Pumpkin French toast

I had pumpkin overload French toast at a brunch place in Philly the other day and died. It was amazing. So I decided to recreate it at home! This one is layered with sweet cream cheese, creme anglaise (recipe in previous post), whipped cream and pecans.

Ingredients:

1 egg
4 tbsp condensed milk
4 tbsp pumpkin puree
1/2 cup milk
Dash of pumpkin spice seasoning or cinnamon and nutmeg
A few slices of bread (I prefer a thick Italian loaf or challah)

Mix the custard ingredients together. Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Place two slices of bread in the custard, flip and let soak for about  30 seconds. Melt butter into pan and place bread in and fry about a minute or two on each side until brown.

Layer with yummy things like cream cheese, whipped cream etc.

Creme anglaise

This is so easy but adds a delicious, rich touch to any dessert, ice cream, brownies, even waffles or French toast! I originally made this to go with my pumpkin French toast and loved it. It's very easy and takes just a few minutes to make.

Ingredients:

1 cup of heavy cream (or half and half)
1 vanilla bean pod or 1 tsp vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
3 tbsp sugar

Cut the vanilla bean in half and Scrape the beans out and add them and the empty pod to the cream. Heat the cream over medium low heat until it simmers, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, beat the yolks and sugar with an electric mixer until well blended and the yolks turn pale.

When the cream comes to a simmer, take it off the heat and whisk in a slow steady stream of cream into the eggs. Do this very slowly with small amounts or you'll end up with scrambled egg yolks. Once you've whisked in at least half the cream, slowly pour the egg and cream mixture back into the pot of cream and whisk. Turn the heat back to medium low and heat, stirring occasionally until it thickens. This will only take a couple minutes.

The flakiest pie crust EVER.

I've tried so many different pie crust recipes, and I was skeptical while trying this one, but it turned out to be the flakiest crust I have ever tried! EVER! and it's reasonably easy also. But the best part is that this recipe makes two pie crusts, so you can freeze one for later!

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of Crisco vegetable Shortening
3 cups All-purpose Flour
1 Egg
5 Tablespoons Cold Water
1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt

NOTE: make sure all the ingredients are cold, even the flour. It makes it easy to make and a flakier crust.

Cut the shortening into the flour until it resembles a coarse meal. I threw it into the food processor for a few seconds to make this part quicker and easier. Add the rest of the ingredients to the flour and mix until combined, but don't over mix. I would also advise not mixing with your hands because 1) it'll bring the temperature of the mixture up from the heat in your hands and 2) it'll just be a big mess.

Divide into two parts and transfer one into a zip lock. Flatten slightly and freeze for later. I found this dough to be a little on the soft, wet side so I had be very careful whole rolling it out, so I imagine freezing the one you're using for a few minutes would make it easier to work with.

This pie crust can be used for both sweet and savory recipes.