Cinnamon bun french toast
Imagine the situation – you have some leftover cinnamon buns. It doesn’t happen often, but it CAN happen. What does one do with those useless, stale things? Cinnamon bun French toast with vanilla syrup and cardamom yogurt, of course. The syrup recipe makes an ample amount, but it will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. If you can’t be bothered, use maple syrup instead.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- VANILLA SYRUP
- 150 g/3⁄4 cup caster/ superfine sugar
- 100 ml/1⁄3 cup water
- 1 vanilla pod/bean
- sea salt flakes optional
- YOGURT TOPPING
- 200 g/1 cup thick Greek/ plain Greek-style yogurt
- ground cardamom to taste
- FRENCH TOAST
- 3 eggs
- pinch of salt
- 1 ⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 50 g/generous 1⁄3 cup plain/ all-purpose flour
- small pinch of bicarbonate of soda/baking soda
- 125 ml/1⁄2 cup whole milk
- 4 cinnamon buns sliced widthways in half (traditional Scandi yeast-based buns)
- butter for frying
- fresh raspberries or blackberries to serve
Instructions
- For the vanilla syrup, put the sugar and water in a saucepan, scrape the vanilla pod/bean and add the pod and seeds to the pan. Boil gently for 4–5 minutes on a medium-high heat, taking care not to burn the syrup. If it’s reducing too quickly, shorten the cooking time or your syrup will be too thick. Remove from the heat and add salt flakes to taste, if you like (it intensifies the vanilla flavour).
- For the yogurt topping, stir the cardamom into the yogurt, to taste – I like freshly ground cardamom, but you can leave it plain if you are not a fan.
- For the French toast, mix the eggs with the salt, cinnamon, flour and bicarbonate of soda/baking soda. Pour in the milk, bit by bit, and stir into a smooth batter. Place the bun pieces in a bowl and pour the batter over.
- Mix to ensure all pieces are generously coated. Cover with clingfilm/plastic wrap and leave for 10 minutes to soak through.
- Heat some butter in a frying pan/skillet, then fry the pieces of bun until cooked through and golden on both sides, adding more butter as needed. Arrange two on each plate, top with cardamom yogurt and berries. Pour over syrup to taste.
Notes
This recipe has been taken from ScandiKitchen Midsommar by Brontë Aurell, photography by Peter Cassidy © Ryland Peters & Small
