A Sweet Breakfast Treat

French toast is one of those special breakfast treats.Imagine amping it up wit fruit, sour dough and a variety of spices. It turns into a perfect breakfast or brunch treat that's easy to make and wonderful to eat - even on a hot day.

Great chef and baker Yotam Ottolenghi created this for yesterday's New York Times Food section. French toast in Britain is called eggy bread and its savory instead of sweet. Chef Ottolenghi creates a fruity version with the addition of Braeburn or Gala apples and mixed berries. You could even add fresh peaches, this being peach season. He uses star anise and cinnamon but you can just use cinnamon if that's all you have. (star anise can be found in your grocery's spice section). As for the bread. Chef Ottolenghi uses crustless sourdough which produced a wonderfully chewy and tangy mouthfeel. As a sub try a boule of French bread or even a loaf of Italian as long as it equals two cups. There's also rolled oats for texture  and vanilla bean paste or extract for flavor. You will need superfine or caster sugar. However if  you can't find it, then grind granulated sugar in a food processor.It's topped with refrigerated cream with vanilla flavoring but again you could use Greek yogurt for some bite.

As far ass assembling and cooking, it's peeling and coring the apples.They're then baked to soften but not baked enough that they're mush. The butter is also browned at this time in a skillet , then placed in a heat proof bowl. Use the skillet to toast the sour dough. Add it to the butter. Then add the oats to the skillet until they're lightly basted. The flavorings are then added, the sugar, star anise and  flaky sea salt. The oats mixture is then added to the bread.It's then adding in the cooked apples, berries and two tablespoons of water evenly over the sourdough pieces and oats. All this is then baked in a 350 F degree oven for thirty minutes until it's golden and bubbling. Leave it to cool for ten to fifteen minutes. Add the cold cream and remaining three quarters teaspoon of vanilla in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Serve this crumbly French toast with the cream on top. You could easily turn it into a bread pudding dessert with the addition of vanilla or strawberry ice cream.

There's nothing like French toast. Try this version whether for breakfast, brunch or even dessert. It sweet, crumbly eggy and butteryv- all the best flavors rolled into one.