From the Buttermilk Kitchen, a beautiful, year-round, go-to cookbook highlighting more than 60 made-from-scratch brunch recipes incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables at their peak times of year.

★ ★ ★ ★ “Straightforward yet elegant and full of inspiration, this will become a go-to for home cooks looking for an excuse to make brunch for any occasion.”   —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“The flavors of Atlanta’s Buttermilk Kitchen—famed for its dazzling breakfasts and lunches—shift to coastal Maine in Suzanne Vizethann’s Brunch Season, an inviting cookbook.”                          —Foreword Reviews

Brunch is a lovely way to celebrate a meal with friends and family, and a great way to make any midday or mid-week dining special. The recipes in Brunch Season: A Year of Delicious Mornings from the Buttermilk Kitchen include both sweet and savory dishes, drawing ideas from Buttermilk Kitchen breakfast favourites, and adding seasonal soups and salads, as well as drinks. Chef Suzanne Vizethann’s fresh farm-to-table approach to this cookbook, divided into spring, summer, fall, and winter chapters, reflects her commitment to providing high-quality meals made with ripe, flavourful ingredients.

All of the recipes are simple yet refined, and the seasonal section openers include a list of peak ingredients for that season. For spring, you will find recipes such as Young Garlic and Radish Focaccia and Rhubarb Cobbler; for summer, Heirloom Tomato Toasts and Watermelon Mimosas; for fall, Roasted Squash Oatmeal with Crispy Rosemary Seeds and Chocolate Hazelnut Sticky Cake; for winter, Coddled Egg with Creamed Kale and Winter Citrus with Whipped Ricotta and Honey. The home cook can expect balanced dishes that are as beautiful as they are delicious.

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Chocolate Cake with Mocha Frosting

I love this cake so much that it was my wedding cake! It’s perfectly moist, and the flavour of the mocha brings it to a whole new level.

MAKES 2 (8-INCH) CAKES

FOR THE CAKE

288 grams (1 ¾ cup) all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan

400 grams (2 cups) granulated sugar

75 grams (¾ cup) cocoa powder

6 grams (1 ½ teaspoons) baking powder

9 grams (1 ½ teaspoons) baking soda

4 grams (1 teaspoon) salt

2 eggs

248 grams (1 cup) whole chocolate milk

95 grams (1⁄2 cup) vegetable oil

8 grams (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

FOR THE MOCHA FROSTING

6 grams (1 tablespoon) espresso powder

8 grams (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract

280 grams (1 ¼ cups) semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

226 grams (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

250 grams (2 cups) powdered sugar

20 grams (1 tablespoon) light corn syrup

To prepare the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (8-inch) round cake pans, flour the insides, and tap out the excess flour.

Sift the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, chocolate milk, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Add the boiling water, stir to combine, and divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack.

To prepare the frosting, dissolve the espresso powder in the vanilla extract in a small bowl. Melt the chocolate in a small stainless-steel bowl fitted over a double boiler. Allow to cool completely.

Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the butter at high speed until fluffy. Whisk in the cooled chocolate. Change to low speed and slowly add the powdered sugar, stopping to scrape down the sides until incorporated. Add the espresso-vanilla mixture and corn syrup. Once incorporated, switch back to high speed and beat for about 2 more minutes, until the frosting is aerated and fluffy.

Assemble the cake by placing one cake layer onto a cake stand or plate. Using an offset spatula or long slicing knife, spread a little less than half of the frosting evenly over the top of the cake. Place the second cake layer on top of the first and frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.

KITCHEN NOTE: When making the frosting, use a rubber or silicone spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Recipe published with permission from Gibbs Smith.