Yet another recipe from the annals of Vrghr’s Office Party experiments! *grins* Wuff wonders if Vrghr’s co-workers realize just how many dishes wuffy has experimented on them with! Thankfully, the vast majority have been at least successful, and some of them were exceptional! Long as wuff keeps feeding them well, they’ll probably stick with the “ignorance is bliss (and it tastes good!)” motto. *chuckles*

We are going to have our big holiday party and gift exchange this afternoon, so Vrghr prepared a lighter breakfast to “tide folks over” until the party goodies arrived around 1PM or later. Wuffy was going to do pumpkin flavors, but a friend at work suggested eggnog instead.

So we had Eggnog French Toast Sticks, and soft scrambled eggs. And, since most folks think of “spiked” nog when they think of eggnog, Vrghr whipped up a Rum-spiked eggnog-maple syrup to go with the French Toast. That way, those who wanted a bit of “punch” could use the special syrup, and those who didn’t could use the powdered sugar or maple syrups that wuff also offered.

The recipes below cover both the toast and the syrup. Both are quite easy to make, and the flavors are wonderful and very appropriate to the holidays. But they’d be good any time of the year, too! A nice change on “traditional” French Toast for a little variety in flavors.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:
For the Toast
1 Loaf white bread or Texas Toast, slices cut into thirds
~1 Qt store-bought Eggnog
2/3 C Heavy Cream
5 eggs
1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 tsp Vanilla
~1 stick (1/2 lb) Butter

Powdered Sugar for Garnish

For the Spiked Eggnog-Maple Syrup:
~1 C store-bought Eggnog
~2/3 C real Maple Syrup
1/3 C + ~2-3 Tbs Dark Rum
½ tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
~1tsp Baking Soda

Directions:
Start the Syrup
In a small pan over high heat, add the 1/3C Dark Rum and Maple Syrup. Allow to come to a vigorous boil, whisking occasionally, for about 3-4 minutes until most of the alcohol in the Rum evaporates. This will strongly flavor the maple, but reduces the total alcohol content.

Reduce heat to medium low. When boiling falls to a simmer, whisk in the eggnog and Pumpkin Spice until combined.

Reduce heat to low to “hold” the syrup at warm.

Just before serving, whisk in a Tablespoon or 2 of Rum to taste. This creates a highly aromatic aroma and a bit of alcohol “bite”.

Then whisk in the baking soda. The Syrup will foam and froth up for a lovely airy, thick texture. It also adds a wee touch of saltiness.

Prepare the Eggnog Toast
You’ll probably want to start the syrup, then fry up the toast sticks and put them in a warm oven on an over-safe plate to “hold” until they’re all fried. When ready to serve, whisk in the rum and baking soda for the syrup and serve it all at once with some powder sugar.

Make the dredge: In a very large bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, spices, and cream until completely combined. Whisk in the eggnog.

Cut each slice of bread into 3 segments. Dredge the bread into the nog mixture.

In a hot skillet, griddle, or electric fry pan, melt a pat of butter and spread it about until it covers the pan.
Add the soaked slices of bread, leaving enough space to flip them over.

Fry on one side until golden (~4 minutes, depending on the temp of the pan), then flip and fry on the other. You may want to add a bit more butter when flipping, as the bread will normally soak up the first batch.

Fry until golden on the second side, then remove to a plate and hold in a warming oven until all the toast is done.

Add more butter to the pan, and fry up the next set of soaked bread. Repeat until all the bread is golden brown and toasty.

Plate several strips of French Toast. Drizzle some of the spiked Eggnog Maple Syrup over the top, and dust with a sprinkle of Powdered Sugar.

Serve immediately!

!DEVOUR!