Tiramisu French Toast
This decadent French toast has all the components of delicious tiramisu, but made into an easy breakfast form! Chocolate, espresso, Kahlua, mascarpone whipped cream – for breakfast?! Yep you heard me right! If you love tiramisu, you’re sure to love this indulgent version of French Toast. It features a coffee and Kahlua spiked custard, luxurious mascarpone whipped cream, as well as an easy, but rich, dark chocolate ganache to top it all off! Not your every day breakfast, but definitely a wow-worthy treat!
French Toast Basics
Before I start with the tiramisu version of French toast, I thought I would just add a little reminder in, from my Perfect Buttermilk French Toast recipe, about some French toast basics!
- Use stale bread. stale bread absorbs the custard much better, without leaving the bread over-moist and soggy. Fresh bread WILL turnout soggy and will likely fall apart as well. The best way to get stale bread is to cut it into slices the night before, and leave it out on the counter, uncovered, for at least 8 hours. If you forgot to leave it out the night before, simply cut the loaf into slices and place into the oven at 250°F for around 20-25 minutes.
- Soak the slices for 30-40 seconds per side (I do 30 for ¾” and 40 for 1”). Then place onto a wire rack, allowing them to rest for an additional 5 minutes. This is crucial to excellent tiramisu French toast. By allowing the slices to rest, it allows the custard to soak into the center, leaving a uniformly soaked slice.
Dutch Press Cocoa
This recipe calls for dutch press cocoa in the batter for a reason! Dutch press cocoa is created by alkalizing regular cocoa powder to bring it up to a pH of 7. This process sort of strips the acidic properties out of the cocoa powder, leaving it with a much more mild, less astringent taste. By removing the astringency, the flavor of chocolate is able to shine through more, creating the illusion that it tastes more chocolatey! Definitely what we want in this recipe!
Mascarpone-Whip Cream
Have you ever found that you have put whip cream onto something, just to have it melt within a minute into a sticky, liquidy mess. Whip cream gets its shape and structure from the air that is incorporated into it. However, this air easily escapes, leaving the whip cream prone to melting, especially in the presence of any sort of heat! So what is the solution, you may ask? Well, we need to stabilize it! Enter: Mascarpone! Not only is mascarpone traditional to tiramisu, it also acts as an excellent stabilizer to whip cream. It’s creamy texture and neutral flavor profile, do a lot to benefits the whipped cream, without changing it too overtly. What we are left with is whip cream that is even creamier, tastes like whip cream, and doesn’t melt instantly!
Chocolate Ganache
I have provided a recipe for chocolate ganache, however, if you want to use store bought chocolate sauce that is fine as well! Making the ganache, however, is actually quite simple. You basically heat up cream to a simmer, remove it from the heat and add in the chopped chocolate. You then allow the chopped chocolate to sit in the hot cream, undisturbed, for a few minutes. Then after a quick stir, BAM – you have chocolate ganache! It is important to note that you need to ensure that the chocolate ganache has cooled down to almost rom temperature before you use it! The reasoning for this is that if you pour the hot ganache over the mascarpone-whip cream it will cause it to melt. Although the mascarpone stabilizes the whip cream, heat of that caliber will definitely melt the whip cream, as well as loosen the mascarpone too. Therefore, after making the ganache, place it into a separate container or bowl, and place it into the fridge for a bit, while you complete the other steps. Lastly, be careful with how much ganache you use per plate. The flavor of dark chocolate, and therefore the ganache, can be really overpowering if too much is used!
Love Tiramisu? Be sure to check out my No-Bake Tiramisu Recipe
Get the Recipe: Tiramisu French Toast
Ingredients
Tiramisu French Toast
- 1 Loaf Stale French Bread, cut into ¾”-1” slices
- 1/2 cup Espresso or Strongly Brewed Coffee
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Half & Half, cold
- 1 tbsp Kahlua, or other coffee liqueur
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- Pinch of Salt
- 6 Large Eggs, at room temperature
- 1 tsp Dutch Press Cocoa
- 1 tbsp Half & Half, Milk, or Water (any liquid)
Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- 1 cup Heavy Cream, cold
- ¼ cup Confectioners Sugar
- ½ tsp Vanilla
- 6 oz (170g) Mascarpone, cold
- 1 tbsp Kahlua (optional)
Chocolate Ganache
- 2 oz (50g) Quality Dark Chocolate, chopped
- 1/3 cup Heavy Cream
- 1/2 tbsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
Tiramisu French Toast
- In a large bowl, add the espresso and sugar together and stir until all of the sugar has dissolved. Add the cold half & half, Kahlua, vanilla, and salt, stirring to combine. Then add in the eggs, whisking until well combined and smooth. In a separate small glass or bowl, add the cocoa powder and 1 tbsp half & half/ milk / water, and whisk well until a smooth paste has formed, and no chunks or dry patches remain. Add the cocoa paste to the other ingredients in the large bowl, and whisk well to combine. Transfer to a large baking dish (about (9”x13”) to soak the bread in.
- Prepare a baking sheet by placing a wire cooling rack over top. Place bread slices into custard batter, soak for 30-40 seconds per side. Place soaked bread slices onto the wire rack that is over top of a baking sheet. Allow bread to rest on racks for around 5 minutes, while you preheat your pan.
- Preheat a large frying pan. When hot, add ½ tbsp of butter and ½ tbsp of oil. When butter has melted and bubbles have dissipated, add bread slices (do not overcrowd the pan). Cook about 3 minutes per side, or until golden brown.
- Assemble French Toast by adding Mascarpone Whip Cream, and drizzling with Chocolate Ganache.
Mascarpone Whipped Cream
- Add heavy cream, confectioners sugar, vanilla, and Kahlua (if using), to a stand mixer (fitted with the whip attachment) or a large bowl. Whip the cream with stand mixer or hand mixer until stiff peaks have formed. Add in the mascarpone, and beat until well combined, but do not over-whip.
Chocolate Ganache
- In a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, add heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and add in sugar and vanilla, stir to combine. Then add chopped chocolate to the hot heavy cream, and allow it to sit for 5 minutes (do not stir!). After 5 minutes has passed, use a whisk or spoon to stir the chocolate with the heavy cream. The chocolate should be melted at this point, and should mix with the heavy cream easily. Set aside to cool to almost room temperature.
This was great, my husband and children loved it
I’m glad you all enjoyed it! ☺️
I have used this recipe numerous times this year and it’s always been a hit. Thank you for this gem.
We love this. Haven’t made the chocolate ganache because it is already very rich. The cocoa powder (Dutch if you can) and Kahlua make this.