Berry danish minis

If you have frozen crescent rolls, cream cheese and jam lying around - and I usually have all three - these are a cinch to make.

I had flagged this recipe on my Pinterest board "Drooling Foodie" as one to try, and I'm delighted I did. The recipe comes from the blog Inspired by Charm, and you can find it here.

Now, I didn't get these looking quite as perfect as the ones on the blog - perhaps practice makes perfect - but they were so indulgent it didn't matter. Low-cal food, this is not. But consider making it for a special breakfast in bed, or impromptu brunch when you have suddenly have guests coming over.

Sweetened cream cheese; warm, oozing jam; and a dash of powdered sugar. Divine.

Apple and white cheddar scones

I love scones with clotted cream. With whipped butter. At afternoon tea in London. Heck, I even like the scones at my workplace cafeteria, but these scones took the cake.

For years I stuck to the same scone recipe I learned at Dish Cooking Studio,  one that included dried fruit and was served with mango whipped butter. And indeed it's a great recipe but this one is much more my style. I'm not a fan of chunks of fruit or raisins in my baked goods but the baked apple in this recipe would be missed if you were to leave it out.

Barefoot Contessa's brioche loaves

I made this recipe out of laziness. I couldn't find any brioche or challah to buy for one of Dorie Greenspan's tartine recipes in either of my local grocery stores and I didn't feel like driving to my favourite French bakery to buy any. So, I made some myself.

Once again, Ina Garten’s "Barefoot in Paris" book came through with a fail-proof recipe. It sounds like a lot of trouble to make, but it's nearly effortless. If you're not familiar with brioche, it is a French bread verging on a sweet with a high egg and butter content that translates into a tender crumb and a dark, golden, flaky crust.

It's ideal to use when making French toast, bread pudding, or even to toast and spread with a thin layer of butter. I used to wonder what all the fuss was about when my mother would fall into raptures over brioche.

Even my son opened his mouth wide, proclaiming "mahm!" when I took too long between morsels of brioche. But I always preferred the more populist croissant. After making my own brioche, however, I'm not sure I can ever go back to eating any old sliced bread. This may become a weekly tradition in our household.