It breaks the surface before a morning dip (3,5)
I believe the answer is:
egg spoon
'it breaks' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'surface before a morning dip' is the wordplay.
'surface' becomes 'egg' (egging is a kind of surfacing).
'before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'a morning dip' becomes 'spoon' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should believe this answer much more).
'egg'+'spoon'='EGG-SPOON'
'the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for egg spoon that I've seen is " little scoop".)