Toffee Apple Pain Perdu Recipes

TOFFEE APPLES, PAIN PERDU AND HAZELNUT ICE-CREAM

Steps:

• For hazelnut ice-cream, preheat oven to 180C. Roast hazelnuts on a tray until golden (8-10 minutes). Transfer half to a saucepan with milk, bring just to a simmer over medium heat and stand until infused (1 hour). Peel remaining hazelnuts, finely chop and set aside. Whisk yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl until pale. Strain hazelnut milk into a clean saucepan (discard hazelnuts), add cream, bring just to the boil and pour over yolk mixture, whisking to combine. Return mixture to pan and stir continuously over low heat until mixture coats the back of spoon thickly (8-10 minutes). Strain into a bowl placed over ice, stir occasionally until chilled. Freeze in an ice-cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions. Stir through chopped hazelnuts (reserving 2 tbsp for serving). Makes about 750ml.
• Meanwhile, for crème pâtissière, bring milk to the boil over medium heat in a saucepan. Whisk egg yolks, sugar and flour in a heatproof bowl, then add milk and stir to combine. Return to saucepan, stir continuously over high heat until thick (2-3 minutes). Stir through butter and set aside until cool (20-30 minutes).
• For pain perdu, trim bread slices into 8cm squares. Spread crème pâtissière over half the slices and sandwich with remaining bread. Transfer to a shallow tray. Combine milk and eggs in a bowl, whisk until smooth, pour over bread and stand until liquid is absorbed, turning once (2-3 minutes).
• Heat butter in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat, add pain perdu and turn once until golden (1-2 minutes each side). Transfer to plates and keep warm.
• Heat caster sugar in a separate large, non-stick frying pan over high heat until caramelised (1-2 minutes), add apple slices and turn occasionally until golden (3-5 minutes). Serve immediately with pain perdu, hazelnut ice-cream and reserved hazelnuts.

PAIN PERDU RECIPE

Steps:

• Slice baguette into 2" thick slices set aside.
• In a shallow bowl add the eggs, milk, sugar, salt, whisk that together and then add the vanilla and orange zest, whisk to combine.
• Then place bread in the bowl to soak for at least a total of 6 mins (3 mins on each side)
• While bread in soaking you can heat the syrup. In a sauce pan heat 2 tablespoon (30 ml) of syrup, 2 tablespoon (30 ml) butter and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) orange zest until warm. Keep on a very low flame just to keep warm.
• Then heat 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of butter in a large non-stick skillet. Place soaked bread in pan, be careful not to crowd them so they can brown. Once browned on 1 side, flip them on the other side and cook for another 1-2 mins until golden brown. Then turn them on their sides to brown a bit, making sure the raw egg is being cooked on all sides.
• Then remove from a pan and place on a serving platter. Drizzle the orange syrup over the bread and top with some freshly grated orange zest to garnish. Enjoy!
• Entertaining with Beth is a weekly food series hosted by Beth Le Manach sharing easy recipes for elegant entertaining, that are also simple enough for a weeknight meal! Beth's motto is "Minimum effort for maximum impact!" Food tastes better when shared. So go ahead and have friends over!

TOFFEE APPLE PAIN PERDU

Steps:

• For the creme patissiere: Bring the milk to the boil over medium heat. Whisk egg yolks, sugar and flour. Add a small amount of hot milk, whisk then add the rest of the milk. Return to saucepan and stirring continuously over medium heat until think - 2-4 minutes Stir through the butter and set aside until cool.
• Trim the bread slices into neat squares. Spread the creme patissiere over half the slices and sandwich together. You now have 6 'pain perdu'.
• Place them in a shallow dish. In another bowl whisk together the milk and eggs and pour over the bread. Gently turn over the bread to soak up the milk mix.
• Heat the butter in a large non-stick pan over medium heat and add the bread and fry until golden on each side. Transfer to plate and keep warm.
• Wipe out pan and return to heat, sprinkle sugar over pan and melted and caramelised add the sliced apple and turn to coat well and slightly soften, about 3-5 minutes.
• Serve 1 pain perdu topped with carmalised apple and hazelnut icecream.

HOMEMADE TOFFEE APPLES

Steps:

• Place the apples in a large bowl, then cover with boiling water (you may have to do this in 2 batches). This will remove the waxy coating and help the caramel to stick. Dry thoroughly and twist off any stalks. Push a wooden skewer or lolly stick into the stalk end of each apple.
• Lay out a sheet of baking parchment and place the apples on this, close to your stovetop. Tip the sugar into a pan along with 100ml water and set over a medium heat. Cook for 5 mins until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the vinegar and syrup. Set a sugar thermometer in the pan and boil to 150C or 'hard crack' stage. If you don't have a thermometer you can test the toffee by pouring a little into a bowl of cold water. It should harden instantly and, when removed, be brittle and easy to break. If you can still squish the toffee, continue to boil it.
• Working quickly and carefully, dip and twist each apple in the hot toffee until covered, let any excess drip away, then place on the baking parchment to harden. You may have to heat the toffee a little if the temperature drops and it starts to feel thick and viscous. Leave the toffee to cool before eating. Can be made up to 2 days in advance, stored in a dry place.

MARMALADE & WHISKY PAIN PERDU WITH APPLES

Steps:

• Make four brioche sandwiches with some of the butter and all the marmalade. Cut the sandwiches in half diagonally.
• Whisk the eggs in a baking dish with the milk and whisky. Add the sandwiches, turning them over in the eggs, and let them sit until soft but not falling apart.
• Meanwhile, prepare the apples. Melt the butter over a medium to high heat in a frying pan and fry the apples on both sides until they're soft but not collapsing, around 5-6 mins. Add the sugar and toss the apples until they get slightly brown edges. Add the marmalade and orange juice and simmer for a couple of mins until the marmalade is runny. Remove from the heat.
• Fry the sandwiches in a large frying pan with the remaining butter, for 2-3 mins on each side until golden and cooked through. Serve each person two sandwiches and spoon the apples in marmalade on top. Dust a little icing sugar over the edge of the bread. Crème fraîche is good on the side as something tart helps to balance the richness.