There are some people who make the most ridiculous claim. This is it: "I forget to eat breakfast".
I, personally, have never in my life forgotten to eat breakfast. There have been maybe a handful of times when I didn't eat breakfast for various reasons, but never because I forgot.
I love breakfast--it's one of the best parts of the day for me. So when I got sent a big ol' box of panettone in the mail from Bauli as part of their #BauliBakeOff event, I immediately began to think of ways to breakfast-ize it.
I decided to stay really simple and make panettone French toast. This is fusion at its best: Italian meets French, Christmas meets brunch. The absorbent, fluffy bread soaks up the milk and egg mixture like a pro, and fries up toasty on the edges, and custard-y on the inside. It is so good, I can ignore the vaguely fruitcake-esque characteristics of the panettone which, on lesser days, can irritate me.
This is a simple recipe, but very delicious. I sliced the panettone into huge coins, so it makes for a fun presentation, too, with each serving about the size of a salad plate!
Panettone French toast
Makes 4 very generous servings
- 1 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- 1/4 cup granulated or brown sugar
- 1 panettone di Milano (you'll use about half of it)
- maple syrup, for serving (optional)
Procedure
- Combine the first five ingredients (everything but the bread) in a large, flat vessel such as a pie plate or a 9x9-inch baking pan. Whisk together until combined.
- Slice the panettone into nearly inch-thick slices, like coins, starting from the top.
- Place the first slice in the soaking mixture, and let it soak for 20-30 seconds. Flip it and let it soak on the second side.
- Place a frying pan large enough to accomodate the large slices on a burner. Turn the heat on high, and melt a generous knob of butter in the pan.
Once it's sizzly, place the soaked slice on the burner. Immediately reduce the heat to medium. Fry on one side until golden and toasty (about 2 minutes on my stovetop) and then flip and repeat on the second side.
- While the first slice fries, soak the second slice. Make yourself a little assembly line so that while one slice fries, you are soaking the slice on deck.
- Serve immediately. This tastes great with maple syrup.
