Mascarpone French Toast Bake

Winter is wrapping up, and that makes me think of the ski trip me and Tres took with friends last year. We spent several days in Steamboat, Colorado in a cozy cabin, and I cooked almost every day. When I'm on vacation with a group, I love waking up before everyone and making breakfast. Our snow-covered cabin right on the slopes was the perfect place to tip-toe out of bed, light the fireplace up, pour myself a cozy cup of coffee, and cook it up! One morning, I made my mascarpone french toast bake, and it was everyone's favorite! This recipe is really easy and can even be made the night before, refrigerated, and popped in the oven the next morning! 

Because of all the cooking I did, skiing has become one of my favorite trips. The skiing, I'm not real sure about, but I love the cooking, lodge lunches with good beer, the wine drinking, the hot tub after a long day on the slopes, and the cozy cabin. Tres' response to my "love of ski trips," is, "so you love ski trips but you love everything about them but skiing?" Haha... I suppose that's the best way to sum it up! 

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE! 

Grocery List: 

For the custard: 

• 8 eggs

• 1 cup milk

• 1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half

• 2 tbsp sugar

• 2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/4 tsp nutmeg

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• Dash of salt

For the filling: 

• 1 container mascarpone cheese

• 4 tbsp butter - room temperature

• 1/4 cup honey

• 2 tsp sugar

• 2 tbsp cinnamon

• 3 cans Pillsbury crescent rolls

For the topping: 

• 1 cup pecans - chopped

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 2 tbsp candied ginger - chopped

Directions: 

1. Beat the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt together until eggs are beaten and mixture is smooth. Set aside.

2. In another bowl, whisk the mascarpone, butter, honey, sugar, and cinnamon together. Open the crescent roll cans and separate each dough piece from each other. Fill each piece of crescent dough with some of the mascarpone mixture and roll the dough up. Line the rolls in a buttered 9x13 baking dish side by side.

3. Pour egg mixture into the baking pan, over the crescent rolls. ***At this point you can let it sit for several hours or overnight if you wish.

4. When you're ready to bake, set oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together the pecans, brown sugar, and candied ginger. Sprinkle over the top of the crescent roll mixture. Bake for about 35 minutes or until puffed and golden.

Cheers to happy eating!!! 

Andrea's Cooktales - Series 2, Episode 1 - Mascarpone French Toast Bake

GET THE FULL RECIPE HERE!

Berry Vanilla French Toast

French toast is one of the first meals I ever remember cooking. I've always heard that most kids learn to cook for the first time by making breakfast, and in my case, this proves to be true. French toast was always one of my favorite make-at-home breakfasts, and I remember when I got old enough, it was just the easiest thing in the world to jump in the kitchen early in the morning, mix up some eggs with milk, add a splash of vanilla, some sugar, some cinnamon, and dip whatever bread we had in the pantry into the mix and fry it up in butter. That was the quickest, easiest way to make French toast, and as a youngun, I always felt like such a great cook making this meal! Here's a fancier version of one of the simplest breakfasts in the world: Berry Vanilla French Toast. Fruity and fabulous.

Grocery list (4 people):

1/3 cup blueberries

1/3 cup blackberries

2 tbsp sugar

5 eggs

1/2 cup cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 vanilla bean scraped

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 tbsp honey

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 loaf Challah bread

Step 1:

Mash the blueberries and blackberries in a bowl with a fork or potato masher, add sugar and stir together. Set aside.

Step 2:

In a shallow bowl or pan, lightly whisk together the eggs, cream, vanilla extract, vanilla bean, ginger, honey, and salt. Add half of the berry mixture and whisk until combined.

Step 3:

Make the syrup. In a small saucepan, add the reserved mashed berries, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat.

Step 4:

Heat butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cut bread into 1/2 inch slices. Dip bread into the egg mixture on each side. Make sure each slice has plenty of egg mixture on it. Fry slices until golden brown on each side. Top with the warm berry syrup.

CHEERS TO HAPPY EATING!!!