Panettone French Toast
I got back off of a trip to South Africa last week to find a half eaten panettone sitting in the footwell of my car. To my surprise, it wasn’t mouldy. Maybe that should be a bit concerning, but I took it as a sign to make some french toast.
This recipe is really easy and you can use thick slices of brioche if you don’t have panettone. I say thick because I like them T-H-I-C-K. I want it to soak up as much of that delicious vanilla eggy milk before being fried to a golden brown. Once fried, I pop mine in the oven for a few minutes to ensure that they’re cooked through. They’re warm and ridiculously tender. Coating the sides in a cinnamon sugar gives these a doughnut vibe. I like to sit mine on a bed of cold custard to reach peak indulgence.
Ingredients - serves 4
230ml whole milk
2 eggs
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp vanilla paste
4 x thick slices of panettone, trimmed into large squares
butter, to fry
good-quality pouring custard, to serve
Sugar coating:
80g caster sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
Pre-heat your oven to 160°C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
In a large shallow bowl; whisk together the milk, eggs, cinnamon and vanilla. Place one of the slices of panettone into the mixture and leave for 1 minute. Meanwhile, heat a saucepan over medium heat. Flip the panettone and soak the other side for a further minute. Try not to leave them longer than this or they will break when you lift them out. Continue to soak the remaining panettone as you’re frying them.
Place a knob of butter into your preheated saucepan and fry the soaked panettone for 3 or 4 minutes. When it is beautifully brown, flip it over and fry the other side for a further 3 or 4 minutes. Place the panettone slice onto the prepared baking tray and finish off cooking it in the oven for 5 minutes. When you poke the middle of the french toast, it should have a little bounce to it. Repeat with the remaining slices of panettone.
In a shallow bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon for coating. Press the warm french toast into the cinnamon sugar on each side before serving warm, on a bed of custard.