Brekkie in bed recipes

Brekkie in bed recipes for Mother's Day, Father's Day or any old Sunday? We've got you covered. Here are five delicious breakfast in bed ideas that are guaranteed to delight. 

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Brekkie in bed idea 1: ORANGE, RICOTTA + POPPY SEED PANCAKES

Serves 2

You'll need:

• 1 cup ricotta cheese

• 1/4 cup caster sugar

• 2 eggs

• zest from 1 orange, finely grated

• 1/8 cup poppy seeds

• 1/3 cup plain flour

• 2–3 tbsp oil or butter for frying

For serving:

• honey

• walnut halves

To make the pancakes:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together ricotta, sugar, eggs, orange zest and poppy seeds.

2. Fold in the flour and mix until just combined.

3. Heat the oil (or butter) in a large, heavy-based frying pan. With a large kitchen spoon, spoon in small rounds of batter, using the back of the spoon to flatten. You will need to work in batches of approximately 3 at a time, or whatever fits comfortably in your pan.

4. Over medium heat, fry gently until golden on one side, and then flip over and repeat on the other side. Leave to drain on a paper towel while you cook the remaining batter.

5. Serve with a drizzle of honey and some scattered walnut halves.

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Brekky in bed idea 2: DUTCH BABY PANCAKE

Serves 2

You'll need:

• 1/2 cup plain flour

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1/2 cup milk

• 2 large eggs

• 2 tbsp butter

For serving:

• 100g / 3.5oz shaved ham

• 2–3 slices Swiss cheese

• 1/2 large avocado

• 4–5 cherry tomatoes

1. Place the flour, salt, milk and eggs in the food processor and pulse until smooth. The batter will be quite wet. Leave to rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas Mark 6.

3. Once batter has rested, warm the butter in a small ovenproof skillet, and then pour the batter in. Place the skillet in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until puffed up and golden.

4. Remove from oven. Layer the cheese, ham and slices of avocado onto the pancake, and then top with halved cherry tomatoes.

5. Season with salt and pepper, cut into wedges and serve warm.

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Brekkie in bed idea 3: WINTER GREENS WITH QUINOA + FRIED EGG

Serves 2

You'll need:

• 1/2 cup quinoa

• 1/2 cup water

• pinch of salt

• 2–3 tbsp olive oil

• 1 small red onion, roughly chopped

• 1 large garlic clove, minced

• 1 1/2 cups winter greens, roughly chopped (you could use just one green, or a combination of kale, cavolo nero, silverbeet, spinach, chickory, rainbow chard or rocket)

• 1/2 red chilli, finely sliced

• 2 large free-range eggs

For serving:

• 2 tbsp sauerkraut

To make the meal:

1. Rinse the quinoa thoroughly and drain in a fine-meshed sieve.

2. Add to saucepan with water and a pinch of salt, and place over high heat. When it comes to the boil, lower the heat and simmer gently for 15 minutes, or until quinoa is just cooked. Set aside and keep warm.

3. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onion and a pinch of salt. Sauté gently for 5 minutes, and then add the garlic and chopped greens.

4. Sauté gently for 10 minutes or until all the greens are soft and wilted. Season well with salt and pepper and set aside.

5. In a new pan, over high heat, fry two eggs in a splash of oil and cook sunny side up.

6. To assemble, divide the quinoa into 2 bowls. Pile the greens mixture in a heap next to the quinoa, slide a fried egg onto the top, and garnish with sliced chilli. Add a spoon of sauerkraut to serve.

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Brekkie in bed idea 4: BLACK RICE PUDDING WITH PLUM COMPOTE + TOASTED COCONUT

Serves 3–4

For the pudding:

• 1 cup black rice

• 1 can full-fat coconut milk

• 1 1/2 cups water

• pinch of salt

• 2 tbsp shredded coconut

• 1–2 tbsp coconut sugar

• 1/2 cup coconut cream, for serving

For the compote:

• 1 1/4 cups water

• 1/4 raw sugar

• 500g / 1lb 2oz plums, halved, stones removed

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 4 whole star anise

To make:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine black rice, coconut milk, salt and 1 1/2 of water.

2. Bring to the boil, and then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for about 50 minutes, or until rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Give it a stir every now and then, and add a little extra liquid if it seems to be drying out.

3. While rice is cooking, pour 1 ¼ cups of water for the compote into a saucepan and bring to a boil.

4. Add sugar and allow to dissolve.

5. Add plums, cinnamon sticks and star anise, and simmer for 8–10 minutes.

6. Remove plums and place them in a separate bowl. Simmer the sauce until it thickens.

7. Pour thickened sauce over the plums and leave to cool slightly before serving.

8. To toast the coconut, pop shredded coconut into a frying pan and toast over high heat. As soon as you have your desired colour, remove from pan and set aside.

9. Once rice is cooked, remove it from heat and stir in coconut sugar.

10. Divide rice into 3–4 bowls and top with plums and toasted coconut. Drizzle with a little coconut cream and more compote sauce.

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Brekkie in bed idea 5: BUCKWHEAT CRUMPETS WITH JAM + PEANUT BUTTER + RICOTTA SPREAD

Makes 14 crumpets

For the crumpets:

• 110g / 3.5oz buckwheat flour

• 100g / 3.5oz plain flour

• 1 tsp dark brown sugar

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp fine sea salt

• 1 1/4 tsp dried yeast

• 175ml / 5.9 fl oz full-fat milk, lukewarm

• 225ml / 7.6 fl oz buttermilk

• 60g / 2.1oz unsalted butter

For the peanut butter + ricotta spread:

• 425g / 15oz ricotta cheese

• 1/4 cup peanut butter

• 1 tbsp honey

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp vanilla

To serve:

• 1/2 cup of your favourite jam

• drizzle of honey

To make:

1. For the crumpets, in a mixing bowl, mix together the buckwheat and plain flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, combine the yeast and full-fat milk and 1/2 cup of the dry mixture. Set aside for 30 minutes.

3. Whisk the yeast mix and buttermilk into the remaining dry mixture until you have a smooth batter.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm spot for 1 hour, or until doubled in size and bubbly.

5. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4.

6. Pop the butter and egg rings or cookie cutters in a baking tray and heat in the oven for 3 minutes, until the butter has melted.

7. Remove tray from the oven and brush the rings with the melted butter.

8. Pour heaped tablespoons of batter into the rings and bake for 14 minutes or until the crumpets have risen and cooked through.

9. Use a knife to pop the crumpets out of the rings. Continue with the remaining batter, keeping the other crumpets warm until ready to serve.

10. For the peanut butter and ricotta spread, mix all ingredients together in a bowl until well combined.

11. To serve, spread peanut butter and ricotta on a crumpet and pop a teaspoon of jam on top. Drizzle with honey.

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Brekkie in Bed Recipes + photographs by Kate Berry for Lunch Lady Magazine Issue 7.