Puffed French Toast with Dark Chocolate Ganache

This french toast recipe was inspired by the challah french toast by Sava's in Ann Arbor. My sister had eaten it and insisted that it was the best french toast she had ever had and wanted to recreate it - which was surprising because she doesn't normally like french toast.

At the time, she thought that the secret to that french toast was the Zingerman's challah bread. While that may play a bit of a role, the secret to it is that it's actually deep fried. 

It's a typical french toast recipe, but frying in the oil allows it to puff up a little, hence the name puffed french toast. The french toast is then coated in cinnamon sugar to make it taste kind of like a churro. 

The final element of this upgraded french toast is the dark chocolate ganache. I would say that it's not worth eating these without the ganache, which completes the whole dish. The dark chocolate ganache adds richness to the french toast and also its bitterness balances out the sweetness of the french toast. Additionally, even if you don't like dark chocolate, the bitterness isn't overpowering, it's complimenting. 

Puffed French Toast with Chocolate Ganache

This indulgent french toast recipe is untraditional — but that's it's superpower. It's dunked in cinnamon sugar and topped with rich dark chocolate ganache to cut the sweetness. 

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

Yield: 10 half slices

Ingredients:

5 slices thick cut bread (brioche or challah are best)

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

canola oil, amount according to pan size

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

4 oz dark chocolate, chopped

assorted berries (optional, for garnish)

Instructions:

1. Cut each slice of bread in half to create triangle shaped slices.
2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, nutmeg, cinnamon (1/2 tsp), vanilla extract, and salt. 
3. Fill a pan with canola oil until the height of the canola oil is enough to cover the height of a slice of toast. Heat to approximately 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 
4. While the oil is heating, prep the cinnamon sugar. On a plate larger than the slices of bread, mix together the cinnamon and granulated sugar. 
5. Dunk each piece of bread in the batter, soaking on both sides. Fry the toast for approximately 45 seconds on each side, or until golden. Expect this puffed french toast to get a little more brown than normal french toast - that is a good thing. 
6. Remove toast from oil and remove excess oil by soaking and lightly patting toast with paper towel. 
7. Immediately after (without cooling), dunk toast in cinnamon sugar until fully coated. 
8. Plate and let cool. 
9. While cooling, make the chocolate ganache. This can also be done before if you're worried about the french toast getting cold, but it's a very quick to whip up. Start the ganache by heating the heavy cream in a small saucepan until it comes to a boil. 
10. Pour the heavy cream over the chopped dark chocolate. Let sit for about 30 seconds before stirring. Stir until smooth. 
11. Drizzle the chocolate ganache onto the french toast and garnish with berries (optional).