Panettone French Toast

Recipe: Panettone Chocolate French Toast Recipe »

So Dear Reader, how are you going with finishing off the Christmas leftovers? Are you nearly done with them yet? If you're like me, I started on finishing the "meat" i.e. the salmon and salads and worked down from there. I still have a large collection of candy canes, chocolate and Christmas cakes (no hardship of course).

Since Mr NQN has been on holidays, he has complained of having salmon every day with salmon benedict, salmon omelette, salmon sandwiches so given his salmon apathy, I decided to change tack and work on other Christmas leftovers for breakfast. One of these was part of a delicious hamper of items from the Daniel Boulud bakery in New York from my sister. I know I should really have eaten the panettone straight but we had eaten all of the cookies, macarons and granola and we just had a panettone left because Mr NQN refused to eat it.

Because I can't leave well enough alone, I sliced the panettone and sandwiched it with a slice of dark chocolate. I dipped it in egg and fried it and the chocolate became a gooey, rich filling for the now voluptuously eggy raisin studded bread. If you have any inclination to stay in instead of going out for brunch, this is one recipe that I'd suggest giving a try. Not only is it delicious and made in about 5 minutes but it is easy too.

Now onto ideas for that salmon... ;) Actually this savoury cream cheese French toast might be a good idea.

Or if you like sweet French toast then I am going to be bossy and suggest you try this ice cream French toast. It is based on how Raymond Blanc makes his famous French toast at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris! I also love this Cornflake French Toast for when I want a cafe style breakfast at home. Another favourite is the softest French toast ever from Cafe Aaliyah in Tokyo. Or for something a bit different this coconut French toast with rum syrup is also a winner!

So tell me Dear Reader, have you finished all of your leftovers? What did you do with them?

Panettone Chocolate French Toast

An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella

• 1 small panettone
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 100g/3.5 ozs thin block dark chocolate
• Butter or oil to fry
• Strawberries and icing or powdered sugar to serve

Step 1 - Cut panettone into slices. Whisk the egg and milk in a shallow bowl. Place some of the chocolate in the centre of two pieces of panettone to make a chocolate sandwich and dip into the egg mixture (if the panettone is very dry or stale, you can dip it for longer).

Step 2 - Heat a frypan onto medium to high heat and add some butter. Fry the panettone sandwiches on both sides. Serve with strawberries and dust with icing or powdered sugar.