Rise and shine: make breakfast pastries quickly with a little preparation the night before - Food and Entertaining

Sunset, Jan, 2004 by Charity Ferreira

There's nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked pastries on a weekend morning. But you don't have to get up hours before everyone else in order to enjoy warm cherry-chocolate scones, jam-filled Danishes, or tender banana coffee cakes. With a little preparation the night before--mixing up an easy yeast dough, blending the ingredients for a simple streusel, or cutting butter into flour for practically instant scone mix--you'll be surprised at how quickly you can have these homemade treats ready to go into the oven in the morning. While they bake, you're free to linger over the rituals of making coffee, squeezing fresh orange juice, or relaxing with the Sunday paper as you enjoy the scents coming from the oven.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Brown Sugar-Banana Coffee Cakes

PREP AND COOK TIME: 45 minutes

MAKES: 6 large or 18 small individual coffee cakes

NOTES: To save time when making these individual coffee cakes in the morning, make the streusel (step 1) up to a week ahead; seal in a zip-lock plastic bag and chill. You can also mash the bananas (cover and chill) and butter and flour the muffin pan the night before.

  2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  1 3/4 cups brown sugar
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) butter,
        at room temperature
      2 large eggs
      1 tablespoon vanilla
    1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas
      2 teaspoons baking powder
    1/4 cup sour cream

1. To make streusel mixture, in a food processor or a bowl, whirl or mix 3/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut 1/4 cup butter into chunks and add to bowl; pulse mixture or cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

2. In a bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat remaining 1/4 cup butter and remaining 1 cup brown sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary, until well blended. Beat in mashed bananas.

3. In a small bowl, stir together remaining 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir into banana mixture. Gently fold in sour cream until well blended.

4. Divide batter equally among 6 jumbo (1-cup capacity) or 18 regular (1/3-cup capacity) buttered and floured muffin cups, filling each halfway. Sprinkle streusel evenly over tops of cakes (crumble the streusel first if it sticks together).

5. Bake in a 350[degrees] regular or convection oven until streusel is browned and a wooden skewer inserted into the center of a cake comes out with moist crumbs attached, 18 to 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in cups, then invert pan to remove. Serve warm or let cool completely.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Per small coffee cake: 215 cal., 30% (64 cal.) from fat; 2.6 g protein; 7.1 g fat (4.2 g sat.); 35 g carbo (0.5 g fiber); 195 mg sodium; 41 mg chol.

Cherry-Chocolate Scones

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 50 minutes

MAKES: 8 scones

NOTES: To assemble scones quickly in the morning, mix the dry ingredients with the butter ahead of time (step 1); seal the mixture in a zip-lock plastic bag and chill for up to 1 week, or freeze up to 1 month. Pour chilled or frozen mixture into a bowl and proceed with step 2.

      3 cups all-purpose flour
    1/4 cup sugar
      1 tablespoon baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/2 cup (1/4 lb.) cold butter
    3/4 cup half-and-half (light cream)
      1 large egg
      4 ounces milk chocolate, cut into
        1/2-inch chunks (about 1/2 cup)
    1/2 cup chopped pecans
    1/2 cup pitted dried cherries

1. In a bowl or a food processor, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter into chunks and add to flour mixture. Cut in with a pastry blender or pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together half-and-half and egg. Reserve 2 tablespoons half-and-half mixture; add remaining to flour mixture along with chocolate, nuts, and cherries. Stir with a fork just until evenly moistened.

3. Scrape dough onto a floured surface and, with lightly floured hands, squeeze dough together into a ball. Pat dough out into a 7-inch round about 1 3/4 inches thick. Cut into eight equal wedges.

4. Place wedges 2 inches apart on a buttered or cooking parchment-lined 12- by 15-inch baking sheet. Brush tops of wedges lightly with reserved half-and-half mixture (discard any remaining).

5. Bake scones in a 350[degrees] regular or convection oven until tops are browned, about 25 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes on baking sheet, then serve warm or let cool completely.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Per serving: 486 cal., 46% (225 cal.) from fat; 8.1 g protein; 25 g fat (12 g sat.); 61 g carbo (2.1 g fiber); 480 mg sodium; 70 mg chol.

Shortcut Jam Danish

PREP AND COOK TIME: About 1 hour, plus at least 12 1/2 hours to rise

MAKES: About 12 pastries

NOTES: Fresh yeast, sometimes called cake yeast, is the key to this dough, which rises overnight in the fridge. Because fresh yeast is already moistened and active, you don't have to dissolve it in warm water before using. You'll find paper-wrapped 0.6-ounce cubes of fresh yeast in the refrigerator case at the grocery store. This recipe calls for half a cube; wrap remainder in plastic wrap and chill for up to 1 week.