Stuffed Banana Berry French Toast

Level of Difficulty: Requires a bit of effort
Pots/Pans Used: 2! (4 if you make the sauce)

Ingredients

French Toast
1 1/2 cups soy milk
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
1 TBL sugar
1 loaf of day old bread (recipe recommends sourdough, I used French country loaf)
2-4 tsp Earth Balance margarine
1 pint strawberries, sliced
2 firm, ripened bananas, sliced
1 pint blackberries, blueberries or raspberries (your choice)
maple syrup, to serve
Powdered sugar, to serve

Strawberry Syrup (optional)
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/4 cup powdered sugar

This is the first recipe I've tried from Lauren Ulm's new cookbook, Vegan Yum Yum! This book is really great because it not only has awesome recipes, but it also displays a photo of each meal (which I love).

This recipe serves about five people so it's a really nice, quick idea if you're having friends over for breakfast. Yet it's easy enough that I would make it for myself one morning (If you do this, just remember to change the measurements accordingly). Also, I know the strawberry sauce is extra work but it's really simple and definitely worth the extra effort. But of course, plain old maple syrup would do the trick. I found that both drizzled over top is the best way. If you are making the strawberry sauce for a lot of people, I recommend doubling the recipe because it's really only enough for maybe three to four servings. As far as the bread goes, I bought a loaf of French Country from Whole Foods. The recipe has you slice your own bread so that you can create a little pocket to stuff berries inside. But honestly, if you wanted to buy an average, already sliced loaf, I say go for it. It will taste just the same.

French Toast- First, whisk soy milk, flour, vanilla, nutmeg, allspice and sugar together in an 8x8 (give or take) inch brownie pan (But any pan with high sides will do). You want to whisk until it appears frothy. If you're slicing your own bread, slice 1 inch slices. Then, slice each of those slices in half, about 3/4 of the way through (this is creating the pocket for the berries so you don't want to slice all the way down). Let the bread slices sit in the the batter for a few minutes on each side. While the bread is in the batter, you can heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Melt a tsp of margarine in the pan (when it bubbles, it's ready). I melted a tsp of margarine each time I fried a slice of french toast, but if your pan doesn't need it, then just do it the one time. Take a slice of bread out of the batter and stuff a few berries deep into the back of the pocket. You don't want to completely stuff it at this point, just stick a few berries in. If you put too many berries inside, they may fall out when you flip your french toast. Brown the bread on both sides in the skillet. Then transfer them to the serving plate. I did one slice at a time. When I was making this, I put the slices in the oven in a cake pan on very low heat (170 degrees) so that they would still be warm by the time my guests arrived. However, if you're making this for just yourself, you don't need to do that. Finally, fill and top with more berries. Then finish it off with some maple syrup and/or strawberry sauce and powdered sugar. Soooooooo good!

Strawberry Sauce- Put the cup of strawberries and 1/4 cup of powdered sugar in a blender or food processor. Then, transfer to a small saucepan and let it simmer. You could always make this ahead of time as well.