Cherry Cheesecake French Toast
Makes approx. 5 Servings
Ingredients
Fruit:
3 Cups, Fresh Cherries, chopped
1/4 Cup, Sugar
1 Cup, Warm Water
Cheesecake Filling:
1 8oz., Block of Cream Cheese, softened
2 Tablespoons, Ricotta Cheese
2 Teaspoons, Sour Cream
1 Teaspoon, Pure Vanilla Extract
3 Teaspoons, Cream
4 Tablespoons, Confectioner’s Sugar
French Toast:
1 Loaf, French, Italian or Sour Dough Bread, cut into thick slices
8 Eggs,
1/2 Cup, Cream
1 Teaspoon, Pure Vanilla Extract
2 Teaspoons, Sugar
1 Teaspoon, Ground Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon, Ground Nutmeg
4 Tablespoons, Butter, to grease pan
Confectioner’s Sugar, to garnish French Toast
Maple Syrup
Instructions
Turn oven to 200 Degrees. Place a baking sheet with a rack on it into the oven.
Cut the Cherries into quarters. You can also leave some cherries whole to garnish the plates with. Place all the cherries into a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine warm water with the sugar and stir until all the sugar dissolves. Pour the sugar water over the cherries and stir to coat the fruit. Make sure the fruit is covered with the liquid. Set aside.
Cheesecake Filling: in a standing mixer or medium size mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, Ricotta cheese, sour cream, vanilla, cream and confectioner’s sugar. Using a whisk attachment, beat the ingredients until it gets thick and creamy. Taste the filling and adjust if necessary. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag (using any tip you want) and place in the fridge until ready to use.
Slice the bread into thick slices, set aside.
Make the Batter for French Toast: In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Slowly add spices to the egg mixture and whisk to combine all ingredients.
Cook the French Toast: Heat a large cast iron skillet or griddle on the stove over medium-low heat. Once hot, add about 1 tablespoon of butter to coat the entire pan. Dip a piece of the bread into the batter mixture, letting it soak up the liquid. Turn the bread over a few times to make sure it is completely coated on all sides & the bread has a chance to absorb the liquid. Drip off any excess egg mixture, sprinkle a little more nutmeg onto the side of bread that will face down in the pan. Place the bread into the pan (nutmeg side down). Sprinkle the top of bread with a little more nutmeg and cook for approx. 3 minutes, until it starts to get golden in color. Flip the french toast over and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Transfer the French Toast to the baking sheet in the oven to keep warm. Repeat until all French Toast is cooked.
Filling the French Toast
Fill & Plate the French Toast: Remove the piping back out of the fridge (with the Cheesecake mixture in it). Place 1 piece of French Toast onto the plate. Pipe the cheesecake around the edges of the bread. Fill the center with your Cherries (without the juice). Pipe a small amount of cheesecake filling onto the small end of the French Toast (along the edge), place it on top of the other piece of French Toast (with the Cheesecake filling facing down); this will help them to stay together. Sprinkle some confectioner’s sugar on top and place a few of the whole cherries around the plate if you like.
Serve with a side of syrup but you may not need it. The French Toast is sweet on its own with the Cherries, Cheesecake filling and Confectioner’s sugar.
Mangia! Enjoy!
Notes:
Fruit: We love fresh Cherries. This time a year you can easily find sweet cherries in the supermarket. If you do not care for Cherries, feel free to substitute with any fruit that you like. There are many berries to choose from in the summer months like, Strawberries, Blueberries or even Blackberries. You could also do a combination of the these if you like.
Pastry Tips
Piping Bag with Tip: if you do have a piping bag with tips, you can also use a plastic baggie. Just fill the bag with your filling and store in the fridge until ready to use. Once you are ready to use, cut the tip off at the bottom of your bag (on one of the corners cutting it on an angle). Then you can pipe the filling onto the French Toast. You can do that with or without a tip in the bag. The tip is the little metal piece that fits into the piping bag. They come in all different shapes/sizes to give you different looks when you pipe your filling (pictured above).