(Spanish French toast with an Italian truffle kiss)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 4
Theme: Breakfast / Dessert
Ingredients
4 Eggs
2 cups Milk
0.5 cups L’Oleologie Rioja Wine Vinegar
0.5 tsp Cinnamon powder
0.25 tsp Cloves powder
0.25 tsp Cocoa powder unsweetened
0.5 tsp Lemon Zest (grated)
4 Tblsp Sugar granulated
2 Tblsp Sugar Powdered
6 slices baguette (or 4 brioche or challah or sourdough) slices of uniform thickness ½ inch
1 Tblsp Spanish Oleologie EVOO
0.25 tsp salt
Drizzle Apiology Truffle Honey
1 Tbsp Butter (unsalted)
OPTIONAL GARNISH
4 Strawberries
3 oz Crème Fraiche (or low fat cream cheese if you can’t find crème fraiche)
4 oz Blue Cheese (Buy Cambozola, Gorgonzola Dolce or for something stronger – Valdeon)
Equipment
Whisk or fork
3 Bowls
Saucepan/Skillet (non-stick or ceramic)
Spatula
Sifter/Sieve
Cutting Board
Knife
Measuring spoons (teaspoon, tablespoon, cup)
Directions
STEP 1 – Prep
Bowl 1 – Whisk together all of the milk, salt, Oleologie Rioja wine vinegar, lemon zest and granulated
sugar (not the powdered).
Bowl 2 – Whisk egg in a separate bowl
Bowl 3 – Mix powdered sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder and cinnamon
Optional – Cut bottom off strawberry (1/3 of an inch so sits flat), and top of strawberry off (so like a lid,
keep top). Using a small paring knife, hollow out strawberry (not piercing sides). In a separate
bowl, mix blue cheese and crème fraiche together. Fill the hollow strawberry, putting
strawberry “lid” back on. Set aside for garnish at end.
STEP 2
Add Oleologie Spanish olive oil to skillet and heat (around 350 F aka definitely not smoking) for a minute
or 2, then add the butter on top of the oil. If using a ceramic skillet then less oil might be
needed.
STEP 3
Dip sliced bread into Bowl 1 (milk mix), and then bowl 2 (egg), allowing any excess to drip off before
putting into the skillet on heat. Quickly fill the pain with dipped bread so they all cook at the
same time.
STEP 4
Put cooked toast onto a plate, and using a sieve gently sprinkle the sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, clove blend
over the Spanish toast. For the optional garnish place on top before serving. If the garnish rolls
off, you can make an incision with a knife into the bread for the strawberry to be pushed into
(for stability). Other options are to use a small dab of honey to “stick” the strawberry to the
plate, or just put the plate on the table and then put the strawberry on top.
STEP 5
Using the honey stick, drizzle the Oleologie truffle honey over the dish, starting with the strawberry
garnish if you have it (and if not starting in the center and working our way outward).
OPTIONAL DECORATION
Before you sprinkle the powdered sugar blend, you can first place a spoon and fork (crossing over each
other in an X shape) on top of the French toast. This is before you put the strawberry on top or drizzle
the truffle honey. Sprinkle the powdered sugar over the plate and toast, remove fork and knife (creating
the decorative silhoette), then garnish with strawberry and drizzle truffle honey over the strawberry and
rest of dish. This is quick and easy to do!
What’s different about this recipe?
= Using a vinegar made from Rioja wine
Vinegar has a pH of around 2 to 3, and wine is around 3.5. Using a vinegar made from Rioja wine means
that you are adding a bit more acidity to this recipe. A stronger acidic ingredient (sour) combined with a sweet truffle honey will create a stronger contrast aka even more robust flavor (versus using the less
acidic Rioja wine).
= Using a Strawberry Stuffed with Blue Cheese as a Garnish
Mixing some blue with crème fraiche and stuffing a strawberry means that when the truffle honey is
drizzled over it, the flavor of the blue combined with the honey will synergistically change. The result is
a striking but delicious flavor note with which to introduce your Spanish toast!
= Using Butter along with Olive Oil in Skillet
By heating this delicious Spanish olive oil in the skillet and then adding a dab of butter, you’re
“protecting” the butter. The reason for this is that butter has a relatively low burn point. But at the
same time you want a nice, brown exterior on your French toast which butter does really well! By
having butter float on top of the oil, it “raises” the burn point of the butter. This is because the heavier
proteins in the butter, which normally sink to the bottom and burn first. But now they’re floating on top
of the oil and have more time before burning. If you’re not sure when the butter on top of oil is done and ready for cooking, wait until your butter stops screaming (sizzling). When it goes quiet, then it’s put your drenched toast into the skillet.
