Quarantine cooking: Vegan French toast from Alex Head of Social Pantry

Breakfast favourite: French toast
David Ellis @dvh_ellis31 March 2020

French toast is one of those utterly glutinous dishes that comforts in the way only countless calories can.

A heavenly breakfast, then, and a versatile one – it can be topped with just about everything. Empty fridge? Sling on whatever's there. We take ours with Chantilly cream and raspberries, which is predictable – but the one upside of predictability is reliability, and done that way, it's reliably bloody good. If it's a weekend, one without any serious sort of plans, our alternative is to fry up apples until they're soft and sweet, top them with cinnamon and layer them on, and follow that by pouring brandy over everything. Again Chantilly cream can be added; those with a weak heart probably shouldn't.

Here, though, is something of a healthier take from Social Pantry founder and chef Alex Head, who's done away with all the gooey egg for a vegan take on this old favourite. It works, too, coming out as one of those dairy-free dishes that could fool the vegan-sceptics. Little surprise, perhaps, as over the past nine years Head has built her Pantry to be one of London's top events caterers, feeding everyone from Hillary Clinton to David Attenborough.

This dish is probably perfect to kick off a weekend but, given none of us have to commute these days, we reckon it's worth putting in the effort on the weekdays, too, just to get things going the right way.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients

  • 200g ripe banana​
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon (or to taste)​
  • 300ml coconut milk​
  • 20g cornflower​
  • 60ml pure maple syrup
  • 8 slices of bread
  • Oil, for frying

Method

  • Heat the oven to 160C​
  • Blitz all ingredients – apart from the bread and oil – in a food processor, until they're smooth.
  • Soak the bread in the mixture, turning it over once it's been thoroughly soaked.
  • Bake the toast in the oven for five to 10 minutes to firm it up.
  • Heat the oil in a pan until it's good and hot, then add the toast and fry it until its golden brown on each side.
  • To serve, it can be topped with all sorts. Try fresh fruit, a dollop of coconut yoghurt, and sprinkle of something crunchy – we use nut brittle, but you could substitute in your favourite granola or toasted seeds, or whatever's in the back of your cupboard. 

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