Want to really impress your Valentine this month? Forget the chocolates and instead make them breakfast in bed. This recipe is super simple because you prep it the day before and it takes very little effort from you in the morning. Remember though that it is always all in the presentation when serving someone a special meal so get that flour sifter to do the professional level powdered sugar dusting and don’t forget the orange juice and champagne for morning mimosas!
Serves 4
Ingredients:
-6 oz of French bread (about half a standard loaf) cut into 1-inch slices
-4 large eggs
-1 cup of milk
-1 cup of half and half
-1 tsp of vanilla
-1/4 tsp nutmeg grated
-1/4 tsp grated cinnamon
-1/4 tsp grated mace
-1/2 Cup butter softened
– 1 Cup plus 2 T brown sugar loose*
-1 ½ T Corn syrup (dark)
-1 1/8 Cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
Equipment:
– 11x7x1.5 inch baking pan**
-blender
-wooden spoon
-mixing bowl
-spice grater***
Instructions:
Butter your pan heavily. Then fill the pan with your bread slices to within ¼ inch of top. Set aside.
In your blender, mix eggs, milk, half and half, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon, and mace.
Pour mixture over bread in the baking dish.
Cover and refrigerate at least overnight.
The next morning:
Preheat oven to 350
Put softened butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and nuts in a mixing bowl to combine.
Spread mixture over your bread slices.
Bake for 50 minutes until puffed and golden**** (hint, get the breakfast tray and mimosas ready while you wait)
If you really want to impress, sift some powdered sugar over the top and serve warm. This is a really sweet dish so you will probably not need syrup with it, but if you do we like real maple syrup.
*If you are new to this whole cooking thing you usually see the phrase: “brown sugar packed”. That means that you should pack it down into your measuring devices so that there are no air pockets or anything. As opposed to granulated sugar which is dry and will naturally fill the space, brown sugar is moist and won’t naturally conform to your measuring device. However, with this recipe, there is so much sugar already that you can really get away with less brown sugar, thus brown sugar loose.
**9x9x1.5 will also work. The thing about this is you essentially are looking for a pan that will hold about 8 cups of material without making the ingredients deeper than 2” or shallower than 1”. We know that there is a lot of math involved, which is why we gave you options.
***We have touched on the “fresh” versus pre-grated spice question before and we have to say it really depends. All spices are shelf stable to an extent but will start to lose flavor faster once they are grated. If you really want to grate your own spices do yourself a favor and invest in a Microplane nutmeg grater. You can use it for any hard spice and it is super sharp and easy to use.
****If you check on it around the 35 to 40-minute mark and it is getting too brown, pull it out and cover it with foil tented (so not touching the top of the bread). That will let it finish cooking without the top burning. This works on any baked goods fyi.
-Oh and one more thing, Mimosas are ¾ glass of champagne and just enough o.j. to turn the liquid orange. You’re welcome.