Baked French toast is the perfect weekend breakfast. With all the prep done the night before, wake up at your leisure and pop it in the oven. Ready in less than an hour and best of all you don’t have to stand over the stove.
This baked French toast with ackee and brown sugar is paired with pimento liqueur spiked maple syrup. Did somebody say grown and sexy boozy breakfast?
Is there a difference between baked French toast and bread pudding?
“Babe, isn’t this bread pudding?” the hubby asked (he who claims to not like bread pudding…lies, all lies). My reply was yes and no, since French toast is usually bread dipped in custard and cooked in a pan and bread pudding is always baked. Going the lazy (or smart) route of baking your French toast technically puts you in bread pudding land. But my bread pudding is usually more “custardy” and thus I declare this baked French toast its own thing!
From the luscious Ackee Creme Brulee, we know that ackees are just dreamy in custard and it’s no different here. The toast is perfectly fine on its own simply dusted with powdered sugar, but! Everything is better with a drizzle of maple syrup. Add to that pimento liqueur and ladies and gentlemen we are now at the next level.
Jamaican Pimento Liqueur is the best! (If you can find it)
I had been eyeing this pimento liqueur for some time but hadn’t tried it till last year! Shame on me! Shame especially since I’d once purchased a bottle of it as a uniquely Jamaican gift for one of my faculty advisors at culinary school in Trinidad. He gave me a slightly perplexed look since pimento (Jamaican allspice) is usually used in savoury applications such as stews and of course in rice and peas. I suggested maybe a nip in his coffee but have since explored so many other ideas. Such as: a sweet and sticky pimento chicken; flan; glazed shortbread cookies and poured over ice cream. It’s sweet, richly spiced and its viscosity is that of light syrup. (I’ve reached out to Wray and Nephew to find out it’s availability outside of Jamaica, this is not a sponsored post and I am not affiliated with Wray & Nephew, I just really like the product)
Special thanks go to my mommy who sent me the bottle I have. I had all intentions of purchasing one to bring with me when I migrated last year and was disappointed to find that it was not available in duty free (Sangster’s International, I’m almost certain I had purchased the first bottle at Norman Manley). I know she would love this combination and have every intention of whipping it up for her when she comes to visit. For now, she like you will have to love it through the interwebs and maybe even give it a try.
What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. If you make this or any of the recipes from this site be sure to snap a pic and #amazingackee and @amazingackee so that I can see your posts across social media.
Until next time, thanks for stopping by 😊
Ackee Brown Sugar Baked French Toast
Ingredients
For the French toast:
- 5 eggs
- ¾ cup Milk
- ½ cup Parboiled Ackees
- ½ cup Brown sugar lightly packed
- 2 tsps Vanilla extract
- Couple shots Angostura Bitters optional
- Pinch Salt
- 6 - 8 thick cut slices of Brioche mine were a bit thicker than an inch, then I quartered each slice diagonally but you could leave them whole or cut them in half if you like, you don't have to use brioche, if you use another type of bread that isn't as rich, brush it with some melted butter to compensate;
- Powdered sugar for dusting
For the syrup:
- Equal parts maple syrup and Wray & Nephew Berry Hill Pimento Allspice Liqueur
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients except for bread in a medium bowl and blend with an immersion blender till completely smooth.;
- Spray a casserole dish (I used an 8-inch square glass baking dish and did two layers of bread, you can use whatever you have at your disposal, you may need more or less bread and custard in that case depending on the size) and set aside.;
- Dip the bread in the custard leaving it for a few seconds on each side so it soaks up the custard.;
- Place in prepared casserole dish and repeat with the remaining pieces of bread.;
- Pour whatever remains of the custard over the arranged slices, cover dish with plastic wrao and let chill overnight.;
- When ready to bake, remove from fridge and preheat oven to 350F.;
- Remove plastic wrap and replace with foil. Bake for 25 minutes then remove foil and bake for another 12 to 15 minutes. ;
- In the meantime, make the syrup: whisk together maple syrup and liqueur till combined.;
- When done, remove from oven let sit for 5 minutes.;
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve with syrup.;
- Enjoy!