Baking in the Hazy Final Daze of Summer

Expecting weekend visitors at Cafe Drake HRV means planning continental breakfasts for our guests; eggs and bacon are just beyond our limited morning abilities. Hopefully just as pleasing will be a new scone of our devising - Oat and Brown Sugar.

Gougeres prior to baking. The classic version is unbeatable but who doesn't crave novelty and thrill of a successful experiment? We followed our basic recipe (found here in the Cafe Drake Brooklyn archives) with a only a few tweaks: replace the Gruyere or Raclette cheese with smoked sharp aged Cheddar, increase the salt to 1/2 t., swap out chives for an equal amount of minced scallions and fresh herbs (all from our garden) and use Pecorino Romano instead of Parmesan to compensate for the less salty smoked Cheddar.

After baking. Our recipe should yield 22 perfect specimens. These were allowed to cool then popped in the freezer for last minute reheating when the cocktail hour rolls around.