‘Tis the season for gingerbread houses and dressing up all types of breakfast. Breakfast is just better when there is icing and sprinkles involved! Last year, we hosted a pjs and pancakes party with some of the kids’ friends and I was hoping it would turn into an annual tradition, but we’re continuing to keep our distance from everyone outside of family, so we had to skip having friends over this year. But that didn’t stop us from throwing a little party of our own! The kids woke up on Sunday and we surprised them with a pancake, quiche and bacon breakfast. As much as they would have loved to see their friends, it was nice to spend special time together and jazz up our Sunday morning breakfast.
I was able to get some time to myself yesterday and focus on this gingerbread french toast recipe while my mom came over to help with the kids. Thank goodness!! I’m so grateful because there is absolutely no way I would have been able to do it with all three kids needing my attention. I was getting pretty picky with the icing and coordinating the sprinkles.
Even though I took the time to decorate, I still think my decorating skills need some serious work, but this is a kid-friendly recipe, so I can just act like I was trying to make it look like Peyton put it together, right? Ha! Maybe next year my decorating skills will improve.
If you end up making this recipe, don’t be like me and stress over it looking nice (in my defense, I really just wanted them to look somewhat nice for pictures). Cut some rectangles, triangles and squares out for your kids, give them a piping bag or butter knife for icing and let them do all the fun decorating. While I was perfecting my little homes, the kids had fun making their own. That’s what it’s all about!!
Don’t forget to tag your photos with #marinamakeseats!
Gingerbread House French Toast
Serves 4
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup of brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon of gingerbread spice
- Salt
- Loaf of thickly sliced brioche bread
- 1-2 tablespoons of butter
- Cinnamon
- Sprinkles
Gingerbread Frosting (slightly adapted from The Food Network)
- 1 egg white
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar. Add the heavy cream, gingerbread spice and a pinch of salt and whisk until completely combined. Set aside and heat a frying pan or skillet over medium heat and coat it with butter (amount will vary based on the size of your pan). Once the pan is warm, soak each piece of bread in the egg mixture on both sides and place in the pan or skillet. Sprinkle with cinnamon and flip with a spatula after 2-4 minutes, or until browned. Flip and repeat with the other side. Repeat with the other slices, soaking and then cooking. Set each piece on a baking sheet and place the french toast in the oven for five minutes to harden slightly. Remove from the oven and let the french toast cool.
While the french toast is cooling, make the icing. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg white with a whisk or hand mixer until it becomes frothy. Add the vanilla extract and powdered sugar and continue whisking for an additional 2-3 minutes or until the icing is stiff and glossy.
Add the icing to a piping bag or spread it on with a butter knife. Pipe or spread the icing on the french toast and quickly top with sprinkles.
Marina Makes 