Colm O'Gorman's recipe for Panettone French Toast is the perfect Nollaig na mBan brunch

Today is Nollaig na mBan, or Little Christmas, the day when the Christmas decorations come down, and when traditionally, on the basis that they did most if not all the work over Christmas, Irish women take the day off and men take over any household chores. 

I would like to believe that men take on a much fairer share of work in the home these days, and that all the work of Christmas does not fall to women, but that may be a bit naïve on my part. Either way, today is traditionally the day to both take down the decorations and celebrate the women in your life.

Of course, by now most of us are back at work, so the decorations, and maybe even the celebrations, will have to wait until tomorrow. 

You could start Saturday by treating the woman in your life to something delicious to eat. Apparently, roast goose is a traditional meal for Little Christmas, but after Christmas Day and the turkey and ham leftovers that followed, another big roast dinner might be a bit much. 

Better instead perhaps to give your loved one a lie in tomorrow morning while everyone else takes down the decorations, and then cook her a great brunch. 

If there are any kids in your house, you could get them involved in the cooking too. This French toast recipe would be perfect, it is quite simple to make but absolutely delicious, and it also uses up any panettone you may have left over from Christmas.

French Toast is known in France as ‘Pain perdu’ or ‘lost bread’, and as the name suggests, is a dish created to use up stale bread. Slightly stale bread works best for French Toast as it can soak up the delicious custard that the bread is soaked in before frying and still retain its shape and some texture. 

Use slightly stale panettone, but if you have bought it fresh for this recipe, just cut a few slices and dry them out overnight on a wire rack or for thirty minutes in an oven heated to 150 Celsius. 

I used an orange and chocolate panettone that I bought in Lidl, and it was fabulous in this dish, but you could use other flavours or even plain panettone. If you do not have panettone, some thickly sliced brioche would also work well.

This French Toast has a beautiful, rich custardy flavour, and the caramelised brown sugar adds an almost crème brûlée like finish. It is a magnificent brunch dish that is sure to delight and impress.

Serve this French Toast with fresh berries or a freshly made berry compote and some crispy smoked bacon on the side. If you have a sweet tooth, maple syrup would be delicious.

Panettone French Toast

recipe by:Colm O'Gorman

This French Toast has a beautiful, rich custardy flavour, and the caramelised brown sugar adds an almost crème brûlée like finish.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 15 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 30 mins

Course

 Baking

Cuisine

 French

Ingredients

• 8 thickly cut slices of panettone

• 4 large eggs

• 200ml full fat milk

• 2 tsp Cointreau or other orange liqueur (optional)

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 50g butter

• A splash of rapeseed or other mildly flavoured cooking oil

• 50g soft brown

• To serve:

• A dusting of icing sugar

• Fresh berries or berry compote

• Crispy smoked streaky bacon

• ​

Method

1. Cut two thick slices of panettone per person, about three centimetres thick is perfect. Put the eggs in a bowl, along with the milk, Cointreau if using, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla essence.

2. Whisk to beat the eggs and combine all the ingredients fully. Pour this custard mixture into a deep baking tray that is big enough to take at least four slices of the panettone.

3. Warm a heavy based non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, and when it is good and hot, reduce the heat to low and add half of the butter and just a small splash of cooking oil.

4. The oil will help prevent the butter from burning as you cook the French toast, so do make sure to add it.

5. Place as many slices of panettone as will easily fit in your frying pan into the custard mixture and let them soak for one minute, then turn them over and allow them to soak on the other side for another minute.

6. By now your butter should have melted and started to foam. Carefully remove the slices of panettone from the custard mixture, I use a fish slice to do this, and put them into the pan to fry until they are golden brown on one side.

7. This will take just a few minutes. Check afet one minute to see how the toast is doing by lifting one side to see if it is golden brown. If it is not, give it one more minute.

8. Once the toast is perfectly cooked on one side, sprinkle about a teaspoon of soft brown sugar over the uncooked side. Use a fish slice or spatula to gently press the sugar into the custard so that it sticks.

9. Turn the toast over and cook for another two minutes until the other side is cooked and the sugar is nicely caramelised and golden.

10. Remove from the pan and place on warm plates. Use a small sieve to dust the French toast with a light sprinkle of icing sugar.

11. Serve immediately, with lots of fresh berries and crispy bacon, maple syrup is optional but strongly advised.