Deck's Strawberry Stuffed French Toast

Fellas, pay attention to this one because this one is for you.  If you want to earn some brownie points, pull this one out.  It's perfect for birthdays, anniversaries, or any other morning you want to be a little extra special.  This recipe is sure to please your wife, girlfriend, or girl you are interested in, and is incredibly easy to pull together.  It's not overly sweet, and surprisingly light.   This is the recipe I tried a week ago. I tweaked it a little bit and broke it out again this morning getting very favorable reviews.  And ladies, feel free to pass this on to your guy and tell him he can thank me later.

Deck's Strawberry Stuffed French Toast


Serves 2


Ingredients:

1 loaf Brioche bread (or some other soft, light bread such as French or even Challah)
1/3 cup cream cheese
1/4 cup strawberry jam or preserves
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup fresh strawberries, diced

Step 1:  Slice the break into about 1 inch wide slices (should be just wider than 2 slices of sandwich bread).  In the side of each slice, cut a slit that goes almost all the way through, and almost all the way end to end.  You basically want to create a pouch for the filling.

Step 2: Mix the cream cheese and jam together.  Then using a spoon or small, thin spatula, put half of the cream cheese mixture into each slice.  You want to try and get it as evenly distributed within the slice as possible.  Next add the fresh, diced strawberries to the slice, again using a spoon or spatula to distribute them throughout the pouch.

Step 3:  In a skillet or griddle, melt the butter slowly over medium heat.  While the butter is melting mix together the eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla in a bowl or shallow dish large enough for the entire slice to fit into.

Step 4:  Take the brown sugar and sprinkle on the outside of each slice.  Work the brown sugar into the bread with your fingers.  Flip each slice over and repeat.

Step 5:  Dip the slice of french toast into the egg mixture, coating it completely.  Flip it over and coat the other side.  Add to the skillet.  Repeat with the second slice.  Cook for about 5 minutes on each side until a nice golden brown.

Finishing: I like to serve this with some powdered sugar and additional sliced strawberries over the top.  You can add a flavored syrup or regular maple.  Cooking this in the butter will give it that nice butter flavor without having to add any later.

Mother's Day Breakfast

This morning I fully intended on getting up and making a great breakfast; my first attempt at a stuffed French Toast.  Not that either of us have our mothers in town for this day, but that's no reason not to make a breakfast.  And then I was going to share the recipe so that anyone would be able to make this delicious dish whenever they wanted.  I started out on the right note, pulling out some great and delicious looking ingredients (brioche loaf, cinnamon, strawberries).

I can't take credit for the whole thing.  The inspiration for this came from a post on the blog Savory Sweet Life, one of the top (if not the top) Seattle food blogs.  But, rather than just following her simple, proven recipe, I had to come up with something similar but with a couple of twists.

Everything started out just fine, but somewhere a long the way, things didn't quite come together the way that I had planned.  It's not that it turned out bad, just not quite what I was looking for.  The flavors were good, but a little weak.  The good thing about it is I think I know where I made my mistakes, mostly with the filling.  I didn't have enough of it to balance out the thickness of the bread.  It was good, just not enough.  And I need to make sure that I include more of the fresh strawberries for both the filling and the topping.

This French Toast definitely has a lot of potential, and I will try it again next weekend, this time as a Birthday Breakfast, and once I get it, I will be sure to provide the recipe.  It's one of the joys of cooking, sometimes you get it, and sometimes you don't.  Fortunately, it seems like I've been getting it more often than not lately (knock on wood).