Gingerbread French Toast

Sweetie really, really loves French Toast and he loves gingerbread. Now and again, even in the summer, we stop by Hardcore Coffee at Bloomfield Road and he orders a Gingerbread Latte. The Pumpkin Pie Spectacular that I made last month is a favorite because the inner crust is made from crushed ginger cookies. French toast and gingerbread could be an excellent combination for Sweetie.

Because we didn't use up all the crumb mixture for the inner crumb crust, I've had a container of it in the fridge for a while and it needed using up. I decided to try making French toast with a coating of the crumb mixture. I had no idea if it would work, but figured it was worth a try. I started some Pink Lady apple slices to simmering with a little pie spice and water before I began the French toast, so that was our topping, instead of pancake syrup or maple syrup.

Sweetie was quite taken with this version of French toast, although I had trouble cooking it enough without burning the coating...the extra sugar wanted to burn. You may have to experiment with how hot your burner is to get the right amount of heat to cook the egg in the batter while not burning the ginger crust.

It's a pretty easy recipe. You make the French toast as usual, soaking the slices in the milk/egg batter. The new part is that you place a layer of the ginger crumbs in a pie pan, place the soaked slice on top, then use your fingers to sprinkle some on the top and to press it in so that it sticks to the slice. Once you turn the slice over, it will have gotten some crumbs on the bottom side but you may want to add more and press it in. Then you cook it in a lightly greased skillet until the egg batter cooks and the ginger crumbs become dark golden brown and  crisper. Served with spiced apples, it's a great dish for a rainy morning like the one we had this morning.

Gingerbread French Toast 
Serves 2

4-6 slices bread, French bread if possible

2 eggs or 1/2 cup egg substitute
1 cup milk - 2% or above is recommended, although non-fat condensed (not sweetened) is fine
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

For the gingerbread crumbs:
1 cup crushed gingersnaps (about 20 gingersnaps) 
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cup non-dairy butter, melted
oil, margarine, or butter if you skillet or griddle isn't non-stick

In a large pie plate or other flat dish scramble together the eggs, milk, and cinnamon. Sprinkle the sugar over the mixture and whisk it in. Elle's note: I use a fork for all of this. Sprinkling the sugar on last helps bring that floating cinnamon down into the mixture.

In a small bowl, combine the crushed gingersnaps, pecans, powdered sugar until well blended. Add the melted butter and stir until crumbs are formed.

In another pie plate, place a thick layer of the gingersnap crumbs.

Heat a large skillet or a griddle over medium-high heat until a drop of water flicked on the surface sizzles. While griddle is heating, soak 2-3 slices of bread in the milk mixture for 1 minute, then turn and let soak another minute.

Place soaked bread slices on the layer of gingerbread crumbs, sprinkling some crumbs on and pressing in, then turning and adding more crumbs and pressing in. Place two of the prepared bread slices in the preheated skillet (which you oil while it is preheating if oiling is necessary) and cook until first sides are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook the second sides are dark golden brown and toast is heated through. Elle's note: While the first slices are cooking, soak the rest of the slices, turning them over in the batter when you turn the slices that are cooking and then adding the crumb mixture as directed. Adjust the heat under the pan as needed to keep the toasts from burning.

Repeat cooking the remaining slices as you did the first ones. Serve while hot with sauteed apples, maple or cider syrup or other garnish of your choice.

The French Toast...

My last post was of the Bee Keeper's Loaf. I knew that it would make stellar French Toast and it did! Served it with freshly picked olallieberries and some raspberries from the market, plus a syrup made from more of the freshly picked (literally 1/2 hour before, down the driveway near the road...the heat had ripened many, many olallieberries!) berries. It was very, very good French Toast!

Waterproofed and Delicious

I've always been a water baby. I love baths, swimming, walking in the rain. I'm also an Aquarian for my horoscope...a water sign. Perhaps that's why this month's recipe caught my interest. I was reading bread recipes in Beard on Bread. James Beard was the American chef who was most instrumental in having Americans take pride in American food in the 50's, 60's and 70's when gourmet food was always food from another, country, especially France. It's a great book. 

The Water-Proofed Bread uses a rising process I'd never heard of. 
Here is what he writes about his Water-Proofed Bread: "Although the dough in this recipe is fairly difficult to handle, it makes a very delicate, brioche-like bread with a rich, buttery, eggy taste. It is extraordinarily good, ideal for tea or for eating with butter, jam and marmalade, and toasts extremely well. It can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for 3-4 weeks. The bread is called "water-proofed" because the dough is submerged in a bath of water for the first rising." 

