Monday, January 7, 2013

Orange & Almond French Toast

The first I knew of French toast was when my American room-mate offered to make it for me. Her name was also Tracey. Somebody at the accommodation office was on top form that day.

Tracey was studying history of art and spending a semester in London. Older than me by at least three years, she borrowed my clothes without asking and I affected not to mind. In exchange, she used to cook me this dish and the toast addict in me was made up. Tracey’s version used bread dipped in egg whisked with freshly squeezed orange juice and fried in butter. Simple, quick and delicious.

Today, of course, I’m a French toast veteran. Mostly I’ve eaten it as a thick, white puff of eggy bread decorated with sliced strawberries, a rosette of aerated cream and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Here’s my version flavoured with orange and almond and topped with a dollop of cinnamon ice cream.

Cut two very thin slices of soft, white bread. Take your homemade cinnamon ice cream out of the freezer to soften. <Chortle> Roll out a piece of marzipan to fit and no thicker than a coin. Zest half an orange. Make a sandwich with the zest and marzipan then lightly press together. Juice the orange half and whisk together with a medium egg. Add cinnamon to taste and a little grated nutmeg. Dip the sandwich in the egg, turning it over every so often until the egg is absorbed. Heat a knob of butter in a frying pan. Carefully fry the sandwich on both sides in the hot, foamy butter. Think “pancake” for heat and colour. Serve hot with ice cream, a dusting of icing sugar and a tiny bit more cinnamon.

Thinking about it, a few flaked, toasted almonds on top wouldn’t go amiss.

2 comments:

  1. This looks delicious. Could you share your ice cream recipe too? It might be a good idea to add the ingredient list next to the picture, I usually write them quickly in a note book without too much details. Cheers Tracey. FD

    ReplyDelete
  2. This was delicious: it's the orange juice. Cinnamon ice cream by Delia Smith: http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/european/english/cinnamon-ice-cream.html

    Thanks for the ingredients tip. I'll give it whirl.

    ReplyDelete