Fake it and bake it - Oven Baked French Toast

When it comes to being a good mama in the kitchen (I've said it before) I live my life chasing the 1950s housewife ideal. I guess these days its more Mrs Flax in Mermaids and less Betty Draper in Mad Men...but then again maybe Betty Draper isn't someone to aspire to?  I mean her relationship with her daughter was pretty shitty and she smoked a lot...her love of a good cocktail is something I can most definitely get behind though. Then again, that description would fit Mrs Flax as snug as one of her wiggle skirts so I guess this means to be a good 1950s mama you basically needed to be able to balance looking fabulous standing next to the kitchen sink, balancing a cigarette in one hand and a dirty martini in the other.  As aspirations go, I got this.

When you watch 1950s era movies and tv shows (or in fact ANY American tv featuring a family) it's a given that there'll be a scene where the family are having a good ole all American Sunday brunch, be it pancakes, waffles or French toast.  A fry up it ain't.  When I lived in the US, Sunday's meant the Cromwell Diner and eggs benedict.  These days Sunday mornings are usually about 1 of 2 things depending on if Pose is with me.  If no Pose, its for chilling out and living every parent's fantasy - having a lie in (sorryI'mnotsorry there have to be SOME perks to divorce) - if yes Pose, then its still about chilling but also having quality time together.  So when I asked her what she wanted for breakfast a few Sundays ago and she produced a cookery book I got free with my pizza stone (which she claims is hers and lives in her play kitchen) I couldn't really say no.  I flicked through the book and landed on a recipe for oven baked French toast which peaked my interest, so naturally I put the cook book down, went into the kitchen and improvised.

Recipe - Oven Baked French Toast from my own head

Ingredients
1 egg
Good glug of milk (lets say 100ml)
1tbs caster sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
1 vanilla pod (if you have one otherwise no biggie)
Dash of vanilla essence
Sliced white bread (or whatever you have)

Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C and grease an ovenproof dish.
2. Put all the ingredients (except the bread and the vanilla pod) in a bowl and if you are as fabulous as me and happen to have vanilla pods just lying around (I'm SO Nigella these days, just without all the coke) put a large slash lengthwise and scrape all the seeds into the bowl.  Whisk vigorously.
3. When it comes to the bread prep its pretty much up to you.  I used a large round cookie cutter and cut 4 circles of bread.  Take the bread and dip it in the egg mixture.  Arrange evenly spaced in the dish and pour over the rest of the mixture.
4. Pop in the oven and bake until golden, which is somewhere between 15-20mins.

As for serving go with whatever takes your fancy.  I would suggest maple syrup personally but my daughter is weird when it comes to maple syrup and refuses to eat it.  Seriously, she had a melt down when we were in Canada last week because I asked her to try the local maple syrup.  I'm talking FULL BLOWN TANTRUM.  I'm such a horrible mother.

Anyway, Pose opted for boltella* and strawberries, and I went with strawberries, blueberries a bit of greek yoghurt and yes, a drizzle of MAPLE SYRUP FOR ME.  Because, you know, I'm not a little weirdo *eyeroll* 

Well, most of the time.

Ciao for now...where's the amaretto? I've got washing up to do!

*Nutella