Spiced French Toast

What a week, what a week. If you’ve had one of those, then maybe you should try this Spiced French Toast. It’s for indulgence, plain and simple-and sometimes you just have to treat yourself. Maybe have some mimosas along with it. Go ahead and go for broke calorie, sugar, and fat wise because occasionally you just need to throw all that out the window.

Spiced French Toast

This recipe was inspired by French toast I had at Rick and Anne’s in Berkeley. I highly recommend it and if the wait is long you can pop in at the place next door (Wine Thieves) and taste champagne or wine and snack on cheese. I got Erica’s French Toast, which features challah bread dipped into an orange-cardamon batter.

For this recipe I steeped cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, and turmeric in the heavy cream, creating a wonderful spiced batter. For a more subtle and lighter flavor, leave out the turmeric, which somehow makes the French toast come out very rich. I made it both ways, and could go either or depending on my mood.

The Recipe

Spiced French Toast

Cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, and turmeric are steeped in heavy cream to create a tasty batter for this Spiced French Toast.

Servings 6 to 8

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups heavy cream heavy whipping cream, or half and half
• 4 bruised cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves whole
• 1 tablespoon turmeric root peeled and chopped
• 6 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 6 slices to 8 challah or brioche loaf 1 inch thick
• 4 tablespoons butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 250 degrees and place a wire wrack on a baking sheet (this is to keep the done toast warm if you can't fit it all in a skillet.
• Pour the heavy cream into a small saucepan and add the cardamom pods, cinnamon stick, cloves and turmeric. Heat over medium heat until it is almost boiling. Remove from heat and let steep for 20 minutes.
• Strain the heavy cream into a mixing bowl and discard the spices. You can do this the night before if you want to save time in the morning.
• Add the eggs and vanilla extract to the heavy cream and whisk together.
• Place the bread in a shallow baking dish and pour the egg mixture over bread.
• Soak the bread for 10 minutes and then turn over and soak the other side another 10 minutes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Depending on how many slices can fit in your skillet, add the bread slices and fry 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Place done toast on the wire racks in the oven as you finish the rest.

Author: Megan Wells

Course: Breakfast

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The past week and a half has been full of devastating lows and some pretty good highs, sometimes all in the same day. My emotions are a yo-yo right now and it’s all connected to dealing with life without a colon, my stoma, and my ostomy bag. This is why I could use the fluffy, sweet, sticky goodness of Spiced French Toast right about now.

The Good

• I finished my first ever freelance food styling and photography job successfully and got PAID.
• I had my second post-op appointment with my surgeon who says I’m doing excellent. My second surgery is scheduled for AUGUST 30! Goodbye stoma and ostomy bag in 49 days.
• Despite suffering from some pain and pouching difficulties, I went to a Dixie Chicks concert and had a blast.

The Bad and the Ugly

• I’m still dealing with skin issues near my stoma. And I also still have an itchy rash all over my body from coming off steroids.
• I’ve had some massive leaks: one while I was walking and another while I was sleeping and they were both huge. I had to clean everything up and take care of my stoma and it was hard, disgusting, and painful.
• I experienced my first partial obstruction. I had returned to my normal eating habits for about two weeks (salads, fresh fruit, raw veggies, etc.) and was really enjoying it. Last Tuesday I was attempting to work on this post when all of a sudden my stomach started cramping. The cramps came in waves and were extremely strong. If I was standing when one hit, I would bend over in pain. It was difficult to talk and breath through. I panicked a little and wasn’t sure what was happening. I called the advice line and got a phone appointment with a doctor who confirmed that I had a partial blockage. But he wasn’t much help. Luckily I remembered the advice of my ostomy nurses, who said to chug water, hot coffee and tea, and drink grape juice. I did all of this and it became unblocked.
• My bags aren’t even lasting 24 hours right now. I hate it. I don’t know why they are leaking so much and I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.

If any of you have also had bad weeks, hang in there! And treat yourself to something special, because you deserve it! Also, this is the last of my turmeric kick (for now) but here’s everything else I went mad scientist on: Orange Pomelo Turmeric Mojito, Mango Margaritas with a Turmeric Chili Twist, Mango Aguas Frescas, and Tomatillo Margarita.