Baked Stuffed French Toast
I was on a flight from Minneapolis to Denver a few years ago, and like most of us do when we fly, I perused the inflight entertainment. An aspiring home chef, I was drawn to a short episode of Jamie Oliver preparing “Eggy Bread,” otherwise known to me as French Toast. I opted to scale the recipe back to a single serving option to teach to a group of college students, that at the time I was guiding through a 5 week cooking class at Pres House at UW Madison. I dug this recipe back up in preparing for April’s Brunch X Learn. If you try it, I encourage you to use a loaf of bread from Madison Sourdough. They are doing online ordering with in person pickup or you can look for a loaf in the local grocery store. Try this one out or add your own flair!
Ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- ½ small ripe banana
- pinch ground nutmeg
- pinch ground cinnamon
- thick slice of seeded Madison Sourdough whole grain bread
- raspberries
- blueberries
- 1 tsp butter
- shelled pistachios
- yogurt or whipped cream
- maple syrup
Instructions:
- Mix egg, banana, and 1 pinch each of nutmeg and cinnamon until smooth, then pour into a wide shallow bowl.
- Cut your bread 1 inch thick, then cut a slit into the longest side of each slice and wiggle your knife inside to make a pocket.
- Use your finger to stuff the fruit inside – pack as many in as you can, but be gentle so you don’t tear the bread.
- Lay in the egg mixture and gently squash the bread so it soaks up the eggs.
- Meanwhile, coat a baking sheet with 1 tsp melted butter.
- Lay the soaked bread on the baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F (~180 degrees C), flipping once.
- Meanwhile, smash up the pistachios in a pestle and mortar – toast them first, if you like.
- Serve dolloped with yogurt or whipped cream, sprinkled with pistachios and an extra pinch of cinnamon and drizzled with a little maple syrup.