I cooked: Bacon, egg and toast cups

Who likes having eggs, bacons and toast for breakfast?

This weekend, instead of the conventional way of serving it, you can try this very cute bacon, egg and toast cups. I absolutely adore the presentation, it will surely wow your fellow breakfast diners. It is very easy to put together, but one thing you need to watch for this is the cooking time. As you know, all ovens are different -  if you are using a convection oven, you may want to turn off your fan setting for this, if not you will need to reduce the cooking temperature as well as cooking time. Experiment a few times and you will find your preferred doneness for the egg. I like mine with runny yolks, hence 16 minutes cooking time was just right for me (convection oven with fan turned off).

I really like this -the combination of eggs, bacon, cheese and crisp toast (plus the cuteness factor) makes this the perfect way to the start the morning.

Bacon, egg and toast cups
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes (depending on how you like the doneness of your egg yolk)
Serves 6

Ingredients
3 tbsp butter, melted
7 1/2 slices white bread
6 slices bacon
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese
6 eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper


1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) - if you are using a convection oven, please turn off the fan setting or your eggs will be overcooked. Otherwise, you may need to reduce the temp by about 15C.

2. In a large frying pan, cook the bacon until almost crisp (85% cooked) over medium heat, flipping once. It will continue to cook in the oven. Remove from heat and leave aside.

3. Lightly butter  a 6-standard muffin cup. Alternatively, you can use a 12 cup pan, leaving empty space in between.

4. With a rolling pin, flatten bread slices slightly. Cut off the crust off all the bread, then cut 6 pieces into halves. Cut the other bread into quarters (ie you need 6 quarters for the base).

5. Place 2 halves of bread into each muffin cup, overlapping slightly around the exterior to form a circle - make sure the bread comes up to edge of cup. Use the quarter piece for the base and to patch any gaps. Repeat for other 5 cups, then brush all bread cups with remaining butter.

6. Place a piece of bacon in each bread cup and then sprinkle with some Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 tsp per cup or more if you like). Crack an egg in a bowl and pour into the bread cup slowly, avoiding overspill of egg white.  Season with salt and pepper.

7. Bake until egg whites just set, suggested cooking time in Martha Stewart's recipe is around 20-25 minutes however I find that this resulted in a cooked (solid) egg yolk. I prefer my egg yolk runny so I took mine out around 16 minutes, you may need to try this a couple of times til you get the exact timing  for your preferred doneness.

8. Run a small knife around cups to loosen toasts. Serve immediately with some fresh cherry tomatoes, which go nicely with the bacon, egg and toast cups.

9. Alternatively, you can also make a "baked egg version" by beating your eggs with some salt, pepper and 1 tbsp milk and then pouring over the bacon and Parmesan. For this, bake for 18-20 minutes. Instead of bacon, you can also substitute with ham if you like.

*Full set of photos can be viewed on my Facebook page here. 

*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's Facebook page on 10 July 2012.