Like many families, most of our favorite traditions center around food: planning meals together, making them, and then of course – sitting around the table eating them. If there’s one recipe that represents family togetherness most to me, it would undoubtedly be my mom’s almond kringle that she’s made for holidays ever since I was little: layers of flaky pastry with an addictive almond filling and crunchy sweet exterior. Since Mother’s Day is next Sunday, I thought it would be the perfect time to finally have my mom teach me the secrets behind her famous loaf; and in exchange, I’d treat her to an al fresco brunch on our back patio. Since nothing goes better with almond kringle than a cup of strong coffee, I was excited to team up with Keurig to brew the perfect cups for our brunch– the Keurig 2.0 Brewing System is perfect because it now brews a full carafe so there is enough coffee for all of us on Mother’s Day. Plus I’m gifting my mom her very own to add a splash of color to her newly remodeled kitchen. The Keurig 2.0 Brewer K450 is available in White, Vintage Red and Pantone’s Color of the Year Marsala. Click through the slides for inspiration on treating your mom to a Mother’s Day Brunch she’ll never forget, and if you’re still brainstorming the perfect gift, Keurig is offering an amazing deal to the first 200 readers who use the discount code CAMILLE on Keurig.com: you’ll receive 30% off your purchase between now and May 30th!
*photos by kate lesueur
It’s even more fun to set a beautiful table when your guest isn’t expecting it: why not treat your mom (or another deserving woman in your life) to a Mother’s Day meal where you make the table extra special, for just the two of you? It was love at first sight when I spotted these brilliant amethyst hydrangeas at the flower market, so I gathered a bunch of them into a simple glass vase, then added pops of orange to the table with a bowl of clementines and fresh-squeezed tangerine mimosas.
I know my mom well enough to know that she’d never dream of a morning cooking session that wasn’t accompanied by coffee. We quickly brewed two cups using my Keurig machine, then got to work on our bread baking.
We made the dough the night before, so it was all ready to go in the fridge. Since I’ve always been a little intimidated by making pastry from scratch, it was great to have my mom there to teach me her best tricks that she’d mastered through her years of baking. For rolling out any kind of pastry, you want everything the dough touches to be as cold as possible, so we chilled my marble cutting board and rolling pin in the freezer beforehand. Then we lightly dusted everything with flour to prevent sticking, and gently started rolling out the dough into a square.
Next, we spread the almond filling over the pastry, and my mom showed me how to gently roll the dough, pulling it towards me as I went. The tighter the roll, the more flaky layers of pastry you get in the final loaf.
Finally, we followed our tradition of forming the loaf into the shape of a heart. My mom has always been someone who looks for ways to infuse beauty into everything she does, whether it’s picking a few wildflowers for a bud vase by the kitchen sink, or topping the dinner table with a beautiful tablecloth. I’m thankful that I inherited her desire to add special little details that make the every day moments just a little lovelier.
While the bread cooked, we brewed more coffee to take outside to the patio. My favorite thing about the Keurig 2.0 Brewing System is that it ensures freshness: with the push of a button, I can get a fresh new cup of whatever brew I’m craving. (There are over 400 different beverages from 60+ brands, such as Starbucks®, Dunkin’ Donuts®, Snapple®, Lipton®, and Swiss Miss®, available for Keurig!)
It was such a great feeling to know that I can carry on my mom’s tradition of almond kringle for years to come and hopefully teach Phoebe to make it one day! (Mom, don’t get the wrong idea: I’m not planning on taking the reigns on this one for many more years.)
A special occasion table doesn’t need to require loads of time or money! The only items I actually went out and purchased for this look were the hydrangeas and poppies: I got creative and foraged for other pretty items to pair with them. I always have a bag of clementines in the fridge, so I filled a bowl for the center of the table that also doubled as fruit to eat with the bread. And I clipped a few loquat branches from my neighbor’s tree and arranged them in a glass jam jar for a pretty organic touch. Mix-and-match dishes and my favorite sheer white napkins topped with a single poppy completed the look.
I know, now you’re all dying for the recipe for this almond kringle! I promised not to give away all my mom’s secrets, but I have gathered a few of my favorite Mother’s Day brunch recipes that would be a blast to bake with your mom this year! In no particular order:
- Cardamom & Kumquat Loaf
- Pesto & Goat Cheese Frittata
- Apple Almond Breakfast Cake
- Dutch Baby Pancake
- Strawberry-Rhubarb Oatmeal Crisps
(more recipes on slide 10…)
(cont. from slide 9)
- Whole Grain Banana Bread Waffles
- Raspberry Almond Muffins
- Coconut Walnut Oat Bars
- Spring Potato & Egg Bake
- Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
And if you’d like to skip the baking and just get down to eating, you can simply assemble the most amazing brunch spread: here’s how to setup the perfect bagel bar.
Since my parents are wrapping up their kitchen remodel, I really wanted to give my mom a Mother’s Day gift that would add a splash of style to her new countertops. And since there’s no bigger fan of good coffee than my mama, I knew she’d love unwrapping a brand new Keurig 2.0 Brewing System for a fresh cup every morning.
Don’t forget! Keurig is offering our readers an exclusive 30% off your purchase on Keurig.com between now and May 30th! Use discount code CAMILLE. Offer applies to the first 200 users.
*this post was in partnership with Keurig.
