Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Creating A Luxurious Life: The Breakfast Tray & Homemade Pain au Chocolat

I am excited to start off a new series today called 'Creating a Luxurious Life', which will be a monthly feature that shows little ways to incorporate bits of luxury into your every day life.  Today, I am beginning with one of the weekends biggest indulgences - breakfast in bed.  

Breakfast in bed seems like such a luxurious idea especially during the fast-paced week.  But on the weekends when there is more time to linger, nothing is quite like waking up to a beautifully arranged breakfast tray with hot aromatic coffee, a flaky pastry and fruit served alongside the weekend newspaper.  When it comes to eating breakfast I'll be honest, I am not that big of a fan eating something sweet first thing in the morning. I will have the occasional muffin if I make them but I usually like to stick with eggs for breakfast, however, I will make an excuse for my favorite french pastry, a pain au chocolat or chocolate croissant.  Continue for more...


I am constantly trying to push my culinary skills to the next level.  When I was bound to Brooklyn after hurricane Sandy I had some extra time and chocolate croissants had been on my 'to make' list for a very long time.  I was surprised just how easy they are (I used this recipe that has a great step-by-step tutorial) and amazed at how much butter (3 sticks!) goes into a batch to give them their flaky taste and golden finish.  

Creating a breakfast tray is easy, you just need a few extra pieces to make it special and beautiful.  Here are a few elements to consider: 
*Serving Pieces:: Beautiful plates, tea cups (to hold tea or coffee), special flatware (maybe only reserved for the holidays) and fabric napkins.
*A tray:: A sturdy tray to hold the meal. I love the trays from West Elm or the vintage variety are always great too.
*Flowers:: Life is just better and more luxurious when flowers are used, even adding just one simple stem adds a special touch.
*Menu:: Serve something that can be easily eaten like eggs (I chose hard boiled) toast, fruit and a pastry.  
(The dough rolled and folded allowing it to create beautiful layers)
 (The perfect croissant according to the French has 81 layers, I am not sure how many I made it to)
(There is only one thing to do when you make these, give them away as fast as you can before you eat them all)

*All photographs by Alison

27 comments:

  1. Oh ALison! So beautiful! I love the photos and the pastry looks like it is divine! Those sure are lucky friends who got some breakfast treats. Love, love, love!!

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  2. Loving your new series - luxury at it's best...so wish I had a chocolate croissant for breakfast right now!!

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  3. These look amazing and certainly luxury at its best! I especially love how you wrapped them as special treats! I would need to give them away immediately. XO

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  4. Your blog is so wonderful, so feminine and delicate - I love it! I am so glad I discovered it :)

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  5. OH WOW! Amazing and such a treat!

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  6. I definitely don't have breakfast in bed often enough. This looks delish!

    xo, Yi-chia
    Always Maylee

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  7. ahaha I love your last ti to give them all away! YOu are quite the culinary talent, my dear! Loving the new series!

    xx
    
Holly Foxen Wells

    GlamourMash

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  8. Gorgeous photos! Looks delicious! Hugs from Cali! xx The Golden Girls

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  9. I LOVE pain au chocolat (who doesn't?!). I'd gladly wake up to this deliciousness every morning :-)

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  10. I want to try this delicious decadent treat! Thanks for another delicious delicacy. You will have to make this when you come home for the holidays!
    XOXO Mom

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  11. That is actually awesome . I wish I could surprise my boyfriend like that but sadly he is not a fan of breakfast in bed :(
    Looking forward to more posts like that tho! such a fun idea to luxure life a lil bit :)
    xxx
    http://fashion-journal-bysuzannemarie.blogspot.co.uk/

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  12. This new series is wonderful! Gorgeous photos and the pain au chocolat looks absolutely amazing!

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  13. OMG, those croissants look amazing! What a great idea for a series, and I can't wait to see what you post next! Breakfast in bed is definitely a wonderful luxury in life!

    xo Jenny
    www.crazystylelove.com

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  14. wow, not only do I love these photos but I love this idea! You are so right - breakfast in bed is so luxurious and would be fun to mix it into the work week :)

    xxx
    www.ladyalamode.com

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  15. Love your new template Alison! btw, this new serie is very cute, love the idea! and yum yum!! I'm pinning some images as are fantastic! xo

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  16. oh how lovely!! i lovelove the photography, the setting and the packaging! great job!

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  17. I absolutely LOVE this idea for a feature. What a great post! Love the idea of breakfast in bed. So simple, yet so luxurious. xo, Julie
    www.fromproseccotoplaid.com

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  18. Going to definitely try this! Looks delicious!

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  19. wow good for you, I usually have Macdonald's breakfast on the go lol
    I love croissant especially if fresh out of the oven.

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  20. Love this idea. It's the little things that add up.

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  21. Oh. My. Goodness. Those look so incredible! I could go for about 5 of those right now - I'll have to give them a try and let you know how they go Alison!

    xx,
    Maya

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  22. Hi , what kind of camera do you use? the quality of your photos are very nice ! :)

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    1. Thank you so much for commenting, sorry for the delay! I use a Nikon D3100, it is the best!

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  23. Hahaha Alison, that is such a good advice, they are gone way too quickly, choco croissants are my FAVOURITE, I could eat them all the time :-)

    Ani
    www.fleurani.blogspot.de

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