During the dog days of summer, hot meals are best prepared and eaten in the early morning -- before the temperature rises and drives most cooks away from their stoves. This particular recipe for Stuffed French Toast is my wife Jacki's favorite. Enjoy!
Prepare this standard batter, then simply stuff the bread with your favorite
fruit preserve/cream cheese mixture.
8 to 10 slices of day old French bread
4 Eggs, slightly beaten
1 Cup Whole milk
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
3 oz Cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 oz Fruit preserves i.e. peach, cherry, strawberry etc.
Make this recipe a great big WOW by sprinkling some Chef Johnny's Pie
Spice on top of the French toast before serving!
Mix the eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a large glass-mixing bowl. Slice the bread in slices approximately 1 inch thick. If the size of the loaf is too large, cut the slices in two. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat with electric mixer; whip the cream cheese until well softened. Clean all the cream cheese off the mixer blades and add to the bowl. Fold in your favorite preserves. Preserves with larger pieces of fruit work the best.
Preheat a heavy griddle or large fry pan over medium heat.
On one of the edges of the slice of bread, insert a paring knife and carefully cut a small pouch into the bread near the center. Make the pouch large enough to hold one tablespoon of the cream cheese/preserve mixture. After filling the pouch with the mixture, dip into the egg batter allowing some of the batter to be absorbed by the bread. Do not allow too much egg to be absorbed or the bread will fall apart while handling. Just before frying, spray the griddle or fry pay with a spray-vegetable oil; fry the toast.
Serve with choice of syrup, dust with powered sugar and garnish with a teaspoon of the fruit used in the cream cheese mixture.
© Chef Johnny 2000