Today is my birthday, a statement which I admit becomes less and less enthusiastic every year. Yes, I know that I’m not that old, but it’s funny how others’ expectations of what you should be doing at any given age can start to affect the way you think about your age (i.e. “you’re not married/haven’t bought a house/still living in the city?). The truth of it all is that I’m pretty darn happy with the way my life is panning out right now, and my birthday brunch last weekend was the perfect affirmation of that feeling.
It might sound odd that I hosted and cooked for my own birthday brunch party, but I really just love to entertain and (of course) cook. I invited my best girlfriends over for an afternoon of pigging out and drinking bubbly cocktails, which is pretty much my idea of the perfect Saturday.
Our menu was simple: DIY Flatbreads, Minted Fruit Salad, Blood Orange Mimosas, and Creme Fraiche Cheesecake for dessert.
Pardon the blurry photos… I just got a new camera lens and I’m not used to it yet!
I’m lucky to have such an incredible group of friends, including my little sister, in the city. Everyone at my brunch was from a different part of my life (family, college, work, etc.), but the common denominator seems to be that they are super smart, driven, accomplished, and funny women. Sometimes I wonder how I manage to call so many awesome people my friends, but I’m so grateful that I do!
The DIY flatbreads were a definite hit — I made homemade flatbreads and then set out a variety of toppings (savory or sweet) for people to create what they wanted. I also kept a pot of water simmering and a fry pan handy for on-demand poached or scrambled eggs.
Making a minted fruit salad is the easiest thing ever. To be 100% honest, I cut fruit spears of watermelon, pineapple, and cantaloupe from Trader Joe’s into chunks, mix in some blueberries or blackberries, dress with the juice of 1 lime mixed with 1 tsp of agave syrup, and top with chiffonade of mint. Done!
The star of the show was definitely the creme fraiche cheesecake (recipe from Bon Appetit), which is crust-less and baked in a loaf pan. After you unmold it, you just need to cut the loaf into slices and top with a walnut streusel and dulce de leche. I had the idea in my head that I was going to make homemade dulce de leche, but time ran out and the canned stuff heated up was perfectly sufficient!
Blood Orange Mimosa
Ingredients
- Chambord raspberry liqueur
- Blood Orange juice (sold at specialty markets, like Whole Foods)
- 1 bottle of prosecco
- Optional: fruit for garnish (raspberry, blackberry, blood orange slice)
Instructions
I rarely measure for cocktails as I think everyone likes to make them to their own taste, but here’s what I suggest:
Pour a small amount of Chambord (about 1/2 tsp) into the bottom of a champagne flute
Fill the flute about 1/2 of the way up with blood orange juice, top off with prosecco.
Optional: garnish with fruit. I used blackberries here because I liked the color contrast, but you could use a raspberry or a slice of blood orange on the rim.
DIY Flatbreads
Ingredients
- 1 batch of Flaky Bread (from Bon Appetit) or prepared flatbreads
Toppings:
- Mashed avocado mixed with lime juice (to prevent browning)
- Bacon
- Sliced tomato
- Hollandaise sauce
- Poached eggs
- Softened butter
- Fruit jam
Instructions
Simply pick a flatbread and top it with whatever you like! I went with avocado, bacon, a poached egg and hollandaise. Enjoy!
Comments