French Toast with Chocolate Whipped Cream and Raspberry Sauce

Sometimes it's fun to make a special breakfast.  Whether it's "just because" or for a birthday or to celebrate an accomplishment, here is a recipe for an extra-special breakfast.  This would be great for Valentine's Day too!

Note:  make the whipped cream & raspberry sauce before you make the french toast.

Do I need to give you a recipe for french toast?  The technique we have in our house I learned from my husband: use one more egg than you have people to feed (this works for up to about 6 people, after that you may want to add a few more).  Whip the eggs thoroughly in a dish or pan that is wider than your bread slices (day old or not too soft bread works best).  Add milk- a little less than the amount of eggs you see.  Add a dash of cinnamon and a dash of vanilla.  Whip it all up.  Pre-heat your pan over medium heat with a tablespoon of butter or coconut oil in it.  Quickly dunk a slice of bread in the egg mixture, flip it if neccessary, then place it on the hot pan (my husband uses a fork for dunking the bread, I prefer to use my fingers so the bread doesn't rip as easily).  After a couple of minutes check the bread to see if the bottom side is browned.  Flip to cook the other side.  Repeat.  You can place the french toast on a try in the oven with the light on to keep them warm while you finish cooking the rest of the slices.

Now for the fun part.  (Yes, it melts quickly!)

Chocolate Whipped Cream
3 cups heavy cream
1/4 cup sucanat or other raw sugar (this makes a "dark" chocolate, if your family needs more sweetness, add to taste)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

With your mixer, beat the cream until it starts to get thicker (but not stiff yet).  Add the sucanat, cocoa powder, and vanilla.  Taste & add more sucanat if needed.  Beat until stiff peaks form.  Will keep for a few days in the refrigerator.

Raspberry Sauce
3 cups frozen unsweetened raspberries
1/2 cup real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Place all the ingredients in a pan over medium heat.  Cook until berries are juicy & sauce is steaming hot.  Allow to cool slightly.

These recipes are enough for about 4 or 5 people.  You will have leftover whipped cream (unless your crew really likes whipped cream)!  Oh, but there are so many good things to do with leftover chocolate whipped cream...  add it to your coffee, mmm, use it for a fresh fruit dip, or let it freeze for some "faux" ice cream!  (Stir every 30 minutes to break up the ice crystals.)  I also had about a 1/2 cup of leftover raspberry sauce.  I would suggest that after an hour of freezing, when you are stirring up those ice crystals, add in the raspberry sauce so you will have some awesome chocolate raspberry ice cream!

Enjoy!
Lisa

Fun with Cream!

This post is a part of the Tuesday Twister Blog Carnival

This week I bought some fresh lightly pasturized cream from a local farm & I have to share with you two great things that came out of it!  First was Creme Fraiche using the recipe from this website.  We were having taco salad & I wanted something sour cream-ish to go with it.

When I was looking for the buttermilk for this recipe I could not find organic, but I did find "Cultured Bulgarian Buttermilk" by Darigold and it actually has active live cultures!  Sure it is twice as much as the other buttermilks, but I'd rather have "live" food than fake food.  I made my creme fraiche according to the directions, setting out for 24 hours.  At first it did seem quite thin, but after a couple of days in the fridge it has a consistency identical to sour cream.  The flavor of mine is a little more mellow- more "cream" than "sour", but still went well on our taco salads.  Then tonight I wanted something to go with my fresh red peppers and lettuce, so I sprinkled all purpose seasoning on top & used it as a dip- very satisfying!

(Nice repurposed container for my creme fraiche, eh?  It's glass so you better believe I was reusing it!)  When made this way creme fraiche is another great way of getting more probiotics into your diet too!

Now, I had about a cup of cream left & after a few days I was afraid it was starting to turn, so I decided to try and make "Cheat's Ice Cream" that I learned about here.  I whipped up the cream, adding in about a teaspoon of vanilla, a packet of Stevia sweetener, and a tablespoon or two of coconut.  Instead of raking with a fork every 30 minutes, I re-whipped (3 times) til it seemed frozen enough.  It's not exactly ice cream, but it is yummy!

My daughter informed me today that we must have green shamrock pancakes tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day!  No problem, I've got my sourdough starter out & I will use this recipe for sourdough pancakes.  You know what I love about this recipe?  No soaking of grains!  You're turning your sourdough starter into pancakes (also a great way to use up some starter if you've got too much).  My daughter really liked these last time- she said, "They taste like bread!"  She's my carb lover.  I might throw on a dollop of our "Cheat's Ice Cream" just for fun too!

The other fun thing happening in my kitchen today was I got my first order from Azure Standard.  I found a local buying group & I was so excited to get a lot of staples for frugal amounts!  And I learned a few things from my first time buying from them.  Five pounds of beans is a lot!  One pound of almonds is not very much.  And when or how am I ever going to use all those bay leaves?!  LOL  That's a lot of shredded coconut there too, but I'm sure we'll find a way to use it- I already started tonight!

Check out the Tuesday Twister blog carnival to see what is twisting in other people's kitchens too-

Enjoy!
Lisa

P.S. Next post I am going to tell you about my new found *favorite* pancake recipe...