In searching the internet I only found one place where someone had tried this and they liked it but moaned about a ruined tea towel, then went on the make the next water-proofed dough in the book without water-proofing it. I guess I want to see if it is worth a soiled tea towel. I've never seen this method anywhere else and am a sucker for different methods, so I chose it for this month for the Bread Baking Babes since I'm Kitchen of the Month.

See, it floats!

The theory is that the dough, being delicate, will benefit from rising in water where the water barrier will keep the yeast produced gases inside the dough, for a better first rise. Having it wrapped in a tea towel is probably necessary since Beard says this is a sticky dough, even when the first kneading is done.

 I also like the description of the finished bread. Since I'm restricted in how much bread I can eat, it is nice to choose one that I can enjoy with tea and enjoy toasted! Hope you enjoy it, too. Knowing the creativity and boldness of the Babes, we might end up with some whole grain flours or herbs or cardamom...who knows? Let's get watery! 

PLEASE VISIT the OTHER BREAD BAKING BABES sites, too. Links are at the bottom of this post.

I particularly want to introduce our two newest Babes, Aparna and Cathy. They are both awesome bread bakers and delightful bloggers.

Water-Proofed Bread

from Beard on Bread, 1973
makes two loaves

2 packages active dry yeast 

1/2 cup warm water (100 - 115 degrees F, approximately) 

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 

1/2 cup warm milk 

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter 

2 teaspoons salt 

3 eggs 

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour More flour for the tea towel 

Rinse a 4-quart mixing bowl with warm water. Dry thoroughly. Put in the yeast, the 1/2 cup warm water, and the teaspoon of sugar, and stir until the yeast dissolves. Allow to proof for 5 minutes. 

Heat the milk with the butter and 1/4 cup sugar until lukewarm, then add to the yeast mixture. Add the salt and stir to blend well. Add the eggs, one at a time, and again blend thoroughly.(Note from Elle: I actually added 1 cup of flour after the salt and before the eggs, just to give the mixture a little body. That seemed to work well. I added the rest of the flour after the eggs had been stirred in one at a time until well blended.) 

Then stir in 3 cups of flour, 1 cup at a time, to make what will probably be a very wet and sticky dough. Stir quite vigorously. 

Spread out the dough on a working surface - a table, a piece of marble, or a board - sprinkled with the additional 1/2 cup flour. Use a baker's scraper or large spatula to work in this last portion of flour and make the dough firmer. Scrape under the flour and the dough, lifting and folding inward. Repeat until the flour is well incorporated. When the dough is easy to handle, begin kneading by hand. (Note from Elle: I worked in another 1/2 cup flour here.) 

Continue until the dough can be shaped. (The process of kneading first with the scraper and then by hand if very effective for delicate dough. In this case the dough will remain rather sticky, but don't worry about it.)

 Lift the dough, pat with flour, and place on a clean kitchen towel also sprinkled with flour. Wrap it and tie it in the towel, just as you would a package, but very loosely. Submerge this packet in a large bowl filled with warm water (about 100 - 115 degrees F, approximately). It will sink. Let sit for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until it rises sufficiently to float on top of the water. (Note from Elle: Took mine closer to an hour). Lift the dough from the water and let the excess water drip off.

Un-wrap and turn out on a lightly floured surface. Again it will be quite sticky, so scrape off any dough that adheres to the towel. Knead and shape into two loaves, using both dough scraper and your hands. Thoroughly butter two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans and place one loaf in each pan. Cover, put in a warm, draft-free place, and let the dough rise slightly above the tops of the pans, or until almost doubled in bulk. 

 Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Brush the dough with cold water, and, if you like, make a slash in each loaf with a sharp knife. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when rapped with the knuckles, top and bottom. When done, place the loaves directly on the oven rack, without their pans, to brown the bottom a little more and crisp the crusts. Cool on racks. 

 Well, that was fun! The water proofed dough is in the pans doing the final rise, and it worked...the dough packet floated to the top. I did find that the dough around the towel was a bit wetter than the dough further into the dough ball, so I made sure to really do a thorough knead with the bench scraper once I turned it all out onto the floured board. That also worked in the wetter bits I scraped off the tea towel.The tea towel rinsed out pretty well with cold water, and I ran it through the washer to finish the job.

 Since I did all that kneading, the dough was really knocked down. It took a while for it to rise in the pan, but after it baked it was be a lovely, light, luscious bread! I was delicate, rich and had a nice moist crumb. Very tasty! Makes excellent toast, too.

