Lemon Raspberry French Toast

 

Royal weddings aside, I do like to pull the boat out a bit at the weekend when it comes to breakfast/brunch.  I actually did this last weekend, but am only getting to show it to you now.  I found and adapted the recipe from a site which I like called Tablespoon. 

 

There were a few things I liked about the recipe. One was that it was built especially for two people and we are only two.  Secondly I liked that it was simple and used things I normally have on hand.

 

I confess right now, I am not a huge fan of ricotta cheese.  It is a consistency thing.  I MUCH prefer cream cheese, which is smoother and richer.  So that is what I chose to use instead. By all means use ricotta if you prefer it. I don't.

 

The cheese is mixed with some honey and lemon peel and then spread onto slices of french bread. Easy peasy.  You spread it on all of the slices of bread, and then top only half of them with the fresh raspberries.

 

I adore fresh raspberries. It was not always so.  My sister and I gorged ourselves on freshly picked raspberries from a neighbors bush when I was a girl, and I ended up getting sick afterwards.  That was a really naughty thing for us to do really, so fair dues that I ended up sick. A fitting punishment.  It was a very long time before I could face a raspberry and my father was hoovering raspberry seeds out of the carpet in our car for a very long time. Lets just say I was not very popular with either the neighbors or my dad!

 

Thankfully I have since gotten over my aversion to them.  I really enjoy them now, but do have to watch my consumption somewhat due to my diverticulitis.  Enough said!

 

They work beautifully in this recipe, but I expect any berry would work well.  So just pick your favourite kind and go with the flow!

 

The honey in this is also a real favourite for me. I adore honey. For this I used Acacia honey . . .  lovely delicious flavours! 

 

*Lemon Raspberry French Toast*

Serves 2

Printable Recipe  

Quite simply delicious with a lemon cream cheese and fresh fruit filling. 

120g cream cheese (4 ounces)

60ml honey (1/4 cup)

2 1/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest

8 slices (1/2 inch thick) soft French bread

95g fresh raspberries (3/4 cup)

1 large free-range egg, beaten

75ml milk (1/3 cup)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

 

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a 15 X 10 X 1-inch baking sheet with foil.  Spray with non-stick cooking spray.  

Whisk together the cheese, 2 TBS of the honey and 2 tsp of the lemon zest. Spread about 1 rounded TBS onto each slice of bread. Place 3 berries on top of half of the slices of bread and cover with the remaining bread slices, cheese side down. 

Beat the egg, milk, salt, vanilla and cinnamon together in a shallow bowl.  Place the sandwiches in the bowl.  Let soak for 5 minutes, then flip over and soak for a further 5 minutes.  Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. 

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.  To each sandwich with the remaining raspberries, drizzle with the remaining honey and sprinkle with the remaining lemon zest.  Serve immediately. 

 

Whew!  After all of the cooking I have done over these past few days I am exhausted!  I really pulled the stops out for the wedding weekend and am happy now to go back to normal.    A bit of restraint is now in order!  I wonder what I will cook up next?  Hmmm . . .  food for thought! Bon Appetit!