There’s nothing I love more than to sit down to a freshly cooked breakfast on a Saturday morning. For most North Americans a typical weekend breakfast would be a hearty omelet or something nice and sweet like pancakes, French toast or waffles, all topped off with syrup or fruit and whipped cream. During my time in the UK I’ve found that people here just don’t really appreciate a sugary start to their weekend as much as we do back home. A typical weekend breakfast for my friends here in the UK is a full English breakfast, commonly known as a “fry up”. The English breakfast consists of eggs, back bacon and/or sausages, grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, baked beans and fried bread or toast. Since I grew up in Canada I have what I call a “Saturday Sweet Tooth”. It’s been quite a while since I made French toast, so I figured it was about time I made a batch.
Start out with the basics - milk and eggs. Add in some cinnamon and nutmeg, and a dash of vanilla.
You'll also need some equipment - a non-stick frying pan, a whisk and some measuring cups and spoons. And remember, everything tastes better when it's made with PINK!
Whisk everything together in a dish that's wide enough for the bread to lay down in. Dip each piece of bread in the liquid and fry until golden brown on each side.
Pour on some syrup and enjoy.
Ta da!!!!!
Spiced French Toast:
2 eggs
2/3 cup (160 ml) milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
6 thick slices of bread
2 eggs
2/3 cup (160 ml) milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
6 thick slices of bread
In a shallow container whisk together the eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and vanilla. Heat a non stick frying pan over medium high heat, and coat with non stick cooking spray or a bit of butter (see below). Pick up a piece of bread with a fork and lay it flat in the milk and egg mixture. Let the bread soak up a bit of the liquid (approx 20-30 seconds) before flipping over to soak the other side (again for 20-30 seconds). Place in pan, and cook until golden brown before flipping. Once both sides are cooked, place the French toast on a place and sprinkle with powdered sugar and top with syrup or berries and whipped cream.
Hints:
• I prefer to use bread from the bakery that hasn’t been pre-sliced, and is nearing its expiry date. The crustier the bread the better, that way it won’t get too soggy and fall apart when you soak it in the egg/milk mixture. It also helps to cut your bread in thicker slices than you would normally. A French baguette also works well with this recipe.
• Immediately after placing the soaked bread in the frying pan, place a lid over the bread in order to help cook the bread thoroughly and prevent it from getting soggy.
• Non-stick cooking spray helps cut down on calories, but also doesn’t burn as much as butter will. Burnt butter will affect the taste your French toast and cause it to turn quite dark. If you’d like you can spread a bit of butter on the French toast once it’s on your plate before drizzling with syrup.
• Immediately after placing the soaked bread in the frying pan, place a lid over the bread in order to help cook the bread thoroughly and prevent it from getting soggy.
• Non-stick cooking spray helps cut down on calories, but also doesn’t burn as much as butter will. Burnt butter will affect the taste your French toast and cause it to turn quite dark. If you’d like you can spread a bit of butter on the French toast once it’s on your plate before drizzling with syrup.
I haven’t been able to find aerosol non-stick cooking spray here in the UK. In fact the only thing I’ve been able to find is an olive oil pump spay, which works well for cooking, but doesn’t coat baking pans nearly as well as the aerosol stuff. Luckily when we were in Texas a few months ago I picked up a can of the aerosol kind – it was even butter flavored!!!
I prefer to top my French toast off with syrup, and for me it’s gotta be Aunt Jemima! Real pancake syrup was one of the first “North American” things I really missed when I moved here. The UK sells something called Lyle's Golden Syrup, which was the closest thing to pancake syrup I could find, but for me it didn’t really come close. The taste was totally different, and the consistency is a lot thicker than the syrup I’m used to. Syrup in the UK is considered more of a dessert topping, and is often used on ice cream as well as waffles (which are much smaller than the ones in North America) and pancakes (which are closer to a crepe), both of which are more typically eaten as a dessert or “pudding” as it’s known in the UK. Above are bottles of syrup from Canada, the US and the UK. Whenever I go back to North America I come back with an extra suitcase filled with food and baking supplies!
On a side note, I found it interesting to compare my Canadian Aunt Jemima to the bottle I picked up in the US. Although the name is the same "Aunt Jemima - Butter Flavored Syrup" the ingredients are very different. The Canadian version is made with regular sugar, while the American version is made with high fructose corn syrup. I wonder if the corn syrup version will taste as good. I'll report back in a few months.....
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