Stuffed French Toast & A Visit From The Fairy Hobmother!

Stuffed French Toast is one of those things that I've always wanted to try, but never actually got around to doing.  During my visits back home to Canada and while on holiday in the US, stuffed french toast was always one of those things on a menu that called my name, yet for some reason I just never ordered it.  Then before I knew it, my holiday would be over, and I'd have to fly back to the UK where sweet and yummy treats just don't make their way onto the breakfast table - it's just sausages, beans, mushrooms, fried eggs and grilled tomatoes here I'm afraid.  

Because I always seem to miss the opportunity to order stuffed french toast while on holiday, it's been on my "to bake" list for quite some time now.   The other thing that's been on my "to bake" list for even longer is cinnamon raisin bread.  I have a strange obsession with cinnamon raisin bread.  It's one of my favorite things to eat in the morning, all nice and toasted with a bit of melty butter on top!  

I'd been on the hunt for a good cinnamon raisin bread recipe for ages, but it seemed like every one I came across needed a bread maker.  And since I didn't have a bread maker, my search for the perfect recipe continued without much success.  So when I recently came across a blog post on Lay The Table saying that the Fairy Hobmother would grant one readers wish, I got super excited and commented straight away, wishing for a bread maker (or an ice cream maker - I couldn't decide!). 

If you're a regular reader of blogs in the UK, then you're probably pretty familiar with The Fairy Hobmother.  For those of you who aren't familiar with The Fairy Hobmother, she (aka: he) works for Appliances Online, and spends her days visiting blogs and granting wishes! Pretty cool huh?

So, about a month ago I was surprised, but thrilled to see an email in my inbox from the Fairy Hobmother letting me know that my wish had been granted!!  Since I had wished for an ice cream maker or a bread maker, I was told that I could have my choice as to which one I wanted.  It was a hard decision, but I ended up going with the bread maker after remembering all those times I had wanted to bake cinnamon raisin bread, but was never able to.

A few days later, my brand new shiny bread maker arrived, and I have to say I've really been enjoying it!  The great thing about this bread maker (Morphy Richards Daily Loaf) is that it makes loaves 1/2 the size of regular loaves, which is perfect if you live alone, or if you don't eat a lot of bread (like my husband and I).  So far I've made several types of bread, but of course cinnamon raisin had to be the first!  Because this bread maker makes a smaller loaf than normal, I decided it was probably best to use the recipes that were supplied with the machine.  I won't bother including the recipe since most people probably don't have this bread maker, but if I could say one thing about it, it would be that I would double the cinnamon and raisins as I didn't think there was enough of either in the bread, but never the less it was still good.  

So after baking my first loaf of cinnamon raisin bread I decided it would be the perfect excuse to bake stuffed french toast with.  I made my stuffed french toast by cutting extra thick slices of my cinnamon raisin bread, and then making an incision in the bottom of the slice where I could put the filling.  I think this is probably the best way of making stuffed french toast, but if you can't find unsliced loaves of bread, then you can use 2 slices of regular bread, but you'll just need to be careful not to overfill them with the filling, because it will leak out the sides.

Cinnamon Raisin Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients: 

4 thick slices of cinnamon raisin bread

6oz (170g) Cream Cheese
1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

2 Eggs
2/3 Cup (160ml) Milk
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Pinch of salt 

Instructions:  

1.  Using a sharp knife, make a cut in the bottom of each slice of bread and carefully work your way up 3/4 of the way inside so a little pocket forms.  Set aside

2.  In a small bowl, whip or mix the cream cheese, sugar and cinnamon together until well combined.  Fill a piping bag fitted with a large metal tip with the cream cheese mixture (if you don't have a piping bag - don't worry, you can use a small spoon - a piping bag is just easier). Now take your pieces of bread and insert the metal tip into the opening you cut earlier.  Squeeze gently until you've filled the inside pocket of your bread with the cream cheese mixture.  If you don't have a piping bag, just use a small spoon to carefully spoon the cream cheese mixture into the pocket, making sure not to tear the bread.  Do not overfill.

3.  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 or non stick cooking spray.  Pick up a piece of the prepared 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 30 seconds) before flipping over to soak the other side (again for approx 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.

Tip:  Immediately after placing the soaked bread in the frying pan, I place a lid over the bread in order to help cook the bread thoroughly and prevent it from getting soggy.   

I'm really loving my new bread maker, and I still quite can't believe that the Fairy Hobmother chose to grant my wish!  And here's the best part of the whole thing - I can now pass my luck on to someone else, and it could be you!  All you have to do is leave a comment below telling the Fairy Hobmother what you wish for and it may just come true!!  If you need some inspiration for your wish, then pop on over to Appliances Online - they've got some great things there - especially the Pink Smeg Fridge! 

Good Luck!!!!

French Toast

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

 

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.

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.....