Fallen Souffle

Such a simple dish, reminiscent of Sunday mornings growing up. Whether it is from Mom’s kitchen or IHOP, I love french toast. But who doesn’t love a slice of carbs covered in a rich and sweet custard that you can cover in butter and gooey syrup. Yum, what better way to start the day.

French toast was re-invented for me when I started working for a bakery on the weekends, they sell Cinnamon Swirl bread. When you cut into a loaf the cinnamon sugar goodness just oozes out, it makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

So I snuck away with a loaf this past Saturday so I could experiment with this timeless recipe. As with most things, I don’t measure unless I really have to, but it’s hard to mess up french toast. So try and follow along and if you have questions, well I might just have to make another batch this weekend.

Cinnamon Swirl French Toast
1 loaf Cinnamon Swirl Bread (I got my from Great Harvest Bakery)
4 eggs
about 1 cup half and half (I use the fat free stuff)
about 1 teaspoon cinnamon
about 1 tablespoon of vanilla

I mix all of the wet ingredients in a pie plate which helps when coating the bread easier. I sliced the bread into about 1 inch slices, you could definitely do thinner slices but I wanted it to seem “rustic”.

Here is a view of the goo:

I dip each slice in the custard and let it soak for just a minute before plopping it on my griddle. I was so excited to pull out my griddle. You will find I have a bit of an obsession with kitchen gadgets and appliances (blame my mother, she is the same way- and don’t even get us started on shoes) so I am always thrilled to pull out Christmas gifts and wedding presents that at the time were deemed essential but alas they sit in my laundry closet supporting the detergent and dryer sheets.

I set my griddle at 325 degrees, which was determined to be too hot after my first piece fried up quicker than an egg on a sidewalk in the South in the dead of summer. So I lowered it to 300 degrees which was perfect. French toast is not like pancakes which has a built in “flipper-signal” (the bubbles), you kinda have to sneak a peak and check for the desired golden brown color. I just kinda keep flipping the toast around until it is nice and golden and warm. You will also find that some of my cooking techniques are not what you would call conventional, but it works for me and maybe it will work for you.

I plated up my golden, sugary treat and held my breath as the real critic, my loving husband, gave me the thumbs up. Though he probably knew that he had to agree or no more Sunday breakfast for him.

These delights can be eaten plain as they are sweet enough but I like a dash of syrup mostly for nostalgia, but a nice peach jam on these are divine as well. The final product:

And yes, sadly, I could have probably eaten the entire plate.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!