Pumpkin French Toast & Pomegranate Maple Syrup

A Recipe for a Classic Sauteed Bread Featuring Pureed Pumpkin

Nov 23, 2009 Patricia Daley

This elegant breakfast dish features all the flavors of Fall, pan-fried french toast enriched with pumpkin, eggs and cream, topped with a pomegranate maple syrup.

It's hard to imagine that a dish as elegant as this pumpkin French toast had very humble beginnings. From the French word, "pain perdu", which means literally," lost bread", it was bread that was usually thrown away.In households where money was short, any food that could be salvaged would be used. Old stale bread was given new life when soaked in an egg/milk mixture, then fried in butter or oil and drenched with a sweet syrup.

This French toast reaches new heights with the addition of pureed pumpkin, eggs, cream and spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The dish is perfected by a dollop of fragrant allspice butter , a generous drizzle of pomegranate maple syrup and a sprinkling of pomegranate seeds. Adapted from "The Mesa Grill Cookbook" by Bobby Flay with Stephanie Banyas and Sally Jackson.

For the Pumpkin French Toast

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• a pinch of ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 6 (1-inch-thick) slices day-old brioche or challah
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 1/4 cup canola oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Whisk together the pumpkin, whole eggs, egg yolk, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla, milk, cream and salt in a large baking dish. Place the bread in the dish, and turn to coat evenly; let sit 5 minutes
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter and 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat, heat until butter is completely melted. Place 3 slices of the bread in the pan and cook until golden brown on the bottom. Turn slices over and cook about 2-3 minutes more, until bottom is golden brown. Transfer to baking sheet. Wipe pan out and repeat with remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons oil and 3 slices of bread.
4. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 5 minutes.
5. Serve 2 slices per serving topped with the allspice butter and pomegranate maple syrup. Garnish with pomegranate seeds.

For the Allspice Butter

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1. In a small bowl, combine the butter, allspice, maple syrup, and salt. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.

• 1 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 cup pomegranate syrup, purchased or homemade (recipe follows)

1. Combine the two syrups, Heat over low heat.

• 4 cups pomegranate juice
• 2-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. In a saucepan, combine the pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high and allow to cook for 20-25 minutes, until the consistency of syrup.
2. Remove from heat and cool. Store covered in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks.

The copyright of the article Pumpkin French Toast & Pomegranate Maple Syrup in Recipes is owned by Patricia Daley. Permission to republish Pumpkin French Toast & Pomegranate Maple Syrup in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Pumpkin French Toast

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