Max's First Birthday

For Max's first birthday (April 10th) we celebrated with a simple family brunch. On the menu: Breakfast casserole (my first time to ever buy bacon), Ginger cream scones with dried cherries (these are amazing), fruit, and of course, homemade banana-cake cupcakes with whipped cream/cream cheese icing.

Here are some pictures of our sweet boy and some yummy recipes:







Ginger Cream Scones

Deborah Madison says: When I was pastry chef at Cafe Escalera in Santa Fe, I used to make these for early morning customers who wanted just a little something with their coffee. It's the cream that makes them melt in your mouth like nothing else does. Ginger scones make an exceptional base for strawberry, peach, or dried winter fruit compote shortcake.

Ingredients:
1/2 to 1 cup candied ginger, chopped to the size of a raisin
2 cups of flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 TBSP sugar, plus extra for the top
1/2 tsp salt
4 TBSP cold butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cream or a mixture of milk and cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 425. If you have a baking stone, heat it for an extra 10 minutes. Or lightly butter a sheet pan.

Toss the ginger with a tablespoon of the flour. Mix the remaining flour with the baking powder, sugar, and salt, then cut in the butter with your fingers or two knives until the mixture resemble meal. Combine the eggs, cream, and vanilla, then stir into the flour mixture along with the ginger. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and lightly knead 8 to 10 times. Pat or roll the dough into a circle about 3/4 inch thick, then brush the top with the remaining cream and sprinkle with sugar. Cut into 12 wedges or into small circles and bake directly on the stone or on the sheet pan until glazed with gold, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

1 pound bacon
1/4 cup diced onion
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
8 eggs
2 cups milk
1 (16 ounce) package frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 7x11 inch casserole dish.
Fry the bacon in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Crumble.
In a large bowl beat together eggs and milk. Mix in cheese, bacon, onion and green pepper. Stir in the thawed hash browns. Pour mixture into prepared casserole.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes until eggs have set.

Banana Cake

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 - 8 inch round pans. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the bananas. Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed mixture. Stir in chopped walnuts. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and place on a damp tea towel to cool.

Whipped Cream cheese frosting

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
Directions

In a small bowl beat whipping cream until stiff peaks form; set aside.
In a large bowl combine cream cheese, sugar, salt and vanilla. Beat until smooth, then fold in whipped cream.

As you probably noticed, we deviated from our healthy ways somewhat...but that's what birthdays are for :)

Love,
Kate