Stuffed French Toast!

So, this may sound strange, but I had never made french toast until I tried this recipe. Its not like I haven't done elaborate breakfast dishes before. But, for whatever reason, I've just never been inspired to make french toast. And I don't know why I decided to make french toast on this occassion, either! But I spent a week trying to decide what I wanted to do, and I ended up with a delicious decision. I was going to make french toast stuffed with pecan mascarpone filling. I had some mascarpone that was fast approaching (or passing!) its best by date. And I'm really into pecans right now. Its a phase.

This recipe may sound like it might be kind of complicated and fancy-shmancy-pantsy. But it was much easier than I had expected.

Anyways, here's what you'll need to make this recipe: (Serves 4)
Day old bread. I went with challah, but I think brioche would have been a nice choice as well.
6 eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 an orange, juiced
1.5 tsps orange zest
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 container (8oz) mascarpone
1 cup pecans, chopped (plus a handful for garnish, if you decide to go that way)
2 tablespoons butter


Whisk together the eggs, cream, orange juice, zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, sugar, and salt in a bowl. I actually used a pyrex dish for this.

Combine the mascarpone and chopped pecans. Spread the mixture on the pieces of bread. Make a sandwich with two pieces of bread, and then let them sit in the cream mixture for about 1.5 minutes on each side. Heat a nonstick skillet on medium heat, and melt half of the butter. Once the butter is melted, cook two of the sandwiches at a time until golden brown on both sides. This may take about 5 minutes per side. Once the first sandwiches are done, set them on a plate, melt the second half of the butter, and cook the rest of the french toast.

I put homemade whipped cream on my french toast and garnished with some pecans and segements of orange. And, of course, maple syrup. Delicious!

Don't get intimidated. This is actually pretty easy, and as long as you've had a cup of coffee before starting, I'm confident you can make delicious french toast at home.