"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it." ~Russel Baker

It's the time of year where as much as I love a hot breakfast, sometimes I just want something refreshing and cool to the tongue.  Tom & Wendy Lynde from the Braeside Inn Bed & Breakfast sent me this recipe for a Cranachan Smoothie. It's a Scottish recipe, which I think is appropriate since I'll be working on a video for Scottish themed book by Karen Hawkins next week. Only, after doing some research, I have to ask Tom & Wendy, "where's the whiskey?"

The Braeside Inn is located near Gatlenburg, Tennessee, in the town of Sevierville.  It's an area known for the great outdoors with hiking and white water rafting in the Great Smokey Mountains.  If you have some time to doodle on the the web, their site is pretty fun ... just a friggin huge url ... but still fun ...

InspirationComesEasyIfYouKnowWhereToLook.com

Named a Best of BedandBreakfast.com Award Winner for Best Food, 2009-2010, I was thankful this recipe was simple enough that I could make it at 4:30 am for one of my morning marathon training runs if I needed to.  Here's the scoop ...

You only need four ingredients.  Add them to a blender.  You're done.  Easy peasy, huh?  To demonstrate ... here is a "before" and "after" picture ...

Now, to be truly authentic Cranchan ... it should have raspberries ... and whiskey.

This is a breakfast-ized version (i.e. no alcohol) with berries that were in season at my local grocer.

Cranachan Smoothie

From the Braeside Inn, Sevierville, TN

This traditional Scottish dish makes a wonderful alternative for a first course breakfast fruit. Just a spoonful or so of rolled oats gives substance to this tangy, invigorating starter.

Makes 4 medium glasses:

1 ½ tbsp medium rolled oats

1-cup raspberries or frozen mixed berries

1-2 tsp honey

3 tbsp plain low fat yogurt

1) Place the rolled oats in a heatproof glass cup measure. Add ½ cup boiling water and leave to stand for about 10 minutes.

2) Put the soaked oats in a food processor or blender and add the berries. If using the raspberries reserve several berries per glass for garnish. A slice of Kiwi fruit or sprig of fresh mint can be substituted for the berries.

3) Add the honey and about 2 tbsp of the yogurt to the food processor or blender. Purée the ingredients until smooth, scraping down the side processor or blender midway through if necessary.

4) Pour the smoothie into glasses, swirl in the remaining yogurt and top with garnish.

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I have a full list of ingredients and directions at the end of the post ... but the main stars of this event are ripe red raspberries, dark chocolate chips and pink muffin cups to make them cute and girlie.

Sift together your flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.  Then sift the cocoa.

I should have sifted the sugar in with the flour ... but making these snow topped cocoa mountains was more fun.  I like to play with my food.

Add the brown sugar, then whisk/stir it all together.

Next start adding your wet ingredients.  Whisk your eggs together in a separate bowl.

Milk.

Chocolate chips.

Might I add that I almost had to run out to the store to buy another bag as Jim, the photographer, could not stop eating these.  What makes that even funnier is that he doesn't like sweets!  Liar.  These are bittersweet ... so I give him that credit at least.

My recommendation ... get an extra bag of chocolate and an extra package of raspberries for munching.

Here's a few facts that will take away the guilt ... raspberries are loaded with vitamin C ... chocolate is full of antioxidants and polyphenols ... eggs and milk give you protein and calcium.  Ignore the sugar and flour. They don't exist except to carry this wholesome nutrition into your body.  (wink)

Mix in the chocolate chips before the raspberries.  They're a little tougher, so you can really mix them in well.

Raspberries are fragile, so be careful when folding them in.  These were fresh, but I might even recommend freezing them for an hour so that they hold up better to mixing.

Serve on a platter for breakfast ...

Or as a single tasty treat with coffee or tea ...

Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

(recipe modified from Inn at The Park's Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe Below)

2 Cups all purpose flour
2/3 Cup cocoa
1/3 Cup packed light brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 Cup milk
1/2 Cup melted butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 package of chocolate chips
1 package of fresh raspberries

1) Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin pan or line with paper cups.

2) In a large bowl, whisk or sift together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3) Beat eggs in a separate bowl, then add all wet ingredients to flour/cocoa mixture.

4) Fold in chocolate chips. Next add the raspberries and spoon batter into muffin cups.

5) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool then dust with confectioners sugar and serve.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

from the Inn At The Park Bed & Breakfast, Louisville, Kentucky

2 Cups all purpose flour

1/3 Cup packed light brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 Cup milk

1/2 Cup melted butter

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 package of chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin pan or line with paper cups.

2) In a large bowl, whisk or sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

3) Beat eggs in a separate bowl, then add all wet ingredients until well blended..

4) Fold in chocolate chips. Next add walnuts and spoon batter into muffin cups.

5) Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve.

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]]> http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2010/01/28/chocolate-raspberry-muffins/feed/ 3 http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2009/10/21/berry-french-toast/ http://innthekitchen.com/wp/2009/10/21/berry-french-toast/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:50:41 +0000 admin http://innthekitchen.com/wp/?p=1127 A few weeks ago, Brian met a couple in Mount Dora (our hometown) that were taking a vacation from the vacation business.  They are the innkeepers at the Penny Farthing Bed & Breakfast in St. Augustine.  So naturally, when we were driving through St. Augustine last week we had to stop in for a cup of coffee and say hello.

I have to confess ... I was a little confused about who "Penny" was and I kept adding an extra syllable to the end of their name as in "Farthing-ton."  I've since been enlightened.  Take a look here at the video.

Marie (not Penny), gave me a fantastic recipe for a Berry French Toast.  I love breakfast made in a ramekin since you end up with nice little individual servings of goodness ... and ... if you have extra you can just put a lid on it or cover in saran wrap, stick it in the refrigerator and save it for later.

Here's what you'll need!  Simple ingredients ... yum-mee flavor.  I used some fresh raspberries and also some froze mixed berries since berries are not in season at the moment ... I had to elbow a few people at the grocery store to even get my hands on a pint of raspberries!

I could actually just take the bread, cheese and raspberries and go have a picnic!

When we visited Paris, everyone had a baguette in hand, under arm, or in a basket.  It was like, if you didn't have one you were missing out!  That memory pops up every time I slice into "French" bread.

My large cutting board was in the sink, dirty, and my no-slip cutting board was in the dishwasher ... also dirty!  So, I used my simple el cheapo cutting board and placed a dish towel underneath to prevent sliding.  It also came in handy for cleaning up the crumbs afterward!

You'll need four slices, and you want them to be in small bite sized bits.  The quickest way to do that is to cut it in half ... then flip one side over so you have the crusts facing the same way.  That makes it easier to slice through.

Also slice up some cream cheese.  Careful ... it's sticky!

After you have the bread and cheese chopped and ready to go, layer them into the ramekins. Bread first, then berries, then cheese, then more bread.  Cause, ya know, you can never have enough bread!

Mix together 3/4 cup of milk, 3 tsp of maple syrup and 2 eggs.

Pour the egg mixture on top of the layered bread, cream cheese and berries.  Cover and let it sit overnight in the refrigerator.

The next morning, bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes.

I think I followed directions pretty well all except for one ...

... greasing the ramekins!!!  AAAAAARRRRGGGH!

Since I made a crappy move by forgetting to grease my ramekin, it made me think of a friend of mine's son who had a great phrase for making a turd.  And that was ...

Taaaah Daaaaah!

Well, it might not look pretty, but it tasted GREAT!

Good thing I had a few more to spare.  We'll just keep them in the bowl, shall we?

A little dash of some berry sauce ...

(I had this sauce on hand. Marie at Penny Farthing has a couple ingredients listed below to make some sauce from scratch)

... and now we've got some good looking AND great tasting Berry French Toast.

Here's the whole recipe.  Enjoy!

Berry French Toast

from Penny Farthing Inn

Ingredients

4 slices of French bread cut in 1/2 inch cubes

3/4 cup raspberries or blueberries

2 ounces of cream cheese cut into 1/2 inch cubes

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

3 tbsp maple syrup

(Sauce)

2 tbsp raspberry preserve

1 cup maple syrup

Directions

(prepare night before)

1) Grease two ramekins and line with half the bread cubes

2) Cover with raspberries or blueberries (or both!), top with cream cheese and cover with remaining bread.

3) Beat together eggs, milk & 3 tablespoons of maple syrup.

4) Pour egg mixture over bread/cream cheese/berry filled ramekings and place in the fridge over night.

5) In the morning, bake at 350 for 25 to 35 minutes.

6) Cut round the edge of the ramekin and turn the French toast over onto a plate.  Cover with sauce and serve!

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