I recently came across the concept of baklava french toast by Elly on elly says opa! . It is basically french toast stuffed with a baklava like filling and then drenched in a honey syrup just like baklava. Baklava is one of my favorite treats and I just had to try the frech toast version. Making the baklava french toast is a bit of work but it is well worth it. The aromas of cinnamon, citrus and honey make the baklava french toast and experience before you even take a bite. When you do take a bite the toast is slightly crisp on the outside and warm and soft and moist on the inside. Then you hit the crunchy nut mixture and are hit with a blast of cinnamon. Covering all of this is a sweet and gooey honey, cinnamon and citrus syrup…mmm… I really enjoyed the baklava french toast! Since it takes a lot less effort to make than baklava it is perfect for when that baklava craving hits and you just don’t have time to make baklava.
Baklava French Toast
French toast stuffed with a nut and cinnamon filling inspired by the flavours of baklava.
ingredients
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 inch piece of lemon rind *
- 1 inch piece of orange rind *
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or a cinnamon stick
- 1 handful nuts, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 2 slices of bread
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- a pinch of salt
- garnish with extra nut filling, zest & cinnamon
directions
- Simmer the honey, water, lemon rind, orange rind and cinnamon in a small pan until it thickens to a syrupy consistency.
- Remove from heat and remove the rinds and cinnamon stick if used.
- Mix the nuts, cinnamon and honey in a bowl.
- Place the nut mixture between 2 slices of bread.
- Mix the egg, milk, lemon juice, orange juice, vanilla extract and salt in a shallow dish.
- Dip the sandwich into the egg mixture to cover both sides.
- Melt some butter in a pan and fry the French toast until golden brown on both sides.
- Serve the French toast with the syrup on top
What a cool idea 🙂 If you like this then you’d probably enjoy Nigella’s baklava muffins from the How To Be A Domestic Goddess book. This looks and sounds so delicious 🙂
Elly’s french toast rocked and it was glorious when I made too!
Way to go Kevin!
wow, that is a good idea and looks delicious. I bet it would be good with raspberry.
Now this is my kind of french toast. I too really like baklava and this a perfect – quick way to enjoy similar flavors. Great!
Baklava and French toast, in one dish?? AMAZING!! Oh man **faints at sight of gorgeous food**
OMG, I can’t even believe a dish like this exists, I mena this is one of ultimate, ultimate dishes. Ummm, Father’s Day tomorrow…yeah, perfect.
OK, that’s just crazy! Crazy good, but wow …
A very interesting recipe. Must be delicious!!!
Oh. My. God. That picture is wayyyyyy too amazing. Can I just eat this every day until I die??
Sugar rush!! 🙂
YUM!!! This looks so decadent and delicious.
What a great concept – thanks so much for sharing!
Now that’s what I call a hearty breakfast. Looks amazing!
Interesting, this looks delicious. I would love to eat this for breakfast sometime.
Wow, that looks fantastic!!
Kevin, this is kick butt! Oh goodness, we’ll take two plates of this please!
Kevin, sounds awesome!
Baklava. And French Toast. Together. Wow!
Oh my god, this looks amazing! I have been wanting to try baklava for awhile and now I have double to reason.
Wonderful idea for French toast! I’ll bet it tasted fantastic!
First I heard of baklava french toasts. But let me tell you that they look really good.
Holy Moly! This is the ultimate breakfast decadence! It looks wonderful!
Really interesting. And I’m certain this is delicious. Great idea from Elly. Your version looks quite nice as well!
What a fun concept! I love it!
When I read the title of the post I thought you’d battered and fried a baklava! I nearly died of a heart attack! Hahaha 🙂 But looking at this (much more reasonable) recipe, I can see that it’s totally delicious!
Wow, now that is amazing!
Mmmm may I have a piece for breakfast? Temtping!
This looks so delicious. I love baklava and french toast…I wish I can wave a magic wand and have this appear in front of me right now.
i think this may be the most perfect idea of all time–an excuse to eat baklava as a meal! i love it!
I love baklava. You did a great job with Ellys recipe it looks totally amazing what a great treat YUM!
That’s awesome Kev. The crispy outside looks beautiful and I bet it’s nice and sweet all the way through.
I just had lucnh and still looking to that picture makes me drool and want o have this special french toast.
This looks unbelievably delicious and it’s so creative. And it’s Sunday! The perfect day for something like this.
Wow! Looks delicious. And what a fantastic idea. You are a continuing inspiration to me in the kitchen.
I have seen this French toast making the rounds Kevin. It looks just as good on your pages…I may have to give this a try:D
Imagine the sugar rush on this first thing in the morning.
baklava and a french toast? awesome. thanks for sharing this. i hope to try this next sunday
Oh! Baklava has been something I have been wanting to try. I guess this is a nice sneak preview to what the real deal might be!
