Chocolate and Pistachio French Toast with Warm Maple Syrup

  

Long, lazy mornings is what we are enjoying at the moment. No hectic, no meetings, no stress to get anywhere and the feeling is good. Christmas weekend came and went and the tumultuous celebrations of the three days with gift wrapping, roast cooking and tree decorating lie behind us. We’re letting our souls dangle in the sheer luxury of time wasting and the opulence of big and extravagant breakfasts.         

The house is serene without the commotion of our everyday routine. The attire of choice are comforting pyjamas as we lounge on the sofa reading the newspapers extensively instead of browsing through the headlines hastily. Steaming cups of spiced earthy flavored Pu-erh tea infused with cardamom, soothes and warms us from the inside but it also teases our appetite.

While Tom brews a strong pot of coffee, crushing some cardamom to add into the thick dark liquid, the scents of my favorite spice brings back a thousand memories.

Growing up I would love the weekends as my mother would often prepare a typical "sweet” breakfast as we called it. Usually pancakes or crepes flavored with whatever took her fancy served with fresh fruits and warm maple syrup. Or sweetened scrambled eggs! Oh how I loved those spread on a buttery toast and enjoyed with some hot chocolate. What I loved the most however was French toast and till today my mouth begins to water by the mere mention of this conventional breakfast.

Nowadays, a “sweet” breakfast with French toast has become our luxury in which we indulge in when we are feeling decadent with time. It replaces the granola and the spelt grain roll with honey and quick coffee, consumed during the week.

When outside the icy wind blows across the snow covered fields and the red sun rises like a fire- ball out of the sky, we are inside warming ourselves with hot spiced coffee and delicious French toast and because it’s all about chocolate at this time of year (actually at all times of the year), I sandwich a thin layer of dark chocolate spread before dipping the slices of brioche bread in the egg batter.

Breakfast has always been an important meal for both Tom and me. We try never to skip it and even though breakfast during the week happens in haste we make sure it is balanced and healthy for Soeren and us. The weekends provide for a little more time and we enjoy a breakfast of champions with eggs, sausages, fruit and rolls, but the holidays allow us to be self-indulgent and we live on the sweeter side of life. It’s our luxurious repose!

I love using certain types of Viennoiserie for my French toast, challah or brioche being my favorite choices. Here I have used Brioche Nanterre, which provides a marvelous flavor and richness. Watch the smiles all around as thick dark chocolate spread is slathered on a slice and sandwiched before the dipping. I add no sugar to the batter itself and use plain milk for the batter and serve with a crunchy topping of pistachios and warmed maple syrup.

Chocolate and Pistachio French Toast with Warm Maple Syrup

Printable version of recipe here

Serves 8

Ingredients

8 large slices brioche or challah
4 eggs
100ml milk
A pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg 
25g butter
200g chocolate spread
120g pistachios, chopped
300ml maple syrup

Method

1. Spread a generous layer of dark chocolate spread on 4 of the brioche slices, then sandwich with the remaining 4. Cut diagonally and place each sandwiched triangle in a large shallow dish.
   
   
2. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, milk and spices and pour over the sandwiched brioche. Leave to soak for at least half an hour. Alternatively, you can leave to soak in the fridge overnight.
   
   
3. Heat butter in a large frying pan and cook the brioche-chocolate sandwich triangles, for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and cooked through. Keep warm in a low oven and repeat until all the brioche sandwiches are cooked.
   
   
4. Arrange on a platter scattered with chopped pistachios. Heat the maple syrup on low in the microwave and serve drizzled over the chocolate and pistachio French toast.

 

The Food Guide Tip:

- Make your own delicious buttery saffron brioche

 

 

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Verdict

We’re holding on to the last few days of 2010 before we welcome the new year. As 2011 kicks off we’ll be back into the core of the hustle and bustle of the regular routine. Soeren and his school, Tom back in Berlin and me back at work and other assignments so we are not looking ahead, instead we are kicking back and charging our batteries with family time and long lazy breakfasts.

I’d like to send this delicious chocolate breakfast to Ria who is my hostess for this month’s Monthly Mingle – Chocolate Extravaganza. Thank you Ria for hosting the event and by what I have seen already we’ve got some truly extravagant chocolate treats. Make sure you tune in for the round up coming soon.

I am not one to start a new year with resolutions as I believe if you want to change something in your life then there is no better time to do it then the now. What I do have are plans and goals and I hope to work towards them to my best ability.

Have you set any goals and plans that you would like to work towards in 2011?

I’d like to wish everyone who takes time to come to What’s For Lunch, Honey? and shares this piece of my world with me a very Happy New Year. Hope you have a safe and blessed start to 2011 and may the new year bring you joy, health and that you achieve all your goals.

I’ll see you next year and hope you will join me then as we take a look back at some of the highlights 2010 brought my way.

You might like these extravagant chocolate ideas from WFLH:

Chocolate Pavlova with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse	Light Mousse au Chocolat with Baileys Crème Caramel	Chocolate and Raspberry Crème Caramel

 

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