 |
| French toast with wild raspberry syrup and greek yogurt |
“Good Morning!” “Hyvää Huomenta! “Guten Morgen!”
Those who know me we well know that I am not a night owl. Not at all. If given a very strong cup of coffee at an appropriately late hour, and if the stories are excellent, I can usually stay strong until about 10 PM. Then I start to peter off. I’ve fallen asleep on the couch of more than one friend while visiting. When I was in college, I’d fall asleep on the living room floor after coming home from work, feet propped up over the couch and the rest of me sprawled in front of the living room stove. Nothing like a good power nap to give you the energy needed to go to bed.
But – I love mornings. Especially in the summer as the sun rises so early. I typically get up around 5:00 these days, woken by the filtered sunlight through the blinds and the happy chirping of the busy birds outside my window At this hour, there is little other noise. No metro, little traffic, and presumably, no people either as most of the world is in bed.
Most days I start with a cup of coffee: a large Americano with two shots of espresso and a bit of cream with hot water poured over to fill the cup. Then I sit, steaming cup in hand, staring out the window and contemplating the day that lies ahead.
And then there are some mornings that I wake up because my stomach is growling already, and I am dreaming of something specific for breakfast. That would be today. I pulled on a bathrobe and paced to the kitchen, flipped on the espresso machine, put a cast iron pan over medium heat on the burner and got to work.
It had to be French toast.
I had picked up a loaf of Coquus bread on Tuesday from the Herttoniemen ruokapiiri. We had sandwiches last night, but the bread, on day 3, was begging for a long soak and a good pan fry to make a mighty fine breakfast. You can’t serve great French toast and not have syrup to go with it, and as summer is approaching, we’re working our way through the last containers of frozen berries in the freezer. One of my favorite French toast toppings is raspberry maple syrup, so I got that bubbling while the French toast soaked and fried. Easy peasy. Fabulous start to the day. Breakfast ready by 5:30 AM.
It’s gonna be a good day.
 |
| French toast with wild raspberry syrup and greek yogurt |
French toast with wild raspberry maple syrup & greek yogurt
This recipe is as easy as could be, but makes the perfect quick breakfast that just happens to wow company (and me!) every single time. The raspberry maple syrup is really something. You could also substitute another berry: blueberry, bilberry, blackberry, strawberry…
1 loaf of rustic sourdough bread, cut into slices
4 eggs
1.5 cups / 3 dl milk
2 cups / 4 dl wild raspberries (or really any raspberries are fine)
1/2 cup / 1 dl maple syrup
1/2 cup / 100 g greek yogurt
1. Place a cast iron frying pan on the stovetop over medium heat. Turn the oven on to it’s lowest heat (50°C is what I use).
2. Combine the raspberries and maple syrup in a small pot and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer while you cook the French toast.
3. Whisk the eggs and milk together in a medium sized bowl
4. Slice the sourdough bread into thick slices. If the slices are long, cut them in half so they will fit into the bowl and the pan better. Put two or three slices of bread at a time into the egg mixture. Flip the bread over a couple of times to soak up the liquid.
5. Put 1 teaspoon of butter into the frying pan and stir it around with a flat-ended spatula to cover the bottom of the pan. Place the soaked bread slices in the pan and fry until both sides are golden brown. Place the finished slices on a dinner plate in the oven to keep warm. Repeat until all of the slices are done.
6. Divide the finished French toast onto plates. Pour the raspberry syrup over and top with a few large spoonfuls of greek yogurt. Enjoy!
Serves 4-6.