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The English Breakfast: Traditional Recipe For a Good Start to the Day

Who of you has never tried a traditional English breakfast?

Bacon, scrambled eggs, pork sausages, beans, toast, jam and much more are part of the “Full English Breakfast”, the traditional breakfast that the British love to eat in the morning. And “Full” really is. In contrast to the small, often quick bites that we eat in Germany in the morning, the English breakfast always counts as a complete meal.

When it comes to this hearty highlight of English cuisine, non-British people usually have different opinions: either you love it or you find it far too sumptuous and take some getting used to.

Especially on cold winter days, the English breakfast offers a really energetic start to the day.

Why is the English breakfast so rich?

The reasons for such a hearty breakfast have a historical background. In the past, such a high-calorie start was very good preparation for a long day’s work in the factory or in the field. The rich breakfast provided the necessary energy for this. Nowadays, so many reserves of strength are no longer absolutely necessary, since many jobs are less physically demanding. That’s why there are also lighter breakfast options in England for everyone who prefers to stay in shape and start the day carefree.

How do you prepare an English breakfast?

As previously mentioned, the Full English Breakfast consists of both sweet and savory foods. Although there are now various healthier breakfast options, this traditional morning meal remains popular and is a nice ritual for the whole family, especially at the weekend.

Now let’s take a look at how to prepare a traditional Full English Breakfast and what ingredients you need to make it.

Ingredients (2 servings)

– 6 sausages
– 4 slices of smoked bacon
– 2 medium-sized eggs
– ½ can of beans in tomato sauce (baked beans)
– 2 medium tomatoes cut in half
– 12 cleaned mushrooms
– 4 slices of toast
– some butter
– some jam
– 8 oranges
– Coffee or Ceylon tea

preparation

Fry the sausages in the pan on all sides, do the same with the bacon until it is crispy. Keep everything warm in the preheated oven (to 80°C). Warm the beans over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Now fry the tomatoes and mushrooms in the same oil as the sausages and bacon and keep them warm in the oven as well. Toast the bread slices until golden, cut each in half diagonally and brush with butter and jam if desired. Now fry the eggs in another pan: depending on your taste, you can either prepare fried or scrambled eggs.
Arrange the plates as shown in the picture above.

Coffee or tea: what do you drink with an English breakfast?

At a full English breakfast, Brits usually drink a freshly squeezed orange juice and a cup of tea. However, over the years, traditional English tea has been increasingly replaced by breakfast coffee, which is best drunk thin in a large cup.

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Food

Mince Pies: How to make English Christmas tarts yourself

Mince pies are a traditional Christmas pastry from England. They are filled with dried fruits and Christmas spices. We show you a recipe with a vegan version.

Mince Pies or Mincemeat Pies are small English Christmas tarts filled with chopped dried fruit. While the mini pies were originally filled with meat (hence the name), today the sweet version is almost exclusively found. The base is shortcrust pastry or puff pastry, which is filled with mincemeat – a mixture of dried fruit, nuts, sugar, brandy, apples and spices. You can also find mincemeat in supermarkets in Great Britain, but the filling tastes best if you make it yourself.

Tip: Buy the ingredients for your mince pies in organic quality if possible. In this way you support ecological agriculture and ensure that no chemical-synthetic pesticides get into the baked goods and the environment. Recommended organic seals are, for example, those of Demeter, Naturland and Bioland.

You can also easily prepare the pies vegan. Simply use vegan butter or coconut oil instead of butter and replace the egg with two to three tablespoons of cold water. You can use plant-based milk to spread the mince pies.

Make mince pies yourself: the recipe

Ingredients:

160 g cold organic butter (or vegan butter)
275 g flour
80 gicing sugar
0.5 tsp salt
1organic egg
100 g dried figs or dates
50 g dried apricots
50 g almonds
1 apple (sour)
100 g raisins
50 g lemon peel and orange peel mixture
1organic lemon
50 g (vegan) organic butter
75 g coconut blossom sugar (or brown sugar)
2 teaspoons gingerbread spice
3 tablespoons brandy
1 organic egg (for brushing)
1 tbsp (vegan) milk (for brushing)

Directions:

Cut the cold butter into small pieces and place in a large bowl with the flour, powdered sugar, salt and the organic egg. For the vegan version, you can replace the egg with two to three tablespoons of cold water. Knead the ingredients into a shortcrust pastry using your hands or a food processor. Place the dough, covered, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
For the filling, finely chop the dried figs or dates and the dried apricots. Roughly chop the almonds and cut the apple into fine cubes. Place the ingredients in a large bowl along with the raisins, candied orange and lemon peel.
Wash the organic lemon in hot water and grate the zest into the dried fruit mixture. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and add that as well.
Melt the (vegan) butter and stir it into the filling together with the remaining ingredients – coconut blossom sugar, gingerbread spice and brandy. Tip: If you don’t want to use alcohol, you can add apple or orange juice to the filling instead of brandy.
Grease a small muffin tin and preheat the oven to 180°C top/bottom heat. Of course you can also use a classic muffin tin, the larger pies will take a little longer in the oven.
Knead the cold shortcrust pastry until smooth and roll it out on a floured work surface. Using a glass, cut out small circles that are slightly larger than the diameter of the muffin cases. You can use small cookie cutters for the top of the pies or cut out circles with a slightly smaller glass.
Place the circles that will form the bottom of the mince pies in the molds and lightly press the shortcrust pastry. Prick the bases with a fork to prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes. Fill the molds with the dried fruit filling.
Whisk the egg with a little milk and brush the edges of the pies with it. Place the cookies or the smaller circles of dough on the tartlets and press them down lightly. Brush the pastry lids with the beaten egg as well. You can use plant-based milk for the vegan version.
Bake the pies for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool down a bit and serve the mince pies warm or cold sprinkled with a little powdered sugar.

Mince pies: tips for cooking

Prepare mincemeat: The filling tastes even better if you prepare it a few days earlier or the day before and store it covered in the fridge. This allows the flavors to unfold better.
Swap out dried fruit: You can swap out the dried fruit for the filling as you wish. For example, if you don’t like raisins, you can use more figs or dates instead. Cranberries, cherries or dried mango also go very well with the mince pies.
Make gingerbread spice yourself: If you don’t have gingerbread spice for the mince pies at home, you can mix different Christmas spices. Cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg should not be missing.

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