From the “Wake up in the morning feelin’ like…” series, comes a new idea to start off the day. In those 20 precious minutes before heading out or to work, much can be done to bring the Paris scene into the kitchen.
Ingredients: 3 large eggs, 200ml full-fat milk, 300ml cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar/extract, 2 teaspoons regular sugar, butter for frying, 8 slices of regular toast bread/ 8 slices of a baguette, or brioche. Any one-day old white pastry will do in essence.
In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, sugar and vanilla. At this point other spices - like caramel flavouring to substitute for the sugar, or cinnamon may be used.
Melt a generous knob of butter on the pan, and meanwhile, soak each piece in the eggy mixture by immersing them completely in a bowl for several seconds.
Line up the pieces of toast on a frying pan, and sizzle in the butter - make sure it is bubbling, to give them the brown crispy edges. Make sure to replace the butter if it becomes absorbed too quickly, and continue to fry until golden (about 10-15 minutes).
Despite the sweetness of the egg mixture, the flavour tends to spread over the entire bread piece into a mere suggestion of sugariness. Some topping would be fitting to bring out the dessert nature of the piece.
Though I opted for maple syrup, I’ve heard of cases where the soggy sweet slices were topped with jam, more butter, peanut butter, honey, marmite, molasses, apple sauce, whipped cream, fresh fruit, chocolate, yogurt, ice cream and even cheese or nuts. Don’t let the fear of food poisoning keep you from playing the game, eh - good luck.
Bon-jour is an understatement whit such a start.