Make Christmas morning breakfast a snap
Christmas morning should be a low effort mealtime. It’s the perfect day to savour a hot drink and the twinkling lights on the tree.
Several years ago, I was visiting the homestead for the holidays, which meant I got to enjoy watching my mom putter around the kitchen cooking up all of our favourite foods. My dad has a penchant for the Italian Christmas bread, panettone, and there is almost always one on the counter for the entire month of December.
Panettone is a sweet Christmas bread originating in Milan. This rich dough is studded with citron, raisins, and other candied fruits. It is baked in a cylindrical shape and has a domed top. In some ways, I can see a bit of a flavour profile similarity to Easter’s hot cross buns, but panettone is much fluffier.
Now from time to time, the panettone gets a little stale or dries out a bit, as it did this particular year. My mom decided to use the bread for French toast. It tasted amazing, but I was still thinking there had to be an even easier way to make this French toast so Mom didn’t have to stay at the stove. We decided to make a bake out of it, and it worked like a charm.
It is the kind of dish that is a hybrid of bread pudding and French toast. I started adding in eggnog in the last couple of years and it is even more festive. If you are so inclined, I recommend a jigger of rum mixed in with the eggnog base; it is so at home in this mélange.
This can be made and ahead the night before, or when you are ready to eat it.
EGGNOG AND PANETTONE FRENCH TOAST BAKE
Created by Chef Ilona Daniel
1 loaf all-butter panettone bread 7 large eggs
1 1/4 cups eggnog
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
¼ cup brown sugar
Icing sugar and syrup for serving, if desired.
Slice the panettone into slices that would fit into your toaster and tile them into a buttered casserole dish. Gently whisk the remaining ingredients together and pour over the bread. Cover and place in the fridge overnight so it will ready for baking in the morning or place directly into a pre-heated 375F oven. Bake for 30 minutes and serve with syrup and powdered sugar if desired.