Coconut Almond French Toast Casserole Food

COCONUT-ALMOND FRENCH TOAST CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish.
• For the French toast: Lay the bread slices in one layer (it's OK if they overlap a little) on a baking sheet. Bake the slices (to dry them out a little) for 6 minutes, then flip and bake for 6 minutes more. Set aside to cool.
• Whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, granulated sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Dunk each bread slice in the egg mixture to coat thoroughly and shingle the slices in the buttered casserole dish. Pour any remaining egg mixture over the bread. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
• For the coconut-almond crust: Put 1/2 cup of the coconut, 1/3 cup of the almonds, granulated sugar, flour and salt in a food processor and process until very fine. Add the butter, egg and egg yolk and process well to form a smooth paste.
• To assemble the casserole: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread the coconut-almond mixture evenly over the soaked bread slices. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup sliced almonds and 3 tablespoons coconut and bake until puffed and lightly golden and the custard is set (the center of the casserole will no longer jiggle when shaken), 45 to 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 1 hour before serving, or serve at room temperature.
• Serve with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and berries if using.

COCONUT ALMOND FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Put Shredded coconut and almonds into a dinner plate, Mix them up a bit, shake the plate lightly to spread them evenly across the plate then sprinkle the sugar on top. Set near the stove.
• Break Eggs into shallow pan (e.g. a glass pie plate). Break each of the yolks with a fork and pour ~1/4 tsp vanilla extract into each yolk. Do the same for the almond extract and mix them up. Pour in the milk and beat it all up until it's nicely combined.
• Heat 1 tbsp oil in skillet over medium heat until it ripples.
• Dredge a slice of bread in the egg mixture, then in the coconut mixture and add it to the oil in the pan. Flip when bottom is nicely browned, and brown the other side. Remove to Serving plate and dust with confectioners sugar (a small sieve works well for this). Repeat with second 2 slices of bread.
• Serve with warm maple syrup, fresh squeezed guava, and some mocha java.