Canarian · Breakfast · From the menu Media Mañana
French toast, caramelised plantain, mascarpone, maple
Torrija, plátano caramelizado, mascarpone, sirope de arce
The brunch cousin of the Huerta dessert. Same bread, but a two-minute soak instead of an overnight one, no plantain in the custard, no blowtorch, and cold whipped mascarpone.
I had this soaking for an hour and it was wrong for what this dish is meant to be. Published brunch French toast soaks for thirty seconds to two minutes a side, against the several hours or overnight that a proper torrija takes. That is the actual difference between the two dishes: one is dense and set through like a bread pudding, this one keeps a dry crumb in the middle against a hot caramel and a cold cream. Two minutes a side at this thickness.
Ingredients
- 6 slices brioche, 2 to 2.5 cm thick, day old
- 2 eggs
- 230 ml double cream
- 30 g caster sugar
- 20 g plain flour
- 1 tsp vanilla paste, quarter tsp cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg
- 250 g mascarpone
- 150 ml double cream for whipping, plus 1 tbsp icing sugar
- 4 ripe plantains
- 60 g butter and 100 g dark brown sugar for the caramel
- Butter for the pan
- Maple syrup, flaked salt
Method
- Whisk the eggs, cream, sugar, flour, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and pour into a shallow dish.
- Whip the mascarpone with the cream and icing sugar to soft peaks. Do not overwhip; mascarpone goes grainy fast. Refrigerate.
- Lay the brioche in the custard and soak two minutes a side, no more. It should be wet through the crust but still have a dry crumb at the centre.
- Halve the plantains lengthways. Melt the butter in a wide pan, add the brown sugar and let it dissolve, about two minutes, then cook the plantain cut side down for two to four minutes until deeply caramelised, and another two or three on the other side. Keep them warm.
- Wipe the pan, add fresh butter, and cook the soaked brioche over a medium heat, two to three minutes on the first side and about two on the second, until dark gold and set through. Medium, not high: too hot and the outside burns while the middle stays raw custard.
- Plate the toast, the plantain and its caramel, a spoon of cold mascarpone, maple syrup poured at the table and a few flakes of salt over the top.
Serve it with. It closes a brunch. Put it out after the eggs, not alongside them. The dessert version is the heavier one.