 Here are the links for the wonderful, talented, and inventive Bread Baking Babes (I know, no 'B' adjectives, but I had too much Scotch last night when we celebrated Sweetie's birthday, so lets roll with what words I can dredge up, OK?). Do visit their sites and see how this turned out for them.

Katie of Thyme for Cooking, our Fabulous Round-Up Babe

Bake My Day - Karen

Blog from Our Kitchen - Elizabeth

Bread Experience - Cathy

Girlichef - Heather

Life's a Feast - Jamie

Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya

Lucullian Delights - Ilva

My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna

My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna

Notitie van Lien - Lien

Christmas In Your Kitchen - Breakfast

With the combination of a weekend bookending the Christmas holidays this year and Christmas morning itself being an occasion when you can indulge at breakfast, there are lots of opportunities coming up to enjoy breakfast treats from your kitchen. If you can find the time, start with fresh orange juice...with maybe a little Champagne added to make a mimosa.

If you have the time, one of my favorites is for DeeDee's awesome Sticky Buns, fragrant with cinnamon and brown sugar and rich with cream. You would be hard pressed to find a better Sticky Bun recipe if you like your buns sticky and rich.

An easier version is one made with frozen bread dough. It combines the flavors of spices, nuts and dried fruits with the ease of having the dough already made. Once filled, rolled, cut and baked, no one will be the wiser and your house will smell wonderful!

For the family that loves to sit down to crisp, hot waffles, we have a holiday version; Gingerbread Waffles. I like 'em with apple slices that I cook with a little cinnamon and a sprinkle of sugar, but they taste fine with butter and maple syrup, too. These do have yeast for leavening, but you start the batter the night before, which makes the time before those glorious waffles are on the table pretty short.

French Toast is another traditional breakfast treat, and one that Sweetie just loves. This version also includes a recipe for the apples I mentioned above, with the added twist of maple syrup for sweetening instead of sugar.

Do you love the flavors of Greece? Then you might enjoy this Greek Omelet for Christmas breakfast. Spinach, feta and pine nuts join Greek yogurt and eggs for this hearty dish.

That should give you a few ideas for breakfasts. Do you have traditional recipes for the holidays for breakfast, too.?

Going Slower

Time certainly seems to be flying by at its usual breakneck pace but the healing of the knee injury seems to be going slowly, so I'm going slower and doing less, too. Every now and then Sweetie and I go to our favorite cafe during the week for breakfast. They have a great breakfast special with reduced price and Sweetie really loves their French Toast. With the knee still somewhat painful if I use it much at all, this week we stayed home when we usually would have gone to the cafe. The good news is that I had made that yummy French bread, so we had some nice homemade bread for French Toast.

French toast is pretty easy as long as you adjust the heat under the pan or griddle so that you don't burn the toast before it is warmed all the way through, especially important so that you aren't eating raw eggs. It helps if you like eggs and dairy and cinnamon.

I started out by mixing the toast soaking batter and getting a couple of slices going. Then I made some cooked apples with cinnamon to go with the French Toast, something that the cafe doesn't do, but it really adds deliciousness and extra nutrition and fiber. Apparently we are still not getting enough fiber in our food and apples are a great and really enjoyable way to do that. Looking back I see that I usually make apples to go with the French toast I blog about...hope you don't mind...but at least this time the bread is also French! French toast with whatever bread you like is such an easy-to-make and well-loved dish that it bears repeating.

So even though it was a chilly gray day (by California standards...probably warm by Minnesota standards) when we had our French Toast, we started off with a sunny breakfast.

(If you were wondering about my cooking and baking with an injured knee, I can assure you that my kitchen is so small that I barely take any steps, I'm only on my feet a short time, and the worse problem I have with the knee is with change in elevations, especially going down. The doctor warned me about that and he is so right. That has kept me indoors a lot because there are a few steps down to the front walk and uneven ground is really a bad idea, so no weeding or pruning or even going to check for tulip bud hidden in the leaves, something I usually do every spring.)

I'm sending this recipe over to Yeastspotting, Susan of Wild Yeast's delightful weekly collection of breads, rolls, sweet rolls and other things made with yeast. Do check it out.

French Toast for Sweetie
Serves 2

4-6 slices bread, French bread if possible
2 eggs or 1/2 cup egg substitute
1 cup milk - 2% or above is recommended, although non-fat condensed (not sweetened) is fine
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
oil, margarine, or butter if you skillet or griddle isn't non-stick

In a large pie plate or other flat dish scramble together the eggs, milk, and cinnamon. Sprinkle the sugar over the mixture and whisk it in. Elle's note: I use a fork for all of this. Sprinkling the sugar on last helps bring that floating cinnamon down into the mixture.

