Prep 25min (+ 10min standing time)Bake 15minMakes 4 serves

This recipe was a little experiment. The question was: could French toast baked in the oven be just as delicious as when it is pan-fried in a generous amount of butter? The answer: Yes! And, as an extra bonus, it is so much easier to cook in large batches for more-the-merrier gatherings. So from now on I will be baking my French toast!

Ingredients

4 eggs
125ml (½ cup) milk
125ml (½ cup) thickened cream
½ teaspoon dry mustard powder
2 tablespoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoon finely snipped chives
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 x 2cm-thick sliced sourdough or wood-fired bread
50g finely shredded Parmesan, plus extra to sprinkle
60g Persian feta, coarsely crumbled, to serve
Flat-leaf parsley leaves, to serve
Tabasco sauce (optional), to serve

Garlic mushrooms

20g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
600g mixed mushrooms (such as portobello, mushroom caps and button)
2 garlic cloves, finely grated or crushed
2 teaspoon lemon juice

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC (180ºC fan-forced). Line an oven tray with non-stick baking paper
2. To make the baked herbed French toast, whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, mustard powder and parsley in a large bowl. Season well with salt and pepper. Pour onto a tray, place the bread in the egg mixture and allow to soak for 5 minutes each side. Transfer to a wire rack over a tray and stand for 1 minute, allowing any excess egg mixture to drain away.
3. Place the bread slices on the lined oven tray and sprinkle with the parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
4. Meanwhile, to make the garlic mushrooms, slice any of the larger mushrooms and mushroom flats. Halve larger button mushrooms and keep any small button mushrooms whole. Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until the butter is foaming. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute or until aromatic. Remove from heat and stir through the lemon juice.
5. To serve, place a slice of the baked herbed French toast on each serving plate and top with the garlic mushrooms, Persian feta and parsley leaves. Sprinkle with pepper and serve accompanied by the Tabasco sauce.

This recipe is from Anneka's SBS Food online column, Bakeproof: Autumn Brunch.

CLICK HERE for more Bakeproof recipes.

Photography by Alan Benson.