Rise and Shine with Springtime Sweets

Pastry chefs give a morning boost to their menus with innovative breakfast pastries.

By Pamela Brill, Contributing Editor

THERE’S A SPRING AWAKENING

at the brunch table, where standard breakfast pastries are being enhanced with fresh fl avors to reinvigorate taste buds. After a long winter and a challenging time in general, chefs are especially motivated to help members start their day with a satisfying breakfast. Here’s how some are redefi ning what makes the perfect companion to a cup of co ee or tea for the coming season.

FRESH AND FOCUSED

At Midland (Mich.) Country Club (MCC), concentrating on old standards has proved benefi cial for Pastry Chef Samantha Schuhmacher. After completing her culinary school externship at the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh, Pa., Schuhmacher has spent the last 10 years at Midland. Having been named Pastry Chef nearly two years ago, she has come to know members’ preferences.

“I stick to MCC classics; that is what membership wants, looks for and expects,” she says of her roster of sticky buns, Danishes, mu ns and quick breads.

This spring, Schuhmacher is planning to enhance her lineup of Danishes, mu ns and turnovers with a variety of seasonal fruits.

“I love blueberries [because] they give pastries a beautiful pop of color,” she says.

Combinations of raspberry/lemon and strawberry/rhubarb will round out other pastry selections. On the Easter brunch menu, MCC members can expect to see more of their favorites, including scones, mu ns, cinnamon rolls and quick breads.

While MCC makes most of its pastry in-house, Danishes are currently outsourced—something that Schuhmacher is hoping to change in the coming months. Also on the agenda is an updated banquet pastry menu that includes nutritious choices.

“I want to expand our healthier options, using more natural sugars like maple syrup and honey,” she says.

A house-made granola bar, a current

Midland Country Club’s Pastry Chef Samantha Schuhmacher focuses on member favorites including scones, mu ns, cinnamon rolls and quick breads.

member favorite, may soon have some competition; Schuhmacher is working on a breakfast ‘cookie’ containing natural nut butters, bananas, fl axseed and oats.

NATURALLY SWEET

Members of Cherokee Country Club in Knoxville, Tenn., are heralding the arrival of Pastry Chef Anna Crumley, who came aboard in the fall of 2021. With fi ve years under her belt in the hotel and restaurant industries, Crumley has quickly established a presence in the club pastry kitchen, where she focuses on what’s most tasty.

“I choose my fl avors based on the current season and what’s available to me,” she says.

On a traditional brunch menu, Crumley specializes in turnovers, croissants and cinnamon rolls. She plans to add co ee cake and scones to her current repertoire.

When incorporating seasonal fl avors, she banks on pear and apple for the winter and lighter, brighter fruits— namely, lemon, strawberry and raspberry—as the calendar turns to spring. To elevate these o erings, a mixture of risers and wooden crates heightens the pastry profi le, literally and fi guratively.

When it comes to developing new recipes, Crumley eschews additives and concentrates instead on natural fl avors.

“Most of my pastries have very little sugar, as I like to keep things slightly tart,” she admits. That being said, after successfully pulling o a “chouxnut” (choux donut-shaped pastry), Crumley is hoping to feature a build-your-owndonut bar on future brunch menus.

COMFORT IS KEY

Spring is in the air at Overlake Golf and Country Club in Medina, Wash., where Pastry Chef Beth Waldron is putting the fi nishing touches on her latest seasonal menus.

“While we are still working on getting our weekly brunch programs back up and running after dealing with COVIDrelated restrictions, I am excited about our Mother’s Day and Easter brunch

Anna Crumley, Pastry Chef of Cherokee Country Club, specializes in turnovers, croissants and cinnamon rolls.

Beth Waldron, Pastry Chef of Overlake Golf and Country Club, appeals to healthconscious members by using alternative grains—particularly barley our for its ber-rich, low-starch content, and amaranth our.

services,” she says. This May marks Waldron’s fi fth year at the club—her fi rst in the industry after spending years at several high-volume Seattle restaurants.

At the top of Waldron’s spring menu are Babka knots, a strawberry-focused co ee cake, along with croissants and seasonal scones—all representing a nod to her love for comfort food.

“It’s easy to make familiar pastry fresh again with seasonal fl avors or a twist on spices,” she says. Focusing on what is fresh is the key to turning out a satisfying breakfast treat. “Being in Seattle, spring tends to come late, so focusing on citrus to make items feel lighter and brighter is something I lean on,” she notes.

Because Overlake’s pastry kitchen is a one-woman crew, Waldron has complete control over what she chooses to outsource, based on the anticipated attendance for a given event. For Easter brunch, labor-intensive pastries like croissants and Danishes are produced o -premise, so she can focus her attention on house-made desserts.

When cooking for members with dietary restrictions, Waldron experiments with ways to incorporate gluten-free items into her pastry program. Noting the solid presence of alternative fl our mixes on the market, she uses gluten-free fl ours mostly in mu ns and scones, which have recipes that lend themselves to easier adaptation.

“I do have my eye on producing a gluten-free bagel and am hoping it may be ready to reveal in the spring,” she teases. “But it may be more of a summer item, depending on how the testing process goes.”

Waldron also appeals to health-conscious members by using alternative grains—particularly barley fl our for its fi ber-rich, low-starch content, and amaranth fl our. “I also fi nd using a blend of an alternative grain with all-purpose or whole-wheat fl our makes it more appealing,” she shares. She plans to explore baking with alternative sugars later this year.

On the sweeter side, donuts remain a comforting mainstay that’s impervious to fl eeting fads. “I feel like I’ve seen a trend moving away from how outrageous your toppings can be, to pastry chefs being mindful of fl avors and pairings,” Waldron notes.

While she has added donuts to her past Easter and Mother’s Day menus, they were outsourced due to the high volume of brunch attendees.

Whether Waldron is showcasing donuts in a tower or another tasty treat on her brunch table, she believes in the importance of visual appeal. Employing a variety of risers and serve ware, along with di erent textured and shaped pastries, is key to her presentation.

“If I have a sliced babka out on display for Easter, I would defi nitely want something round on the display as well,” she says.

And of course, when it comes to pastries, nothing is as attention-grabbing as the right glaze or fi nish—even on breakfast items. “I have found that that membership at Overlake Golf and Country Club will always say yes to anything that involves sprinkles on it,” she says. C+RC