Heat a large skillet or a griddle over medium-high heat until a drop of water flicked on the surface sizzles. While griddle is heating, soak 2-3 slices of bread in the milk mixture for 1 minute, then turn and let soak another minute.

Place soaked bread slices on the preheated skillet (which you oil while it is preheating if oiling is necessary) and cook until first sides are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook the second sides are dark golden brown and toast is heated through. Elle's note: While the first slices are cooking, soak the rest of the slices, turning them over in the batter when you turn the slices that are cooking.

Repeat cooking the remaining slices as you did the first ones. Serve while hot with sauteed apples, maple or cider syrup or other garnish of your choice. Elle's note: some people like a dusting of confectioners sugar and that's what they do at the cafe.

Something Sweet

Hard to believe that we are well into 2010 and that January is flying by. I'm very grateful that we have been having rainy weather since the water table needs the help and most of our year's drinking water comes with winter rains. That said, the last couple of days have been rougher weather than I like. Thunder and hail made work interesting yesterday. Today there was flooding down the street and all around the area from what I hear. Fortunately I was able to stay home and have fun in the kitchen. Tried a couple of new recipes (coming soon to this blog) and shut down the computer when the winds sounded too fierce. We often have power outages in the winter, but so far are still electrified :)

Found an excellent deal on an Epson all-in-one printer combo a few weeks ago. My old printer...and it is really old folks...finally died before Christmas, so I truly needed a new one. Never being one to do things in a simple way, I used the new toy as a carrot in order to get myself to clean up my office area. It was like archeology...first the things from this winter and fall, then last spring, a pile from last Christmas with a few catalogs and some Christmas cards (quickly thrown in the trash...so much easier for a pack rat like me to throw out when it's a year old), then into three years ago and all the way back to some Zip drives full of projects from classes taken in 2003. Found lots of good stuff along the way :) Threw out bags and bags of old stuff, too. Still finding homes for a few things, but my work space is so much nicer and easier to work in. Good thing the printer died. Do you find sorting and keeping up with organization as daunting as I do?

One of the things that took some time but will really be a joy later was organizing my photo CDs. I have dozens of them, including some with full resolution photos for some of my blog photos, and now I know where to lay my hands of specific images. Woot! January weather that keeps me indoors is good for this kind of long overdue sorting.

Looking over January's posts it looks like I have given up on sweets. Never. My sweet tooth is alive and well. It's just that the sweet bounty of the holidays has continued to provide for the sweet tooth, so nothing new was needed. The recent arrival of a killer chocolate cherry brandy bread from Second Sister Down and family, plus Michigan chocolate covered dried cherries added to the delightful sweets on hand and lack of need to bake myself.

Finally we are down to the last of the Christmas goodies. Also I have baked some great multi-grain bread. One loaf went into the freezer and, once thawed, yielded thick delicious slices perfect for French toast. To top the French toast I made some Maple Cinnamon Apples. Their sweet spiciness was perfect with the warm eggy French toast. Didn't have any bacon, but it would have been a great addition for a wonderful breakfast. Sure brightened a gray January morning for me.

French Toast

6 thick slices bread - use home baked bread if you have it
1 egg, beaten lightly
1 cup of milk (non-fat, low fat and full fat are all ok...and so is unsweetened evaporated milk)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
butter for the pan

If the bread is very fresh, dry it a bit in a low oven (200 degrees F) for 5 minutes. Otherwise, just set aside.

In a shallow bowl (I use a pie plate) mix together the egg, milk, sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.

Heat a non-stick or seasoned cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. As the skillet heats, soak a piece or two (if both will fit flat in the shallow bowl or pan) in the egg milk mixture, turning to soak the other side after 2 minutes. After second side has soaked two additional minutes, remove the soaked slices to the heated pan with a slotted spatula. Replace the removed slices of bread with more slices, again soaking each side for two minutes. Keep soaking the slices as you remove the soaked one to the pan until all bread slices have been soaked.

Cook the bread slices until golden brown on one side, then turn to cook to golden brown on the other side. Remove as cooked and keep warm in a low oven on an oven safe plate.

Once all slices of toast have been cooked, serve, topped with Maple Cinnamon Apples, additional maple syrup if desired, or a topping of your choice.

photo taken on a sunnier day

Maple Cinnamon Apples

1 tablespoon butter
2 large apples (Fuji, Gala and Braeburn are my favorites, but use the apple you like best), washed, cored, and sliced thinly
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or more if you really like cinnamon)

In a skillet, over medium-low heat, melt the butter.