I would love this for breakfast, looks amazing!
This sounds so good my brain exploded a little with the possibilities. Oh, how I love baklava and french toast…together? Are you freakin kidding me?
Kevin your version of the baklava and the picture are SO good. Yum! I wish I could take a bite out of my screen. So glad you liked the dessert/breakfast combo 🙂
I have to try this for a special occasion it looks magnificient!
Looks absolutely delicious!
I wish I was eating breakfast with you. Dang that looks so good. I love Baklava.
Ooo wow baklava french toast! What a great idea. Looks delicious and decadent.
wow! that looks amazing! what a great idea! I must try making this since Im too chicken to try making baklava. baby steps…
I think it is way too sweet for me, but nevertheless a wonderful idea when overcome by the sweet cravings.
i think this will be a favorite for all the dentists out there!….it look so yummy! how do you get the inspiration for all these culinary delights?
What an inspired idea! A treat indeed. Graham & I are in Cyprus just now and one of the restaurants here serves everyone baklava and fruit after their main meal. I thought it was a inspired idea and the watermelon was gorgeous with it.
OMG HELLO BREAKFAST!!! (And bouncing off the walls all day after that!) That looks DELISH for the sweet tooth that I have!!
This is a great idea. Baklava is something I love but I’m not really too interested in making it myself. This is definitely something I could do and gobble up! Yum 🙂
How interesting! Worth the effort, yes!
Oh my gosh! WHY did you forget to invite all of us to breakfast, hmmmm????
Try not to let it happen again.
😉
This is genius! Dessert plus breakfast plus baking plus frying plus a healthy dollop of “waaaay too much”, all in one tidy package!
Yummy!
Maybe I should just move to TO!!!! (except my husband wants to move to Montreal)
Is it breakfast or dessert? 😉
this is a wonderful idea and it looks amazing!!!!
There are no words to describe how much I would love a taste of this, right now! It looks fabulous!
I need to start reading the blogs you read – what a great idea!!
yum. i just came across your blog today and bookmarked it just for this recipe. baklava is one of my faves as well.
Oh. My. God.
I don’t know if I can say anything else that will justify the shock and awe I feel right now. You are brilliant. I must make this.
That is a fabulous idea, Kevin.
ooh!! that looks delicious Kevin! you do know how to woo with food!:)
classic recipe, I’ll try it sometime for sure!:)
Oh my my my..I think i have died and gone to heaven!!!! This looks perfect!
Talk about decadent!
Wow, so decadent! I would love to dig into one of these on a weekend brunch thing!
love it! i’m going to make this weekend. CAN’T WAIT!
This looks amazing. I love baklava. What a great idea.
this is so decadent I cant wait to try it
I saw that original post and my mouth was watering then…but then I forgot about it. A big thanks for the reminder though–I absolutely have to try this one.
Yum.
I really can’t say anymore. I want that toast.
This is like one of those pictures where it can be two things depending on what your mind sees — an old lady with a big nose one moment, or a young lady wearing a necklace the next. Only, when I look at that french toast I either see baklava french toast, or a grilled cheese and bolognese sandwich (a favourite use for leftovers when I was a kid).
Either way, it makes me hungry!
wow, i must have missed this recipe on elly’s blog! it looks fabulous!
I made this a few months ago and I forgot to leave a comment. My family and I really enjoyed this french toast!! The flavors are so refreshing and blend really well together. It's very hearty and flavorful as well. Thank you so much for the delicious recipe!
Hi Kevin! Do you mind updating your links at the beginning of this post to my new domain, ellysaysopa.com, since vox closed? Thanks!
Wow looks so decadent and delicious.
I just made this and it was fantastic. I doubled the recipe and I moved around some of the ingredients and was confused about the honey but it was good! I made crepes from the left over French Toast batter which was awesome! Thanks 🙂 Alexis
Wow… Just Wow.
I love the concept.
But sweets in the morning will wipe me out for the day. I think I’m going to twist this a bit and instead of serving the delicious nut filling with french toast I’m going to roll it in a few vanilla crepes and add some spiced whipped cream or maybe a dab of ice cream and serve it as a dessert.
Forgot to mention that I’ll be drizzling the syrup over everything…This is going to be good!
Need some clarification – you call for lemon and orange rind. Are they to be peeled using a vegetable peeler, or grated on a mandolin? And how much of the fruit’s rind do you use? If I double the recipe, can I get by with just one of each fruit? Thanks
For the lemon and orange rind: Wash a lemon/orange well, slice off a thin piece on the rind with a knife not going so deep that you get a lot of white. The white part is bitter and we just want to extract some of the flavour/aroma from the coloured part of the rind.