Pain Perdu Farci (Stuffed French Toast)

The French have an excellent tradition - stale bread reclaimed by soaking overnight in a mixture of eggs and milk, and then fried.  This is called pain perdu, which translates as 'lost bread', for obvious reasons.  I hadn't had the overnight soaked version, just the standard nasty processed white bread dipped for 4 seconds before frying, and so I thought I'd give this a shot.  Whoa.

First of all, the custard that you make to soak the bread in smells so good, you basically want to eat it right there.  Think of egg nog mixed with melted vanilla ice cream, mixed with ground up little angels and unicorns and things that probably taste delicious.  Now, picture the best bread pudding you've ever had, and imagine if it were just sliced from a large sheet of bread that tasted just the same, and that you could eat for breakfast in a socially acceptable context.  Got it?  Okay, let's go further.

How about if you take that awesome custard-soaked french toast, then fill two pieces with a mixture of melted cream cheese and fruit preserves?  That's where the farci, or 'stuffed', part of this comes from.  Ready for breakfast yet?  Good.

The recipe I present is a mash-up from two different sources.  First, some place on the internet which I have long forgotten, for the custard part.  Second, my friend's mom, who served me the best stuffed french toast I had ever tried until I created this Frankenstein version.  Thanks for the inspiration, Robin.

For the record, to create this I ended up stockpiling old bread parts in the fridge until I had enough to make a batch.  This took a few weeks to accumulate, and worked perfectly.  Consider a similar route, if you have the space.

Day Before Custard French Toast (Pain Perdu Farci)
from various sources

• 6-8 slices stale French bread, cut on the diagonal into 3/4-1 inch slices
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 3 tbsp. melted butter
• 3 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup orange marmalade 

Arrange bread in single layer in 9x13 inch pan.  Combine eggs, milk, sugar, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Beat until smooth.  Pour over bread.  Turn slices to coat evenly.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, make your filling.  Stir cream cheese and marmalade together in a medium bowl, and set aside.

To cook, melt butter in skillet or on grill.  Remove bread slices from egg mixture.  Saute in heated pan until golden, about 5 minutes on each side.

To plate, place one piece of toast down, then spoon on 1-1.5 tbsp of the filling, then top with another piece.  Dust with powdered sugar, and serve with syrup, more marmalade, or topping of choice.