Stuffed French Toast

I. Love. Breakfast.  Pancakes, cinnamon rolls, french toast…all the sweet, delicious options.  On weekends when I was little, my mom would prepare her infamous pancakes and french toast for me and my friends.  (I still have no idea how she does her pancakes, time after time again I’ve tried using her “recipe” without the results I strive for.)  We’d pile them high with unusual assortments of toppings…peanut butter, syrup, yogurt, jam, whipped cream…you name it.  At first, my friends (*cough* Andrea, Kari, and Shan ;)) were hesitant to be so adventurous, but after a couple bites, they’d understand.   From what I hear, they’re only spreading the joy of multiple toppings.  Don’t get me wrong, eggs are fine, but ever since I ran across a recipe for stuffed french toast, which puts a whole lot of wonderful INSIDE the bread, it has been on my hit list.

This morning I was especially inspired, and so ventured out for eggs, challah bread, light cream, and strawberries, determined to succeed in my endeavor.  Boy, did I ever.  This french toast was fantastic – sweet, fluffy, and flavorful.  Not to mention, relatively healthy; compared to other stuffed french toast recipes, which use cream cheese for the filling, I used a mixture of ricotta, sour cream, fresh fruit, and jam.

Ingredients:

A loaf of Challah bread (French or Italian bread works, too)

2-3 eggs

3/4- 1 cup light cream

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

water

4 T butter

For the Filling:

Diced, fresh strawberries (as many as you feel like, I used 6 large strawberries)

2 T sugar

2 T of apricot preserve (I used Polaner fruit preserve, but any jam works)

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

2 T sour cream

Directions:

1.  Dice the strawberries, remember you’ll be squishing it into bread.  The smaller the pieces, the more you’ll be able to pack in.)  Macerate the strawberries (i.e. sprinkle the sugar over the top and briefly stir, this brings the juices out) and set aside.

2. Slice the bread into 1 1/2 to 2 inch slices.  Then cut a deep slit across the top that goes about 1/2 an inch from the bottom of the slice.  Set aside.

3.  To make the filling: Mix together the ricotta cheese, sour cream, and jam until evenly combined.  Add the diced strawberries, and mix well.  *Note: the amount of filling depends on the amount of slices you make.  I over-estimated and ended up putting some on the side of each plate.  I also ate about a 6th of it before it made it into the toast, so use your judgement.

4.  Separate the top of the slices and spoon the mixture into the cut in the top of the bread.  Shove the mixture firmly into the bread, be careful of tearing.  Use about 5 T filling per slice, or as much will comfortably fit.

5.  In a shallow pan, crack the eggs and mix.  Add light cream, cinnamon, vanilla, and a little water to thin the batter.  Place the stuffed slices into the mixture.  Soak each slice for about 2 minutes (or longer) on both sides.

6. Heat a skillet on medium.  Melt 1 T of butter.  Add the toast to the skillet and flip when golden brown (about 3 minutes per side, depending on the heat of your pan).

7. Serve with sliced strawberries, syrup, and leftover filling.  If you want, sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top, and a dollop of whipped cream.

Lemoncello

Inspired by my trip to Italy, I wanted to try to make Lemoncello, a citrus-based liquor that is now considered their national drink.  It originated in Sorento (southern Italy – think Amalfi coast and Gulf of Naples) and is used as an after-dinner digestive.  Since only the peel is used, it develops a powerful, zesty flavor.  Most recipes for lemoncello that I’ve found are for large batches and use variable amounts of the staple ingredients.  The zesting of the lemons is the most crucial step in this recipe; you must do your best to only get the zest, or the yellow part of the peel, to avoid making the drink too bitter.  Zesting is the step that takes the longest, make sure you don’t have to rush off somewhere or have a long to-do list.   After the initial lemon prep, this recipe is smooth sailing.  The recipe that you’ll find below is a melding of several sources, according to my personal preferences.  I’ve decreased the amount of syrup by default; I was originally going to use 1 and 3/4 cups of water (about 414 mL) with my 1 and 1/4 cups of sugar, but due to lack of foresight (a wine bottle only holds 750 mL), I used less.  According to several sources, less water is actually more true to original lemoncello.  If you have pure grain alcohol, use this instead of vodka.

Shop in Vernazza

Ingredients:

5 lemons

375 mL of vodka (cheap is okay, it will taste better if you can upgrade)

375 mL water

One heaping cup of sugar

Tools:

a peeler

a clean wine bottle

Directions:

1. Zest the lemons – again, make sure to only get the zest, avoid the white pith.

2. Place the lemon peels in a pitcher, add lemon zest, and cover well with saran wrap.  Steep at room temperature for 4 days.  The vodka should slowly take on its distinctive, rich yellow color.

3. Combine sugar and water in a saucepan on medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved (less than 5 min).  Cool completely, and combine sugar mixture and steeped vodka and put in the tightly sealed wine bottle.

4. Let the lemoncello stand at room temperature overnight.

5. Pour lemoncello over a strainer (to remove the zest) and put in fridge to chill.

***Enjoy for up to a month!

I'll have to re-label the bottle, but I thought the yellow cap was appropriate. 🙂