*cross posted*
To honor those celebrating Easter, such as Dam-sel, I fixed a brunch on Sunday morning which still fit within the Passover strictures I follow, since this year Easter fell on the last day of Passover.
Easter brunch:
Banana and Peach Matzah Brei Bake
Cast of characters for brunch:
Matzah
Bananas
Sliced peaches with juice
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
K4P Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
Eggs, room temperature
Milk
Vanilla flavoring made with potato vodka
Lemon zest
I forgot to take individual photos after each step for the first layer. I started for the second, and then forgot a step or two. It's easy to figure out.
The night before serving, spray or lightly oil a 9"×13" baking dish. Place two matzah boards on the bottom in a single layer. The boards do not need to be dampened for this recipe.
Slice one of the bananas and space evenly on the matzah. Cut half of the peaches in to smaller pieces and space them evenly over the matzah.
Sprinkle 1/4 to 1/2 cup of brown sugar over the fruit, depending on how sweet you want the matzah brei to turn out. Follow that with a sprinkle of 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon.
Start the next layer with two matzah boards in a single layer over the first.
Space the slices from the second banana over the matzah.
I forgot to take a photo of the bananas and peaches on the second layer before adding the brown sugar and cinnamon. It basically looks like the second photo above, only on the second layer.
Repeat with the same amount of brown sugar and cinnamon you used on the first layer.
A one pound block of k4p cream cheese that was softened, cubed and put in a large mixing bowl.
Add one egg and beat until smooth. Add seven more eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated after each one.
The cream cheese and egg mixture, after all of the eggs are added and incorporated.
Add milk, vanilla flavoring, and lemon zest.
The egg and milk mixture with everything mixed in.
Gently pour over the matzah and fruit; you don't want to disturb the fruit if you can help it. If you were able to layer the matzah boards so they didn't overlap, they should be completely submerged. Mine poked up a little bit, but everything still cooked fine.
Cover with cling wrap and put in to the refrigerator overnight. Similar to an overnight French toast! Be careful carrying it to the refrigerator; the liquid is very full and sloshy!
Fresh out of the refrigerator the next morning. The liquid really thickened up!
The recipe does not call for doing so, but I let the brei rest at room temperature for 45 minutes before putting in to a preheated 350°F oven for 50 minutes.
The baked results.
Interior view.
A close up of the layers.
I put some maple syrup on the table as the recipe suggested. Dam-sel had the very clever idea of topping her piece with cinnamon sugar. It made the brei prettier, and the maple syrup was not needed after that.
Next time, I think I'll top the brei with cinnamon sugar during the last 15 minutes in the oven.
SD tends to like end pieces with crispy bits, so he suggested I photograph the crispy end of the pretty cinnamon sugar piece for those who would like to see the cook.
Overall, we enjoyed it. We did feel it could have used more fruit, and half of the brei was enough for the three of us. I think next time I'll make it in an 8"×8" square pan, or whichever size will hold a single board of matzah. Halve everything, except for the fruit.
