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I just love a leisurely brunch on the weekend, don’t you?
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And one of my favorite recipes that has already been published Raspberry and Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast (click here for the recipe), is a beloved recipe that I wanted to tweak to try something new to serve our guests that we are hosting this weekend.
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We have a group of NASCAR fanatics in my family.
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And these race fans make an ANNUAL pilgrimage to DARLINGTON, S.C. for one of the races in the series. From Tennessee, two men and their wives drive down to stay with us for the weekend. And then in the dark wee hours of the morning, the guys drive over (about 3 hours from here) to the race and the gals stay back here with me on the acreage and do something . . . well,
gal-ish and totally unrelated to a car race! Now mind you, if you’re a female that loves car racing, than go for it . . . I just like my horsepower in a real ‘live’ horse and not under a hood like my car-crazed husband where he prefers horsepower to be located!
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We understand and respect our differences about sources of horsepower! To each his/her own, right? Whatever tickles one’s pickle is just fine with me!
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After we each do our own thing, there IS ONE THING that BOTH OF US want to make sure of . . . and that is to have a big brunch ready for our guests after they’ve driven through the night after the race to return to our farm and then to have a full tummy for their return trip back to Tennessee.
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Here’s what my daughter and I prepared this year: Raspberry and Lemon Curd Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast!
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This is a new recipe . . . an experiment, and it was (humbly stated) absolutely, amazingly, over-the-top DELICIOUS! My daughter said, “Mom this was worth breaking my resolution of giving up sugar during Lent”. My son-in-law who doesn’t like sweet food in the morning loved it and my husband had 2 huge servings. It’s so easy too: prepare it the night before and fry them in the morning!
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And now here’s my new recipe for you, I hope that you enjoy it:
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Raspberry and Lemon-Curd Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Challah or Brioche bread, cut into 2" slices including the crust
- Batter for Dipping The French Toast
- 6 jumbo eggs
- 1 cup half and half (or heavy cream if you want to take it to a new level!)
- 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- 1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
- pinch of freshly ground sea salt
- Filling For The French Toast
- 8 oz. Italian mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 8-oz. jar of lemon-curd
- zest of 1 lemon
- 6 Tbsp. powdered sugar
- 2 cups fresh raspberries
- For frying & baking
- 2 Tbsp. high quality butter
- Garnish
- Lots of fresh raspberries
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Serve with
- Maple syrup
Instructions
Prepare the Filling
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mascarpone cheese, lemon curd, lemon zest, powdered powdered sugar and vanilla, combining nicely until smooth.
- Set aside to stuff the bread.
Stuff the Bread Slices
- Cut the bread into into 2" generously thick slices.
- Spread mascarpone-lemon curd mixture on top of one layer of bread slices up to about ¼" from the edge of the bread slices to prevent filling from overflowing.
- Place a generous amount of fresh whole raspberries all over each bread slice.
- Dollop any remaining mascarpone lemon-curd mixture on top of the raspberries.
- Top the spread bread slices with the other slice of bread.
Prepare the Batter
- In a medium bowl, with an immersion blender, mix together the eggs, half and half, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and pinch of salt.
- Baking
- Lay the stuffed bread slices in a single layer in a large baking pan.
- Pour the batter all over the stuffed bread slices.
- Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.
- In the morning or before brunch is served pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove the batter-soaked stuffed toast from the batter.
- Melt a generous amount of high-quality butter in a heavy frying pan (such as cast iron).
- Place the battered, stuffed bread slices into the hot butter and cook until a nice golden-brown color appears.
- Place the prepared french toast in an uncovered baking dish in the heated oven and bake for 1/2 hour.
- Dust with powdered sugar.
- Garnish with raspberries.
- Serve immediately out of the oven with warm maple syrup
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I love the sound of this!!! Mascarpone and lemon curd together sound amazing!
Thank you so much Manu! Everythig that prepare is always very special too!
Roz
Oh, my gosh, Roz! I think this is the BEST sounding French toast recipe!!! Perfect for Easter!!!
I never thought about that Liz, but I agree! Super easy too! I’ll be right over to see what delicious dish you made!!
What a fantastic brunch recipe!! Can’t wait to try this one when my older two come home from college.
This sounds amazing!
Yeah, the whole car race thing? I don’t get it…”turn left! turn left! turn left!”
I love lemon curd and with raspberries, amazing! This is a great french toast!!
When I think of Darlington County it immediately brings me back to the Bruce Springsteen song.
I would drive through the night to sit at your table and eat your divine raspberry adn lemon curd, mascarpone stuffed french toast! Damn, that looks good. Brunch rocks at your house.
Velva
WOW!
This might be one of the best sounding French toasts recipes EVER! I love lemon curd and can’t wait to try this out!
Beautiful, love the raspberry and lemon together!!
Be still my heart! Lemon Curd + Mascarpone in French Toast. I’m DYING! MUST. MAKE!
Mmmm I would love to make this next Sunday for Brunch! It sounds sooooo good!
This sounds like the perfect stuffing for french toast! Love the lemon curd and raspberry combo!
Roz, you and I would be really good friends, I’m sure, since our brilliant minds came up with almost identical dishes this week! Your french toast looks amazing and I love that you used lemon curd, mascarpone and raspberries to stuff these babies. More is more, I always say 😉
Wow Nancy, how serendipitous is that? Yours looks outstanding!!!!!
Roz, what have you done now??? This looks incredible. Why can’t you be my neighbor??? 🙂 And I love that photo of it next to the sausage. Perfect plate of food for brunch if you ask me. 🙂
You had some seriously lucky guests to have enjoyed this wonderful french toast. Wow.
What a lovely way to spend a brunch. This looks fabulous, and I bet it tastes even better!
there’s a new yogurt flavor at our Starbucks – raspberry and lemon curd – and I’m totally addicted. So I’ve GOT to make your stuffed french toast!!!
This sounds amazing!
All I can say is “wow.” Seriously, what a luscious treat – forget breakfast – this is a terrific dessert.
Now that’s a French toast! It looks crazily comforting and delicious, Roz.
You had me at lemon curd. LOVELY!!
I absolutely love stuffed French toast – so decadent and wonderful for brunch. Yours sounds and looks wonderful!
it looks amazing! Absolutely beautiful and delicious. My mouth is watering. Never thought to combine raspberry with my french toast. genius
Thanks for another idea on how to use my lemon curd!
OMG, who wouldn’t love this French toast? It has to be amazing! Roz, its so funny, we have French Toast on our minds for the past 2 weeks, and just haven’t had the time to post one. But who cares, we love your version!
Hi Roz,
I came to visit just to say hi because of the sweet comment you left on my post about Abbie and I had to comment because I want this dish so bad; as in NOW. All my favorites rolled into one and perfect for a spring or Mother’s Day Brunch.
Take good care…Barb
A perfect pairing! Love both those fruits
oh so yummy the perfect combination of flavors my talented friend xo
What an amazing treat for your family and guests!