, place in a preheated 350F oven with the foil on.
- Bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and using a lifter, flip the bread pieces over so the carmelized side is up, and bake for another 8 minutes to allow the other side of the bread to soak up some of the remaining brown sugar/butter to finish off.
- Cut the pieces of baked french toast on a diagonal and serve from the dish it was baked in or you can transfer to a serving platter.
- Served with Ontario maple syrup and butter (although this recipe creates its own sweet buttery sauce).
Optional toppings:
- Fresh whipped cream infused with vanilla
- Lemon ricotta cheese
- ¾ cups ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon icing sugar, lemon zest (optional) - 1 tablespoon
Simply mix the ricotta cheese with the icing sugar and lemon zest; place them in a dish for guests to self serve.
Anne-Marie Million is the chef and owner of A Million Mouthfuls Catering, a part-time catering business that she launched as a full-time passion project after retiring from a longtime career in the local hospitality sector in 2021.
