Tyler Florence's Croissant French Toast with Soft Caramel Apples-Famous Fridays
Happy Friday! It's going to be a fun day around here! If eating fancy-ish, usually-only-getable-in-a-restaurant-but-in-this-case-entirely-doable-at-home-kind-of-food gives you a thrill, then you are going to love not only this amazing breakfast treat, but also my Famous Friday honoree for the day, Tyler Florence. Let the weekend begin!
Food Network devotees probably know all about Tyler--he's been around the network for years, hosting such popular shows as Food 911, How To Boil Water, Tyler's Ultimate and currently The Great Food Truck Race. I've gotta admit, I don't think I've ever watched any of his shows, but I've loved his cookbooks and recipes for a long time and the way he takes the mystery out of intricate restaurant cooking for the home chef. He's got a down to earth unpretentious style that's really appealing. Plus, he's kinda cute, right?
This amazing Croissant French Toast with Soft Caramel Apples is a perfect example of a restaurant quality breakfast that you can make in the comfort of your own home in about half an hour and for a lot less money. It looks elaborate and tastes amazing and special, but is really very easy to make. Other than making the caramel apple mixture which is really nothing more than letting sugar and butter cook together and stirring apples and maple syrup into it, you're basically just making ordinary french toast but using flaky buttery croissants! YUM!!!
Every bite is full of caramelized, cinnamon-y apples and soft, buttery, slightly eggy croissant that has a bit of crunch from the fried exterior. A truly decadent breakfast treat!
My husband (who may just possibly be the slowest eater known to man, although he would argue that the rest of us are just disgustingly fast piggies) gobbled down two of these babies in record time--he was probably afraid, and rightfully so, that someone was going to swoop in and polish these off before he got a chance to take a bite! And that's with both of our boys away at college--he's going to have to do some serious speed-eating training in order to keep up with them when they come home!
Now that I've enticed you with this french toast, I'm sure you're going to want to experiment with some of Tyler's other offerings and he's written 11 books to date, so you will have no shortage to choose from! Pick up a copy of one and spend some time with Tyler in the kitchen this weekend. I promise you won't regret it!! Have a good one!
Tyler Florence's Croissant French Toast with Soft Caramel Apples-Famous Fridays
Serves 4 (or two very hungry people)
Prep Time: 30 minutes, start to finish--only about 15 is hands-on
Ingredients
For the Batter and Croissants
3 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of cinnamon
For the Caramel Apples
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch thick wedges
1/2 cup maple syrup
For the French Toast
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large croissants, split in half lengthwise
Confectioners' sugar to sprinkle on at end
The Recipe
1. To make the Batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together well the eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Cover and refrigerate.
2. To make the Caramel Apples: Place the sugar in a large, dry skillet and turn the heat to medium-low. Using a wooden spoon, stir constantly until the sugar melts and begins to caramelize. This should take about 5 minutes. DON'T WALK AWAY! Continuing to stir, add the butter. The mixture should foam up a bit. Once the mixture looks like amber caramel, add the apples and gently stir them in. Don't worry if the sugar starts to seize up and harden--this is because the apples are cooler than the sugar mixture. Just keep stirring, as the apples warm up the caramel will melt again and become liquid. Once that happens, stir in the maple syrup and let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes, until the apples are soft enough to pierce easily with a fork but not mushy. Turn the heat down really low and let them stay warm while you make the french toast.
3. To make the French Toast: Remove the batter from the fridge. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Unless you have an enormous pan, you can probably only fit two split croissants at a time. Working quickly, dip the croissant into the batter, not allowing it to sit in there or it will fall apart, and lay the croissant, cut side down, into the hot skillet. Cook for 4-5 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom and then flip them over and cook for a few more minutes until that side is browned as well. Repeat with the rest of the croissants.
4. To assemble: Place the bottom half of the croissant on a plate. Top with some of the apple mixture. Cover with the top half of the croissant and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately.
Note: Recipe adapted from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen.
