Holiday Brunch Inspiration is as much about the Mood as it is the Food, and let’s not forget the booze, both boozy and booze-less!
HOLIDAY INSPIRATION
The months of November through January inspire us with the most heightened mood for celebration than any other time all year. So let’s celebrate!
Having just been spewed out of a holiday season that could not be celebrated by anyone, when the pandemic first hit, we have every reason to do it up right this year.
BRUNCH
Let’s make a date with our besties, those people that have always been there to help us through difficult times.
Those friends or family members that bring a sense of comfort, laughter, maybe a little gossip and lots of ‘feel good’ moments.
Especially now, more than ever before, we need to create a ‘mood’ to serve some fun holiday food.
Let’s have a Holiday Brunch!
EASY HOLIDAY BRUNCH MENU
An easy brunch menu with lots of delicious flavors of the season, is exactly what we need right now.
I have already done much of the work for you. I created and prepared this entire menu, from a holiday cocktail right down to a whimsical holiday dessert.
I’ve tested it out (so yummy), worked out any kinks so that even a novice cook will find this easy to do and yet when you sit down to this brunch, you will swear you are dining at the finest restaurant.
So, do pull out your special dishes and tableware and go all out. If you can’t be with some of those besties you would want at your brunch, do it virtually and have them do this same menu!
SPECIAL HOLIDAY BRUNCH SELECTIONS
This menu has been great for a Thanksgiving weekend with family, Christmas morning and perfect for New Year’s morning, after a long New Year’s Eve.
Adjust the presentation as it best fits your celebration, simply by adjusting the props.
For instance, for a Hanukkah celebration, instead of Christmas, simply draw menorah candles to make chocolate the way I did the reindeer antlers! Adjust!
- Peppermint Hot Chocolate Cocktail – Peppermint Hot Chocolate Festive Cocktail, with mint infused liquor (or muddled mint for booze-less), and homemade real hot chocolate, using milk of your choice.
- Black Walnut Date Brunch Bread – a favorite holiday recipe with exotic spices, ancient dates, and American Black Walnuts for a twist in flavor.
- Poached Eggs Over Potato Latkes – A perfectly poached egg over a crispy Potato Latkes with a sliver of smoked salmon, is how to make the Best Brunch for all occasions!
- Chocolate Reindeer Cheesecake – with chocolate antlers and Rudolph’s red nose (cranberry topping), is the most delicious cheesecake of the holiday season, for a bit of whimsy.
Hot and Spirited Holiday Brunch Cocktail Inspiration
Many of us are in a cold climate this time of year and so a piping hot, hot chocolate drink that has been spiked with peppermint vodka.
Of course, perfectly stirred with a candy cane, is exactly the cocktail we need to start off this brunch.
If, where you live during this holiday season is warm (which I spent 3 Christmas seasons in Brazil = HOT!), this drink served iced cold will be spectacular as well.
So don’t think I left y’all hotties out!
Booze-less? No problem! Simply add a splash of good quality mint extract instead of the peppermint booze.
Actually, it is really all that went into that booze anyway once distilled into alcohol.
Holiday Sweet Brunch Bread Inspiration
I can think of a gazillion reasons why we need a holiday breakfast bread for brunch, starting with ‘Just Because’!
Actually, this bread has more healthy nutrients than any other bread you will eat throughout your day.
Dates, for starters, are loaded with fiber, antioxidants and aid in improving our digestive system, and boy are they sweet!
Add oat flour and nut flour to the yeast dough, and you’ve got a wholesome, deliciously textured bread dough.
Yes, this is a yeast bread, but don’t let that scare you. Working with yeast dough is not much different than playing with Play Doh. You’ll see!
Poached Eggs Over Potato Latkes With Smoked Salmon Brunch
Holiday brunch never felt more like a holiday than with this amazing and oh so easy recipe.
Latkes, Rosti, Hash browns are all really just a big ole potato pancake. Pancake, you ask? No, not as in, egg and flour pancakes.
These fantastic additions to brunch are nothing short of ‘down-home’ delicious!
Three ingredients go into this delicious potato recipe; grated potato, salt, butter to cook. Sure you can add other ingredients but you really won’t need to.
Smoked salmon is the perfect flavor pairing with the crisp potato and rich gooey poached egg.
Speaking of which, do you know how to cooke a Perfectly Poached Egg? OMG! All my life I have feared I’d mess up this type of cooked egg.
Sure, I’ve had various types of egg poaching pans, but then one day my professional chef son showed me how it’s done in a restaurant. Game Changer!
This method makes the eggs look whimsically cloud-like and in exactly 3 minutes they are cooked to perfection, easy to scoop out and sit nicely on a plate until you are ready to assemble this dish.
Reindeer Rudolph’s Holiday Cranberry Cheese Cake Brunch
You know Santa is famous for his indulgence in cookies? Well this year, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer is getting his first and most delicious holiday dessert indulgence as well. Eat your heart out Santa!
This easy to make and fun dessert is made to look as though Rudolph made a crash landing in a snow bank, lost an antler or two, and images of his bright shining red nose will be replicated by the cranberries. It’s fun, healthy-ish, and delicious!
I prefer to make these in small individual sizes. My cheap and yet brilliant trick is to invert the lid on a Ball Mason Jar lid and use that for the baking tart pan.
It’s the perfect size and crazy cheaper than fancy tart pans, though you can use a porcelain tart pan as well and serve this holiday dessert in them, since they look fancy. It’s up to you.
As for the whimsical antlers? I drew an antler. No, I can’t draw, so I found one on the internet on my phone, set a piece of paper over my phone and traced it!
Perfect! I used the drawing to make lots of antlers out of melted chocolate.
The rest is easy to make, while the antlers are chilling in the fridge.
A crust of gingersnaps, a cheesecake with mascarpone and a quick cranberry compote to look like Rudolph’s Red Nose!
HOLIDAY BRUNCH INSPIRATION
While brunch, for me, has never been about the eating, but rather a reason to create a mood for a gathering; we still want to wow our guests with all the ambiance and great food!
Light a fire, or arrange lots of votive candles. Make a fun centerpiece. Set the stage and then get to cracking in the kitchen.
Oh… and don’t forget to wear something fabulous as well. After all, You are part of the ambiance and reason for the gathering!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.