As much as I am sick of discussing the elephant in the room, I will get it out of the way and explain that this month has been derailed by all the distractions of Covid-19. My aspirations for producing various package recipes has felt irresponsible considering the shortages, limitations, and anxiety at the grocery store. Finally, the initial shock and changes have mellowed and I was motivated to give it a go.
I happened to have all the ingredients in my pantry for Cuban French Toast, curtsy of Kroger’s can of evaporated milk.
The soaking of bread in eggs, never appealed to me as a child, and honestly is not on my list of approved breakfast foods as an adult. However, this recipe was actually worth trying. I, of course, made some minor modifications in my production, to reduce the sugar and overall portion size. Feel free to follow the full recipe, included below, for the full power of the sugar.
Take-Home Tips: The recipe calls for orange marmalade, and I would recommend switching the marmalade for jelly or waiting to add the marmalade to the finished product. A homemade jelly where you are able to puree the fruit and remove any seeds would be an ideal alternative, if you have the time. If the goal here was to flavor the bread, the marmalade was too thick, chunky to soak into the bread. To really get the essence of the fruit in the bread, a liquid would work better. I did not have and orange marmalade and instead used apricot preserves, but any citrus or lightly colored jelly would work. Also, be careful when flipping the bread in the skillet; the hot oil will splatter and can burn. Keep children away from the stove during this step.
Scoring: 9 of 10. My husband and I both dislike how eggy french toast can be, and only used 2 eggs in this recipe. We were both pleased with the balance of the toasted bread to the softer inside, a result of less egg and frying the bread the full 2 minutes on each side (keeping at medium heat the whole time). The size of the Cuban bread was perfect; I would not want the bread any bigger. Top with maple syrup, agave, condensed milk, chocolate chips, or more sensibly (opinion or fact?) just delicious fruit.
Original Recipe
Modified Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cardamom, 1/4 tsp ginger
- 2 eggs
- 9 oz. (3/4 can) evaporated milk (refrigerate remaining)
- 1/8 cup fruit jelly (any light fruit such as apricot, orange, apple, or pear)
- 1 splash vanilla (1 tsp)
- Dash of salt
- 5 oz Cuban bread (or any hearty white loaf)
- 4 Tbsp canola oil, for frying
- Topping such as fruit, syrup, cinnamon-sugar butter [Optional]
Instructions
- Stir sugar and spices in a medium bowl and whisk in eggs. Then, whisk in milk, jelly, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
- Cut loaf diagonally into 8 slices, 1/2in to 3/4in thick. Soak each slice for a couple of minutes on each side.
- Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 325F. Heat the oil in a medium to small skillet to medium-high heat, then reduce to medium heat.
- Place each slice from the egg mixture to the skillet, carefully, straining off as much egg liquid as possible before transferring to the skillet. Fry each side for 2 minutes, or until browned. Then remove to a baking sheet (no need to oil or line baking pan). Continue until all slices have been soaked and fried.
- Once preheated, heat french toast in the oven until warmed through (10 minutes in the oven or 6 minutes in the toaster oven).
- Top as desired and enjoy. Store left overs without topping and reheat by toasting in the toaster oven or (without oil) toasting in a frying pan on low heat.
Food of the Month 