In between pouring, during wine tastings in the grocery store, my eyes start wandering to the shelves around me and the culinary ideas begin cultivating. Many a brainstorm has been developed for new beer laden, bread covered, cocktail inebriated cakes. Since discovering Pepperidge Farm's seasonal breads a couple of years ago, I've cooked more French Toast than ever before.
Caramel Apples Cream And White Chocolate Stuffed French with their Apple Caramel, a fantastic Gingerbread that I'll be posting for fall, Nutella Mascarpone stuffed on chocolate chip (not posted yet), and now this amazing summer blueberry! Pepperidge Farm bread is also fabulous as a single layer French Toast with your favorite fruit or syrup topping, or just toasted and topped with cream cheese, nutella, etc, you get the idea...
For the stuffing in this brunch I used Philadelphia Roasted Pecan And Sweet Honey Cream Cheese. By now it probably sounds like I'm penning a sponsored post for Pepperidge Farm or Philadelphia but no, this is simply free advertising from a happy customer/chef!
So back to breakfast...Pepperidge Farm strawberry smeared with honey nut cream cheese, layers of fresh blueberries, and crunchy pecans, coated in a creamy tequila vanilla egg batter, and dripping with homemade maple syrup, and a dusting of powdered sugar.
Phew...Stop trying to calculate the calories. Just enjoy a relaxed Sunday meal and do an extra lap on Monday. Because this crispy, custardy, creamy creation has all the decadent components you enjoy in French Toast! From the buttery surface, to the rich filling, and the tangy little pop of fresh blueberries, it literally causes a shiver of delight with each bite. And because the nuts in the cream cheese are just a tease I added a side by side layer of pecans.
I have bottles of liqueur from my tastings that are beckoning to be blended, stirred, and shaken into novel recipes. Tequila Azul has this light, citrusy, sweetness that compliments the fruit without being overwhelmingly strong and the flavor comes through really well in the toast.
Are you headed out the door to buy ingredients yet? If you're reading this post from a smart phone you could be in the car already :)
Ingredients For Toast
4 slices Pepperidge Farm strawberry bread (take out and leave on the counter to dry out a bit while you prepare the egg mixture and other ingredients)
1/2 cup Philadelphia Roasted Pecan And Sweet Honey cream cheese
about 40 fresh blueberries (enough to cover 2 slices of the bread
about 30 pecan halves (again, enough to cover 2 slices of the bread)
1 tablespoon butter
maple syrup
powdered sugar
Ingredients For Egg Coating
2 large eggs
1/3 cup cream (you can use half and half, light cream, heavy, or whole milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons Tequila Azul (if you don't have this on hand you can use 1 tablespoon regular tequila, a splash of lime, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon of sugar)
pinch of salt
Directions For Toast
Spread cream cheese evenly over each of the 4 slices of bread, reserving a small amount to dot over pecans as a glue to hold the sandwich together. Place the blueberries on one side of the bread and the pecans on the opposite side. Gently dot the remaining cream cheese over the pecans and press the slices together to form 2 sandwiches.
Directions For Egg Coating
Whisk all the ingredients together. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Melt butter. While that's melting, carefully coat each side of the bread in the egg mixture. Cook until each side is a deep golden brown. Serve with maple syrup or your favorite topping and a dusting of powdered sugar!
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