Sweet and Spicy French Toast

Sometimes I am all organized in terms of what I am going to cook during the week. I account for main courses, leftovers, lunches, sides, vegetables. And sometimes life gets in the way and I end up on Friday night with a fridge full of eggs, bread, milk and chicken… And no will to cook.

This is what happened last week. It was 8pm, it was getting dark outside and here I was, standing in front of the opened fridge and thinking. It was definitely too late to cook chicken legs, so I crossed this option off the possible dinner ideas. The only thing that came to mind was Eggs. Breakfast for Dinner! I love it! But then again, I ran out of vegetables, I had no bacon or deli meat to fry up and cooking potatoes also seemed too daunting for my hungry belly.

And then it hit me – French Toast! I love French Toast, but for some reason I make it very rare. I had some leftover Poppy Seed Egg Bread and even some cream (which is rare in my kitchen), so it was perfect. While mixing up the egg batter I thought that I wanted to add some kind of twist to the plain humble French Toast. Cinnamon felt too breakfast-ey (is it a word?), ginger – too Christmas-ey (is it also a word?), but since it was dinner time, I thought that Cayenne pepper would be an interesting combination. And was I right!!!

This French Toast turned out lovely. Rich from the addition of cream, lightly sweetened wtih brown sugar with a slight spicy kick. Topped with amber maple syrup it was perfect!!!

Sweet and Spicy French Toast

Egg bread or brioche – 6 slices *
Eggs – 3 extra large
Milk – 2/3 cup
Cream 10% – 1/3 cup **
Brown sugar – 2 tablespoons
Nutmeg – 1/8 teaspoon
Cayenne pepper powder – 1/2 teaspoon ***
Salt – a pinch
Butter for frying – about 1 teaspoon ****

• In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and cream until all smooth and incorporated.
• Add sugar, nutmeg, cayenne pepper, salt and mix well.
• Heat the pan on medium heat, add a little bit of butter and let it melt.
• Add bread slices to the egg mixture two at a time, let them sit in the bowl for about 30-45 seconds.
• Place the soaked bread onto heated pan and cook for about 2-3 minutes until they start to get golden colour.
• Turn the bread onto the other side and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until both sides are golden and the toast is firm and cooked through.
• Repeat with the remaining bread slices.

Comments:

* I know a lot of people prefer thick sliced bread for French Toast. I actually prefer thin slices. I find they tend to be more flavourful and less bread-ey. So, I used six thin slices for this recipe. Thicker slices would need to be soaked for longer and most likely the egg mixture would only be enough for four thick slices of bread.

** No need to go out of the way to buy cream, you can use all milk instead. Just use one cup of milk.

*** How spicy you want your French Toast is very personal. I used just a little bit under 1/2 teaspoon and I thought it wasn’t spicy enough.

**** You can use oil for frying, but I find that butter adds  to the flavour of the French Toast and there’s no need to use a lot.

– Whenever I make pancakes, waffles, crepes or French Toast, I use the oven to keep them warm while I’m cooking them in batches. Just preheat your oven to 200F, put a large plate inside or a baking sheet and keep cooked French Toast in the warmed oven while making more.