Sometimes not having milk is a problem. I mean, not a serious problem...You can make Challah bread, after all! But what about when Challah wants a new look? What about when she wants to throw on something extra nice, something with a bit of a French flair? You know, when she wants to become French Toast?
Then, my friends, you absolutely need milk. And so, as the first bits of snow began to melt a good four days after Snowmaggedon, 'Chefski and I braved the elements to visit our favorite mega-Giant in Friendship Heights to get some much-needed milk and other staples.
Upon our return, famished but not too frozen, we eagerly prepared the following recipe. In our eagerness to eat, however, we decided to forgo one overnight step (at the time, we wanted to eat now!), which yielded pleasantly surprising results. So the dual morals of this story are: sometimes milk is important, and improvising, adjusting, and experimenting with recipes is a good thing! Don't be afraid to try doing it your way* :)
*unless you're at a karaoke bar.
Baked Challah French Toast with Eggy-Flan-like-Goodness
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen's Boozy Baked French Toast (can you tell I love that blog?)
Ingredients
As many slices of Challah bread as you like (to feed two, I used 4 slices)
1 cup milk (skim for us, but whatever you like... and up to 3 cups if you're using a whole loaf)
1 egg (up to 3, again, for a whole loaf)
1 Tablespoon sugar (up to 3 Tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt
[We didn't do this (this time), but you can also add 1-3 Tablespoons of Bailey's, Cointreau, Frangelico, Chambord, Creme de Cassis or Grand Marnier for an added kick of flavor... or 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla or almond extract. Nuts and raisins/dried fruit also possible.]
Directions
1. Using a stick of butter, lightly grease a pan that will keep your slices of bread snugly fit together (I used a 6-inch circular cake pan)
2. Set down bread in 1-2 layers, snugly-packed.
3. Whisk together milk, egg(s), sugar, salt, and liqueur/ extract. Pour over the bread, and sprinkle with a little (or a lot) of cinnamon and sugar.
4. Tightly cover in plastic wrap and though you're supposed to let it soak overnight, we were too
eager to make it, we let it soak in the fridge for maybe 15 minutes. (I mean, we'd JUST gotten our hands on some milk! It was "no problem!" for the challah earlier that week, but definitely necessary for this recipe... so we just said "what the heck!" and made it our way, which made for a pleasant surprise at the end)
5. We baked it at 425 degrees F for 30 minutes, covered in aluminum foil (which you don't have to do... we just felt like it... to avoid any possible egg mess).
6. When we pulled it out of the oven we were surprised to find our eggy-milk mix had come together to a custardy, flan-like consistency! It was sweet and velvety the way flan should be, but less sweet. Cut up pieces to serve, crumble flan-like goodness atop your plate, and lightly dust with confectioner's sugar. Add a little maple syrup and you've got yourself brunch!
[We didn't do this (this time), but you can also add 1-3 Tablespoons of Bailey's, Cointreau, Frangelico, Chambord, Creme de Cassis or Grand Marnier for an added kick of flavor... or 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla or almond extract. Nuts and raisins/dried fruit also possible.]
Directions
1. Using a stick of butter, lightly grease a pan that will keep your slices of bread snugly fit together (I used a 6-inch circular cake pan)
2. Set down bread in 1-2 layers, snugly-packed.
3. Whisk together milk, egg(s), sugar, salt, and liqueur/ extract. Pour over the bread, and sprinkle with a little (or a lot) of cinnamon and sugar.
4. Tightly cover in plastic wrap and though you're supposed to let it soak overnight, we were too
eager to make it, we let it soak in the fridge for maybe 15 minutes. (I mean, we'd JUST gotten our hands on some milk! It was "no problem!" for the challah earlier that week, but definitely necessary for this recipe... so we just said "what the heck!" and made it our way, which made for a pleasant surprise at the end)
5. We baked it at 425 degrees F for 30 minutes, covered in aluminum foil (which you don't have to do... we just felt like it... to avoid any possible egg mess).
6. When we pulled it out of the oven we were surprised to find our eggy-milk mix had come together to a custardy, flan-like consistency! It was sweet and velvety the way flan should be, but less sweet. Cut up pieces to serve, crumble flan-like goodness atop your plate, and lightly dust with confectioner's sugar. Add a little maple syrup and you've got yourself brunch!
Someone's "after" and someone's "before." I'm not gonna name names, but let's just say the "someone" taking this photo hasn't finished her breakfast yet ;)
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