Add the apple slices, maple syrup and cinnamon. Stir to thoroughly coat the apples with the syrup and spice. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples soften, about 4 minutes. Uncover and turn heat to high. Cook, stirring often, until syrup thickens slightly, about 4 minutes. Take care. Syrup is very hot.

Serve over the French Toast. Also good over cooked oatmeal or vanilla ice cream.

Lime, Coconut and More French Toast

Lime zest is so pungent, my whole kitchen smelled zesty today. Loved it!

One of the joys of blogging is visiting other blogger's sites and finding things that you just have to try. Another joy is participating in events hosted by bloggers you admire. This post is about having both happen in a delightful way.

The talented and delightful Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey? blog is hosting a monthly Mingle with a Caribbeans theme. Making the mingle even more fun is that my very favorite Caribbean area blogger, Cynthia of Tastes Like Home is part of the Mingle due to her book. Do go to Meeta's blog and find out all about it. You might just have time to join in the fun.

Another blog to visit often is Susan's Wild Yeast. Once a week she hosts the equivalent of a playground for passionate bread bakers, an event called Yeastspotting. The most recent collection on Yeastspotting included a recipe for Lime French Toast by Jan of InnCuisine blog. Never being content to leave well enough alone, and inspired by Jan's own variations on the French Toast theme, I decided to make Caribe French Toast with a host of island flavors including lime, coconut, pineapple, vanilla, rum and banana.

This is a perfect dish for a brunch because most of the work is done ahead. It also looks very impressive when plated. So what makes up Caribe French Toast? A buttery syrup with both lime juice and zest, pineapple juice and a healthy dose of dark brown sugar is heated up in a pot, cooled and mellowed with coconut milk. It serves as the base for the bread to sit on.

Over the top you pour an egg rich custard flavored with vanilla, then sprinkle it with coconut.

It sits in the fridge overnight so that the bread can soak up the flavors, then bakes to a golden brown.

While the toast bakes, you make a warm banana and pineapple topping. If you desire, you can even doll it up a bit more with some rum and/or candied ginger. Sweetie said that this was world class and he really liked the haunting note that the coconut milk provided. It's a bit on the sweet side, so you could reduce the brown sugar amount or serve with something salty like bacon on the side. The soft and custardy French toast has crisp coco nutty crust and the fruit topping finishes the Caribe flavors perfectly. Take a bite and you'll feel those warm breezes on your cheek. What could be nicer?

Caribe French Toast

¼ cup (4 tablespoons) butter
½ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup or treacle
finely minced zest of 3 limes
juice of 3 limes (about 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup juice from drained crushed pineapple (see Compote below)
½ cup canned coconut milk
2 eggs
3 egg whites
1 cup milk
½ tablespoon vanilla
¼ cup flaked coconut
1/2 loaf French bread, cut into inch thick slices

Spray a 9×13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan over low heat combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup or treacle, lime zest and juice, and pineapple juice. Cook about 5 minutes, until the butter and sugar have melted. Remove from heat and stir in coconut milk. Cool. Pour into the baking dish.

In a mixing bowl, mix eggs, egg whites, milk and vanilla. Blend well (I whip this with an electric whisk attachment on my mixer). Arrange the bread slices in one layer over the lime mixture and pour the whipped egg and milk mixture over the bread. Sprinkle with the coconut. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes prior to baking and allow to return to room temperature.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until golden brown. If needed, place under broiler to give the coconut a slight toasting. Watch so it doesn't burn.

Place 2 slices of the baked Lime French Toast on each plate. Top with Pineapple Banana Compote (recipe follows), and garnish with a bit of sifted confectioners’ sugar.

Pineapple Banana Compote
1 large banana, sliced
¼ cup (4 tablespoons) butter
½ of a 15 oz can crushed pineapple in juice, drained (use some of the juice for the French Toast), then add back in 2 tablespoons of the juice and stir
2 tablespoons dark rum (optional)
¼ teaspoon minced crystallized ginger or powdered ginger (optional)

In a saute’ pan, melt the butter. Over medium high heat cook the banana in the butter until golden and softened. Add the pineapple and stir to combine well. Heat just until the pineapple is warm. Stir in the rum and ginger (if using). Serve over Caribe French Toast. Leftovers can be used over waffles, pancakes, or ice cream.

If you know how to do flaming rum, you could bring the plates to the table, dusted with confectioners sugar and garnished with a lime slice, then flame the topping and scoop flaming spoonsful of it over the toasts.

This is going to be an entry in Meeta's Mingle and, as a tribute to Jan, in Susan's Yeastspotting.