Peaches n’ Cream French Toast (2-3 servings)
This has been our summer to Snooze! Nope, I don’t mean sleeping in, I mean eating out! Family and friends have been comparing their most often ordered dishes from our new favorite breakfast joint, Snooze (several locations in the Denver area). If you haven’t been, you better go, because it’s delish’. And while you know we’ll return again ...occasionally we like to cook in on a Sunday morning, and so...we decided to attempt the recreation of one of our favorite dishes-Peaches n’ Cream French Toast.
While this might not be exactly the way the Pro’s at Snooze pull it off, I think you’ll love the results. Yes, there are a few steps, but no-it’s not hard! A little planning and perhaps a little help manning the griddle and you can pull this off before your second cup of coffee-really!
The basic idea here is two slices of French Toast, with mascarpone and peaches in between, topped with whipped cream and sprinkled with a sweet crumble topping. See? Not complicated...but with a few tweaks we’ll make it extra special!
Tips...before we start: We used basic Texas Toast (available by the loaf at King Soopers). Nothing fancy, just thicker than your usual white bread. Want to make it special? Use a loaf of Challa bread (pronounced ‘halla’) cut into thick slices. You may have to call around to find a bakery that makes it, but it’s soooo worth it!
Sweet Crumble Topping
Mix together in a small bowl 2 tablespoons each of:
- uncooked oatmeal
- flour
- sugar
- brown sugar
add ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, mix
add in 1 ½ tablespoons softened butter and mix it altogether with your fingers until it forms small pea-sized pieces.
Spread the mixture out on aluminum foil on a cookie sheet and broil for 4-5 minutes, until the butter is melting and the consistency is less lumpy--watch closely toward the end so it doesn’t start burning! Remove from the oven and Cool , then crumble and set aside in a small bowl.
Caramelized Peaches
Drop 2 ripe peaches into a bowl of very hot tap water.(TIP: hot water helps to separate the skin from the pulp, making peeling easier.) Let them set for about a minute. Pull out one at a time, peel with a knife, then cut off the fruit from the stone into appx. ¼ inch slices.
Melt in a pan:
2 tablespoons butter
Add:
Peach slices and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
Cook until peaches start to brown on the sides (that’s caramelizing!) then set aside.
Before making the toast, we’ll prepare the mascarpone and whipped cream mixtures so you’ll be ready to put it all together quickly in the end...
Mascarpone Filling
Whip together:
- ½ cup softened Mascarpone
- 1 Tablespoon Powdered Sugar
- Dash of Half and Half
Whip this JUST until it’s smooth and creamy-don’t over whip or it will start to separate...not that it isn’t still perfectly yummy...just not as pretty.
Whipped Cream Topping
Whip:
2/3 cup whipping cream until it just starts to get firm.
Add:
- 2 Tablespoons Powdered Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla
Continue whipping until it’s all incorporated and it gets the thickness of warm pudding-DON’T whip until it’s forming hard peaks-you want it runnier.
French Toast (2 slices per person)
Mix:
- 3 eggs
- 3 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoons cinnamon (more if you like it cinnamony!)
Dip Texas Toast into mixture-don’t pull it right out, coat it completely and give it a few seconds (not too much but...) to absorb some liquid.
Cook: I cook my French Toast on a griddle set to about 350 to 375 degrees-up it to the higher amount if you feel it’s not getting crispy around the edges. Flip after a few minutes-brown the other side (don’t under cook because those crispy edges are part of what’s so good about French Toast!).
Plate:
Place one piece of French Toast on your plate. Top with a generous dollop of the mascarpone mixture (it WILL start melting-that’s okay), top that with several caramelized peaches, then place the second piece of French Toast on top, and top that with generous dollop (or two) of the whipped cream mixture and sprinkle liberally with the sweet crumble topping. That’s it-easier than you thought, huh? Even better once you taste it-yum! Pour that second cup of java and Enjoy!
