Pecan Rum French Toast Cooks Illustrated Food

BUTTER PECAN FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat and melt 2 tablespoons of the butter.
• In a large bowl, combine the milk, eggs, 1/4 cup of the brown sugar, the cinnamon, and vanilla. Whisk together until everything's combined and smooth.
• One by one, dunk the slices of bread into the egg mixture and place them on the buttery skillet.
• Fit as many slices in the skillet as you can, cooking them until golden on the first side, about 2 1/2 minutes. Flip to cook them on the other side for about 2 minutes. Remove them to a plate. Add 2 tablespoons of the butter to the skillet and repeat with the rest of the bread slices until they're all cooked.
• To the same skillet, add the remaining 4 tablespoons butter, the remaining 1 cup of brown sugar, and the salt. Stir and cook over medium heat until the butter and sugar are melted and bubbling, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat completely, pour in the bourbon and stir, allowing the fumes to dissipate for about 1 minute. Turn the stove on medium heat and continue to stir and cook for another minute, or until the mixture is starting to thicken. Add the pecans, stir to combine. Keep cooking the sauce, stirring constantly, until the mixture is deep golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Be careful not to cook it too long as it will become chewy, you want a nice caramelly sauce. Turn off the heat.
• Serve two pieces of French toast with a little butter. Sift over some powdered sugar.
• Spoon on a generous amount of the sauce then top with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.

PRALINE PECAN FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Whisk eggs, half-and-half, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl until mixture is smooth and brown sugar has dissolved. Pour 1 cup egg mixture into prepared baking dish. Arrange slices of French bread into baking dish and pour remaining egg mixture evenly over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat; mix 3/4 cup brown sugar and maple syrup into butter, stirring until smooth. Bring syrup to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir pecans into syrup. Spoon pecan praline syrup evenly over French toast casserole.
• Bake casserole in the preheated oven until set and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

BAKED FRENCH TOAST WITH PECAN CRUMBLE

Steps:

• French Toast
• Spread out bread on a rimmed baking sheet; let stand overnight.
• Butter a 13x9" baking dish. Cut bread so slices are similar in size. Arrange, overlapping, in rows in prepared dish.
• Whisk eggs, egg yolks, cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Pour over bread, pressing bread to help it soak up custard. Cover and chill at least 2 hours.
• Pecan Crumble and Assembly
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Pulse pecans, butter, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor until Pecans are coarsely chopped. Scatter pecan crumble over soaked bread.
• Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet and cover tightly with foil. Bake until warmed through (a knife inserted into the center should feel warm to the touch), 25-30 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake until deeply browned, 35-40 minutes longer. Let cool slightly before serving with fresh berries.

BUTTERED-PECAN FRENCH TOAST WITH BOURBON MAPLE SYRUP

Steps:

• For the buttered pecans:
• Place a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
• Place the pecan pieces on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 10 to 14 minutes, until fragrant and golden brown. Remove from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 200°F.
• In a medium sauté pan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the sugar and salt. Add the pecans and cook, stirring, for 3 to 4 minutes, until the butter is lightly browned. Remove the pan from the heat.
• For the french toast:
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.
• In a small saucepan set over medium heat, warm the heavy cream for about 3 minutes, until just steaming and remove from the heat.
• In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add the sugar mixture to the cream and stir just until the sugar is dissolved. Add the cream mixture to the egg and milk mixture. Stir in the vanilla.
• Working with one slice of bread at a time, put a slice into the egg mixture and let it soak for about 15 seconds on each side. Place on a rimmed baking sheet to rest while all the bread is dipped and the pan is heated.
• In a medium nonstick skillet or griddle pan set over medium heat, melt the clarified butter. Place 2 or 3 bread slices into the pan and cook for about 2 minutes per side, until golden brown on each side. Add a bit more butter to the pan after you flip the bread, if needed. Transfer to a heatproof plate or rimmed baking sheet with a wire cooling rack set inside. Cover with a kitchen towel and keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest of the toast. Repeat the cooking process with the remaining bread.
• For the bourbon maple syrup:
• In a small saucepan set over low heat, gently stir together the maple syrup, bourbon, and vanilla until just warmed and well combined.
• To serve, place 2 slices of French toast on each plate. Generously sprinkle with buttered pecans, drizzle with syrup, and dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately.

PECAN RUM FRENCH TOAST (COOK'S ILLUSTRATED)

Steps:

• Process 1/2 cup pecans, 1 tablespoon light brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in food processor until coarsely ground, 12 to 15 one-second pulses (you should have about 1/2 cup crumbs).
• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Place bread on wire rack set in rimmed baking sheet. Bake bread until almost dry throughout (center should remain slightly moist), about 16 minutes, flipping slices halfway through cooking. Remove bread from rack and let cool 5 minutes. Return baking sheet with wire rack to oven and reduce temperature to 200 degrees.
• Whisk milk, yolks, sugar, cinnamon, 2 tablespoons melted butter, salt, vanilla, and rum in large bowl until well blended. Transfer mixture to 13- by 9-inch baking pan.
• Soak bread in milk mixture until saturated but not falling apart, 20 seconds per side. Using firm slotted spatula, pick up bread slice and allow excess milk mixture to drip off; repeat with remaining slices. Place soaked bread on another baking sheet or platter. Sprinkle each slice of soaked bread with 1 tablespoon nut mixture.
• Heat ½ tablespoon butter in 12-inch skillet over medium-low heat. When foaming subsides, use slotted spatula to transfer 2 slices soaked bread to skillet-nut mixture side down-and cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes longer. (If toast is cooking too quickly, reduce temperature slightly.) Transfer to baking sheet in oven. Wipe out skillet with paper towels. Repeat cooking with remaining bread, 2 pieces at a time, adding ½ tablespoon of butter for each batch. Serve warm, passing maple syrup separately.