Add an Italian twist to traditional French toast with this delicious breakfast dish. Add some creamy mascarpone and you’ll have a surefire hit.
Ingredients
- 1⁄2 cup mascarpone
- 2 tablespoons strong brewed coffee
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 pinches grated nutmeg
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 1 baguette, sliced into 1-inch-thick rounds
- 2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter or coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1⁄2 cup sliced fresh strawberries
Directions
- In a food processor or in a bowl with a whisk, combine the mascarpone, coffee, honey, and 1 pinch of the nutmeg and process or beat until smooth. Transfer to an airtight container, seal, and then chill for up to 1 week.
- In a lidded jar, combine the milk, eggs, vanilla, salt, and remaining 1 pinch nutmeg. Seal the jar tightly, shake vigorously until the custard is yellow and the yolks are incorporated, 10 seconds, and then chill for up to 24 hours.
- Place the baguette slices on a rimmed baking sheet and pour the egg custard over them. Use tongs to flip the slices and slather both sides with the custard. Let stand for 5 minutes to absorb the custard. Gently squeeze the slices with the tongs and flip them again to allow the bread to absorb more of the custard. Let stand for another 5 minutes.
- In a 12-inch cast-iron skillet or large sauté pan over low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Once the butter begins to foam (before it browns!), add as many baguette slices as can fit in a single layer and pour any remaining custard over the top. Cover the pan and cook until crispy and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Flip the slices with tongs or a spatula and cook, uncovered, until the other side is crispy and golden brown, about 5 minutes more. Repeat with the remaining baguette slices, melting 1 tablespoon butter in the pan between batches.
- Serve warm directly from the pan as you finish each batch, or transfer to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Place three slices of French toast on each camper’s plate and top with a generous dollop of the mascarpone, which will melt like syrup. Using a fine-mesh strainer, generously dust each serving with cocoa powder and scatter the strawberries over the top. Tell your fellow campers to eat up; leftovers don’t keep well.
Emma Frish is the author of Feast by Firelight, an outdoor cookbook full of easy-to-prepare recipes perfect for camping trips and cabin stays. Featured in Vouge, Wall Street Journal and Martha Stewart, Emma’s solution-oriented recipes make cooking outdoors feel effortless and downright fun. In addition to her cookbook, Emma was a top ten finalist on Food Network Star season10, and lives in Ithaca, New York.
