It’s always sunny — or rather sunny-side up — in Waylynn Lucas’ culinary world.
If you’re a Food Network fan, you likely know her as the warm, encouraging judge on “Cake Wars.” But she brings serious gastronomic cred to the table, too, including executive pastry chef stints at the four-starred Bazaar by José Andrés, and Patina, the Michelin-starred Los Angeles restaurant run by Joachim Splichal.
She’s since traded in West Coast life for the mountains of Park City, Utah, but she has a new Food Network project in the works and a new cookbook, “Sunny-Side Up” (Rodale, $25), which offers the perfect excuse to dish on everyone’s favorite meal: brunch.
The book brims with more than 100 recipes for everything from perfect scrambled eggs to French toast sandwiches, brioche beignets, brunch cocktails and every other sort of deliciousness to woo family and friends on a lazy weekend. Or weekday.
Naturally, we had questions.
Q. Why do you think brunch has become such a hugely popular thing in recent years?
A. For so long, brunch was this novelty thing — a splurge for people to go out to a restaurant on Saturday or Sunday. But everything that is brunch is a little decadent. I love it so much because it’s the only meal where you can get away with dessert as your meal. (Laughs) It promotes day drinking. Cocktails are involved. It’s sweet and savory. You can just have fun. Who doesn’t love that?
Q. Given your background, a brunch book is a bit unexpected …
A. I have much more of a fine-dining pastry background with high-end, Michelin and four-star restaurants, so this book is a bit of a departure for me. But I’m passionate about having fun in the kitchen and sharing tips and tricks.
Q. You have half a dozen variations on French Toast in this book including — hello! — savory sandwiches. How did you come up with that idea?
A. I love sandwiches, the butter in the pan and the seared bread. So the idea came to me: French toast as the bread. It’s either going to be really good or really weird. And oh my gosh, it was really delicious.
Q. Your BLT French Toast Sandwich with egg and spicy aioli …
A. Who doesn’t love a BLT? With the French toast and spicy aioli, I feel like I could eat that every day.
Q. And the Crunchy French Toast? Genius to dip the eggy bread in crushed cornflakes before frying …
A. I think the cornflakes go spectacularly well. I’ve heard from people who used crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The sky is the limit. Cornflakes are a little more neutral, but you could use cereal, nuts, candied walnuts. I love tapping on texture.
Q. What would you serve for a fall brunch?
A. The Apple and Almond Tart is very fall, nice and decadent but comforting, too, and a sweet element. Eggs in Purgatory — I think once things start to cool down, there’s nothing better than warm tomato and eggs with bread for dipping. The Greek Yogurt-Raspberry Loaf is a fan favorite. And beignets are never a bad idea. You can do those sweet and savory, as well, filled or served with dipping sauces.
Q. So what’s next for you on Food Network?
A. “Cake Wars” is no longer, but they’re re-running it like crazy. Now I’m on “Cake Off” — it’s an extreme cake competition. The cakes blow up and transform. We’ve done a couple pilots and specialty episodes.
First up: A “Halloween Cake Off” begins airing on Food Network Sept. 23. Check out the episode guide at www.foodnetwork.com/shows/halloween-cake-off.
