Spiced Apple & Cream French Toast
I dreamed up this gluten free Spiced Apple & Cream French Toast just as we were heading into apple season. French toast had been on my mind and I had recently made several batches of Overnight Stuffed French Toast which wet my whistle, so-to-speak and did not fill the void. I had a hankering for something a little different. Elevated. A breakfast dish, but not overly sweet.
The result is undeniably different, in a really good way. You’ll taste sweet, tart, salty, creamy, warm spice and nutty flavors. There’s soft bread with tender apples and crunchy walnuts, and soft mascarpone cheese with hints of orange. Believe it or not, this isn’t difficult to make either!
Mascarpone Cheese
Is it really cheese? That is a question a lot of people ask. My take is that it is very similar to English clotted cream. It has similar texture, consistency and flavor. And I LOVE them both! More like butter than cheese, in my opinion. Especially since it melts into any oily consistency when heated. And it lends to working well with sweet and savory flavors, making it perfect for this dish. By combining it with fresh orange zest (just using a bowl & spoon), it adds tons of buttery, creamy, orange flavor without needing to be sweetened. Once mixed, store covered in the fridge until ready to eat.
The Spiced Apple Compote
To minimize the sweetness of the compote and emphasize the tartness, Granny Smith apples are my pick for this. They also maintain a tender structure through the cooking process and won’t turn into applesauce.
Peel, core and chop the apples into a small dice. Then heat a frying pan to medium heat and melt the butter. Add the chopped nuts, allowing them to brown lightly and the milk solids in the butter to begin to brown as well. Then add in the apples, stirring to get them coated in the butter and begin to soften some. Sprinkle with the dry spices and stir again to coat everything evenly. Then add in the lemon juice and allow it to reduce almost completely. Finally add in the maple syrup. Keep the temp on the burner on the low side and let it continue to reduce and the flavors to develop while you cook the French toast. When most of the liquid has been absorbed, turn off the heat.
The French Toast
I use Canyon Bakehouse Heritage Style gluten free sandwich bread because the flavor and texture are great and it comes in full-sized slices! It is so nice to be able to eat a normal sized portion of something that is gluten free, isn’t it?
Combine the eggs, milk and vanilla in a shallow dish that’s big enough to dip the bread into. Then dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture, flipping it over to ensure both sides are soaked well. Continue with this until all of the bread has been prepped.
Fry the egg soaked bread in a greased griddle or frying pan until browned on each side. If working in batches, you can keep the cooked French toast warm on a baking sheet in a 200 degree oven until you are ready to eat.
And Serve the Spiced Apple & Cream French Toast!
I like to serve this family style by layering the French toast with a dollop of orange mascarpone between the slices, then spoon the spiced apple compote over the top of the whole thing. Finish it with a drizzle of pure maple syrup. Feel free to keep the components separate if you’d like though.
More Gluten Free Breakfast Delights
- Coffee Cake
- Truffle Spinach Quiche
- Vanilla Crunch French Toast
- Ham & Cheese Quiche with Hash Brown Crust
- English Scones
- Lemon Poppy Seed Scones
- Make Ahead Banana Bread Oatmeal
- Carrot Cake Make Ahead Oatmeal
- Make Ahead Sausage & Egg Souffle
Spiced Apple & Cream French Toast
Ingredients
French Toast:
- 8 slices gluten free sandwich bread (I like Canyon Bakehouse Heritage full-size loaves)
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Orange Cream:
- 8 oz mascarpone cheese
- 1 tbsp orange zest (fresh from 1 orange)
Spiced Apple Compote:
- 1 large granny smith apple (peeled, cored & 1/2" dice)
- ¼ cup walnuts (unsalted, unroasted, roughly chopped)
- 3 tbsp butter
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp cardamom
- ⅛ tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup (plus more for serving)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the mascarpone and orange zest, stirring with a spoon. Cover and let chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Heat a frying pan to medium heat and melt the butter. Add the chopped nuts, allowing them to brown lightly and the milk solids in the butter to begin to brown as well.
- Then add in the apples, stirring to get them coated in the butter and begin to soften some. Sprinkle with the dry spices and stir again to coat everything evenly. Then add in the lemon juice and allow it to reduce almost completely.
- Finally add in the maple syrup. Keep the temp on the low side and let it continue to reduce and the flavors to develop while you cook the French toast. When most of the liquid has been absorbed, turn off the heat.
- Combine the eggs, milk and vanilla in a shallow dish that’s big enough to dip the bread into. Then dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture, flipping it over to ensure both sides are soaked well. Continue with this until all of the bread has been prepped.
- Heat a griddle or frying pan and coat with butter or a neutral oil. Fry each slice of bread on both sides until browned. If working in batches, you can keep the cooked French toast warm on a baking sheet in a 200 degree oven until you are ready to eat.
- Serve the French toast with a dollop of orange mascarpone cheese and a few spoonfuls of spiced apple compote.
