Clown Faces

Less recipe, more breakfast assembly project, this clown-face plate turns ordinary pancakes and eggs into a goofy edible portrait that gets reluctant kids to actually eat their breakfast. Pancakes are the round face, eggs become the eyes, orange slices form ears and a smiling mouth, and a cherry tomato half plays the nose. The whole plate takes about ten minutes once the pancakes are made.

The charm of this is that there’s no wrong way to do it, and any kid old enough to point can help arrange the face. Older kids can poach the eggs themselves; younger ones can place the orange slices and tomato. It’s the kind of weekend breakfast that buys you twenty minutes of cooperation in exchange for ten minutes of plating.

Keep the pancakes warm in a 200°F (90°C) oven while you cook the eggs so the assembled face doesn’t go cold before it gets eaten.

Kitchen Tips

• Use a single large pancake per plate so the face has room to breathe.
• Poach the eggs lightly so the yolks stay glossy and round, the way a clown’s eyes should look.
• Pat the orange slices dry with a paper towel before placing so the syrup doesn’t bleed across the plate.
• Slice cherry tomatoes flat-side down for stable noses.

Variations

• Skip the eggs and use apricot or peach halves for eyes with a fresh cherry nose, as the recipe suggests, for a lighter sweet breakfast.
• Make the smile from chopped sauteed potatoes instead of orange slices for a savory plate.
• Add a hat from a triangle of toast or a strawberry slice for hair.