Baked herbed French toast with garlic mushrooms

This recipe was a little experiment. The question was: could French toast baked in the oven be just as delicious as when it is pan-fried in generous amount of butter? The answer: Yes! And, as an extra bonus, it is so much easier to cook in large batches for more-the-merrier gatherings. So from now on I will be baking my French toast!

Credit: Alan Benson

• serves

  4

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 125 ml (½ cup) milk
• 125 ml (½ cup) thickened cream
• ½ tsp dry mustard powder
• 2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leave parsley
• 2 tbsp finely snipped chives
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 x 2 cm-thick sliced sourdough or wood-fired bread
• 50 g finely shredded Parmesan, plus extra to sprinkle
• 60 g Persian feta, coarsely crumbled, to serve
• flat-leaf parsley leaves, to serve
• Tabasco sauce (optional), to serve

Garlic mushrooms

• 20 g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 600 g mixed mushrooms (such as portobello, mushroom caps and button)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated or crushed
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Standing time 10 minutes

Instructions

Preheat oven to 200ºC (180ºC fan-forced). Line an oven tray with non-stick baking paper

To make the baked herbed French toast, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, mustard powder and parsley in a large bowl. Season well with salt and pepper. Pour onto a tray, place the bread in the egg mixture and allow to soak for 5 minutes each side. Transfer to a wire rack over a tray and stand for 1 minute, allowing any excess egg mixture to drain away.

Place the bread slices on the lined oven tray and sprinkle with the parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.

Meanwhile, to make the garlic mushrooms, slice any of the larger mushrooms and mushroom flats. Halve larger button mushrooms and keep any small button mushrooms whole. Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until the butter is foaming. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute or until aromatic. Remove from heat and stir through the lemon juice.

To serve, place a slice of the baked herbed French toast on each serving plate and top with the garlic mushrooms, Persian feta and parsley leaves. Sprinkle with pepper and serve accompanied by the Tabasco sauce.

Baker’s tip

• This French toast is best served straight from the oven.

Anneka's mission is to connect home cooks with the magic of baking, and through this, with those they love. Read our interview with her or for hands-on baking classes and baking tips, visit her at BakeClub. Don't miss what's coming out of her oven via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Photography by Alan Benson. Styling by Sarah O’Brien. Food preparation by Kerrie Ray. Creative concept by Lou Fay.

For more recipes, view our online column, Bakeproof.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.