Izy Hossack - Top With Cinnamon Stylish Sweet and Savoury Recipes

I suppose that growing up in my household, with two food-loving parents, it was inevitable that cooking would become a major part of my life. Throughout my childhood I spent a large proportion of time in the kitchen at the countertop: starting out in a baby chair that clipped onto the counter, progressing to actually sitting on the counter, then standing on a little plastic stool so I could reach the counter. Id help my mum bake, having the ever-important jobs of:
a) adding vanilla extract to batters (there was an incident with brownie batter once I may have poured the entire bottle into it. My brother may have been a bit angry. But I was four, come on!)
b) the quality control of freshly baked cookies.

There was always a way for me to get involved with cooking. Over the years, I learned the baking basics from my mum via her family recipe book, with lots of American, Italian and English recipes that had been passed down to her over the years. Overloaded with fresh produce from my dads allotment all year round, I also learned how to cook simply with the seasons.

However, it wasnt until I was fifteen and finally discovered the wonderful world of food blogging that I really started to want to learn more about food. I couldnt believe that there were free (FREE!) recipes out there, countless in number with gorgeous images and such witty, creative minds behind them. It didnt take long for me to set up my own food blog, even though I had no clue whatsoever about what I was doing. I started out how most bloggers do: with an awkwardly designed, free website and the imminent pressure of naming it. After about a week of pondering, I decided on the URL and called my blog Top With Cinnamon, for two reasons, the first being that after giving my best friend a cinnamon-sugar topped blueberry muffin, she was equally enthused by and addicted to the topping as I was (the cinnamon-sugar crust remains my favourite part of any baked good). The second reason was that I love to top things with cinnamon coffee, cookies (have you ever tried a snickerdoodle cookie? Theyre awesome), muffins, scones. ALL GOOD. One thing I hadnt figured out yet was that when you say top with cinnamon quickly to someone, they usually assume you said topped. Most of the time, if people ask me what my blog is called and they repeat back to me, Oh, Topped With Cinnamon? youll probably see me do a wide-eyed, exhaley nose-laugh with a smile and nod because Google will inevitably correct them later. Then I internally slow-clap myself for being so great at naming things. Anyway, after that whole naming fiasco, I borrowed the family camera a nice, chunky point-and-shoot with an amazing five megapixel sensor (it was 2011 and my phone didnt even have a camera on it) and snuck around photographing food in awful lighting, probably with the camera flash on too.

It took about two weeks of this secret food photography for my mum to actually ask me if I had started a food blog, and for me to finally admit it. From then on, I couldnt stop. I kept on baking, cooking and photographing, encouraged and inspired by the amazing online foodie community. Ive not only learned even more about food and photography, but made friends and met numerous incredible people.

One invaluable lesson Ive also learned from blogging is the need for balance. When youre baking something (almost) every weekend, youve gotta find a way to justify the cake. Luckily, Im not talking about just eating boring salads all through the week! Its easy to enjoy nourishing meals when you make them at home with simple recipes and when youre controlling the ingredients. This is essentially what youll find in the pages of this book from the wholesome and hearty to the downright indulgent, these are the recipes I love and live by, and hope you will too.

BREAKFAST-Y BRUNCH foods have always been my favourite. I could (and sometimes do) eat them at any time of day. I love their not-too-sweet flavours and, of course, the excuse to eat fruity cake in the morning will never be complained about by me. Theres something about that magical combination of a really good cup of coffee and a stack of pancakes that can immediately calm me down and make me excited all at the same time.

Mainly, though, I think its really special to be able to just zone out at 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning and fully immerse yourself in making food you really love, which you eat right then and there. Thats why Im bringing you these recipes. Sure, theyre not all for everyday eating (I dont think its possible to live in a world where scones and streusel cake are a Monday to Sunday thing, without having to replace my entire wardrobe) but theyre delicious and comforting to the max with a few healthy ingredient twists thrown in.

[ SERVES 23 ]

French toast has always been my favourite fancy breakfast. Theres cinnamon and maple syrup involved so its a guaranteed winner. The problem is that I despise hovering by the stove, ridiculously hungry, waiting for the bread to cook. If Im standing in the kitchen for more than ten minutes Ill probably end up eating a stray cookie sitting on the counter. Cue baked French toast: layer it all up in a pan and bake to crispy, gooey, melted perfection. It can even be made the night before and stored in the fridge before baking in the morning. Plus, I dont even have to be in the kitchen while it cooks, so I can avoid the previously mentioned cookie dilemma.

Ingredients

4 slices of bread, preferably stale

75 g (2 oz/ cup) , store-bought or homemade

1 egg

190 ml (6 fl oz/ cup) milk

2 tbsp brown sugar

ripe banana, mashed

2 tbsp demerara (raw) sugar

Preparation

Preheat your oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4). Cut the bread into small cubes. Place half the cubes in a small baking dish and use a teaspoon to dot the bread with half of the chocolate-hazelnut butter. Cover with the rest of the bread cubes, then dot with the remaining chocolate-hazelnut butter.

In a small jug, combine the egg, milk, brown sugar and mashed banana with a fork. Pour over the bread, making sure you cover it all. At this point you can either cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight, or bake straight away.

When youre ready to bake it, sprinkle with the demerara sugar and cook in the oven for 2530 minutes, until its puffy and crisp on top.