Ingredients:
1 day-old French batard (about 1 lb) sliced into 1/2-3/4 inch slices
5 eggs
3/4 cup eggnog
1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup black rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon Vietnamese cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup sweetened dried cranberries
Directions:
Spray with baking spray a 9×13 pan. Arrange bread slices in a single layer in the pan. Set aside. Whisk together eggs, milk, eggnog, vanilla paste, rum and spices until well combined. Pour mixture over bread. Turn bread slices to coat. Sprinkle with cranberries. Cover lightly with foil and refrigerate overnight (about 8 hours). Preheat oven to 400. Bake 10 minutes. Turn bread over and continue baking until just golden, around 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
My thoughts:
I have to admit, I’m not the biggest French toast fan. I like it stuffed, generally, but plain French toast normally doesn’t appeal to me. This French toast however, is amazing! The bread gets almost custardy from the long soak in the eggnog mixture but it still gets nice and brown (and crispy!) during the baking process. This is my new go-to fancy breakfast for busy mornings. Or I could start the soak in the morning and have breakfast for dinner!
Sorry about the Instagram-like nature of the picture, we are experiencing a bit of a lighting crisis here in the Rappaport kitchen and it has been horribly dark out.
Long-time reader, first-time commenter… this looks perfect for Christmas morning! Two questions:
– Can I use a scraped vanilla bean (or two) instead of vanilla paste? Or vanilla bean + vanilla extract?
– If I leave out the rum, will it remove the magic?
Thanks so much. Your site is an inspiration and I truly, truly appreciate it. You've saved my rear end several times when I've run out of time to prep for a party or have to find something special for a get-together 🙂
Thanks for vistiing! I'd use a vanilla bean and some extract if possible.
And of you leave off the rum, sub in an equal amount of eggnog.