BOSTOCK: The Best French Toast You’ve Never Heard Of
From the kitchen of Maple Trout Lilli
French Toast gets a makeover. What to do with stale bread? You take that stale, old bread (preferably Challah or Brioche), soak it in a simple syrup made with, well you guessed it, maple syrup, as well as other ingredients listed below, top it with frangipane – sweetened, buttery almond paste – and bake it until the syrup forms a crisp, lightly carmelized sheen. It’s moist and rich inside, like bread pudding you can hold, but only so much better because anything made with maple syrup and topped with frangipane has got to be this good.
To my mind, it’s the ultimate french toast replacement — no more batter and soggy bread; no more burning slices.. as you try and feed a table full of starving breakfasters. My reaction after sampling for the first time was to question whether Bostock is in fact a breakfast food. Something this delicious will definitely give your taste buds a jump start in the morning. Dessert for breakfast anyone?
INGREDIENTS
*Stale Brioche or Challah Bread
*Simple Maple Syrup
1 Cup Maple Sugar
1 Cup Water
Pinch of Salt
Bring everything to a boil and let cool. Will keep in the fridge for weeks… that’s it
*Frangipane
6 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Softened
1/2 Cup Maple Sugar
1 Large Egg
3/4 Cup Toasted Almonds, Ground Fine
1 teaspoon Almond Extract
1 Tablespoon Amaretto
1 Tablespoon Flour
Cream butter and sugar, beat in the egg, almonds, extract, amaretto and flour… that’s it!
ASSEMBLY
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Lightly grease a baking sheet
3. Cut bread into 1.5 inch slices. Don’t stress over the precision… but do it right
4. Dunk slices of bread in warm syrup and squeeze out like a sponge. Place two inches apart on your pan. Bread really needs to be stale or it will turn to mush right about now.
5. Spread frangipane from edge to edge at about the same thickness as a peanut butter sandwich
6. Sprinkle slivered almonds on top and bake for about 15-20 minutes, just enough to set the frangipane.
Serve with pureed strawberries if you dare…. That’s it. It takes hardly any time and even less effort and it’s so good you might be persuaded to have it every Sunday…. Happy Easter
—Maple Trout Lilli
