Weekly Dish

I guess technically, the Sugar High Friday event is supposed to be dedicated to dessert. But, Lick The Spoon’s theme for this month, “Candy is Dandy, but Liquor is Quicker,” just happened to be the perfect fit for my most recent favorite Saturday breakfast concoction, replete with liquor and plenty of sugar.

I loved French toast as a little girl; my favorite way for my mom to fix it was drenched in egg, fried, and then coated in cinnamon and sugar. Yum! But standing over the stove flipping batches of toast is just not my idea of a relaxing Saturday morning. Plus, the first batch is always a little too lukewarm by the time I finish with the second batch, and the process makes a big mess. So, this recipe is the perfect solution. You assemble everything the night before, and the only thing you have to do in the morning is mix up the syrup in a baking dish, place the soaked bread slices on top, and slide the dish in the oven. Slice a few strawberries while you enjoy your coffee, and you have yourself a pretty perfect way to start the weekend.

I love the flavor of almond and honey, so the syrup for this French toast, baked right in with the bread, is made of honey, almonds, and Amaretto. Decadent, I know–I don’t eat it for breakfast every day–but, oh my, it’s good. The bread puffs up with the egg mixture, and the result is a gooey, sticky mess of almond-soaked goodness. Tart strawberries are a particularly nice complement to the super sweetness of the syrup.

Overnight Honey-Almond French Toast

4 slices bread of your choice (I used sourdough that was approaching staleness–if you’re bread is really soft, you might want to toast it for a few minutes before proceeding with the recipe)
4 beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 T. + 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 t. + 1 T. Amaretto
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup sliced almonds

The night before: In a square baking dish, whisk together the eggs, milk, tablespoon of brown sugar, and teaspoon of Amaretto. Arrange the bread in the egg mixture by first dipping one side, and then flipping, making sure that each slice is adequately soaked with the liquid. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the bread from the baking dish to a plate. In the same dish, combine the melted butter, 1/4 cup brown sugar, honey, almonds, and tablespoon of Amaretto. Lay the bread slices back in the dish on top of the honey mixture. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the bread slices are puffed and golden brown. To serve, turn toast out onto plate upside down; top with sliced strawberries and drizzle with any extra syrup. Serves 2 or 4, depending on how much you eat for breakfast. We usually can only eat one slice each (so we eat the rest on Sunday morning!)

Posted: Friday, April 21st, 2006 at 8:42 pm Filed under: Something Sweet, Breakfast/Brunch, Bread. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.