Blackberry Bourbon Brunch
I love alliteration, can’t ya tell?
We’ve cooked up somethin’ damn good for yall to enjoy this weekend – and when I say “we” I mean my partner in crime, my husband! If you’ve read any of my blog entries before this one, you’ll know that Chris is the dedicated brunch-maker around these parts. Also the grill master. And the master taste-tester. Whatever. He helps out quite a bit for the sake of my blog, truth be told. & I love him so much for it!
Last week we went strawberry picking & were dreaming up all sorts of things to do with our harvest. Old-faithful, angel food cake, topped with a ton of sweet, sliced strawberries was at the tippy-top of the list. We also pureed some and made a terrific syrup for alcoholic beverages, which we consumed on the spot! Basically, we juiced ALL the fruits & tried ALL the things last weekend with our fresh berries!
forgotten fruits.
I had 2 clamshells of blackberries sitting around in the fridge not being eaten. I’m usually a huge enjoyer of blackberries as a snack during the week, but I just hadn’t gotten around to eating them. We decided to use the blackberries and make a syrup to be used 2 ways! In a bourbon drink (my reel is up for our Blackberry Bourbon Smash!) and we had some Challah bread chillin’ in the freezer that deserved to be eaten.
you know I got the sauce.
We got right to work! Chris mixed the fresh blackberries with the usual suspects : brown sugar, vanilla extract, butter, water & a healthy dash of BOURBON. Yea, caught you by surprise right? Sure as shit, if we can add bourbon to anything, we will!
We cooked the blackberries down slowly to a jammy consistency – it smelled heavenly. Since we knew this was going to be a 2-way use for this sauce, we used the first half in its pure, rustic form with seeds & all overtop the French Toast. I later pushed them thru a strainer because who wants a seedy, gloopy sauce in their bourbon beverage? Not I. It worked like a charm & made just enough to mix with maple syrup for a truly perfect sauce!
I’ve never tasted anything so easily decadent. The Blackberries were riiiiiiight at the point of being overdone, but nothing was moldy or fuzzy. They were soft, super ripe & perfect for smashing up for a breakfast sauce / syrup. I’m glad we decided to leave the maple syrup out of the cooking process & just concentrate on making a pure blackberry sauce – because we sure did use that for a hell of a lot more than French Toast syrup!
the bread is important.
Chris got to cutting the Challah bread to prep for French Toast. May I explain the depths of love I have for this man? Not only does he dream up blog entries sometimes, but he also tries his best to set up his stages for me to photograph along the way because he knows that’s what I like to do to document the journey for you, my beloved readers!
Mixing eggs, half & half, vanilla extract and cinnamon does the trick for the liquid part of the French toast. The secret is to letting them soak in the mixture for a hot few seconds, but not too long – nobody likes soggy French Toast. Your choice of bread is an obviously important choice – for the love of all things holy, please don’t you dare use plain old sandwich bread. It will be gross, you will regret it & I will be sad. Challah bread or even brioche bread are the top 2 contenders. French Toast deserves to be thick, fluffy, sweet & full of goodness – those breads will deliver, I promise. Chris usually soaks his bread pieces to a count of 5 on each side and then IMMEDIATELY puts them on a sizzling hot griddle with melted butter – it truly gives the French Toast their name.
Doing this in batches is the way to go – have your oven on WARM and throw in your pieces of French Toast as they finish. It will keep your finished product warm & won’t overwhelm you while you are preparing the rest of your pieces. Have some bacon going in the AirFryer too – a delicious & complete meal is well on its way!
Ingredients
· 2 clamshells of blackberries
· ¼ cup light brown sugar
· ¼ cup water
· ¼ cup bourbon
· 1 TSP Vanilla Extract
· 1 TBS Salted Butter
· 1 loaf Challah / Brioche bread, cut in thick slices
· 2 eggs
· ½ cup Half & Half
· ¼ TSP Ground Cinnamon
· ¼ TSP Ground Nutmeg
· ½ TSP Vanilla Extract
· 1 TBS Salted Butter
· Pinch of Salt
· Maple syrup, for serving
· Powdered Sugar, for serving
Instructions, 1
Preheat your oven to WARM setting & place a tin-foil lined pan inside.
Thoroughly rinse your blackberries & empty into a pot.
Measure out all of the top half ingredients & gently mix together with blackberries on the stovetop over low heat.
The key is to gently cook down the blackberries rather than scorch them to death.
Stir occasionally & gently smash the blackberries with your spoon as they cook.
Cut your choice of bread into thick slices & set aside at the ready.
Whisk together the eggs, half & half, spices & vanilla extract.
Heat on medium-high heat a flat pan or griddle – melt the 1 TBS of Salted Butter at the last minute!
Carefully dip each piece of bread directly into the mixture, dip each side well! Use a spoon & gently smooooosh down on each side of the bread for optimum soak-age.
Place each piece directly onto the hot griddle with melted butter in succession – we were able to fit 4 pieces comfortably on the griddle.
Instructions, 2
Carefully watching, leave each piece of bread on the heat for about a minute – you can lift up a corner to ensure that the butter has created the magically brown tell-tale crust that makes French Toast, FRENCH TOAST.
You may flip as many times as you’d like to achieve the done-ness you desire on your French Toast. The whole process should take less than 5 minutes per batch.
Once you are satisfied, transfer your warm French Toast pieces onto the pan in the warm oven & repeat the process. We only made about 6 pieces since there was only 2 of us, but this recipe is OBVIOUSLY easily doubled or tripled to make it work for your family size!
SHIT. What’s going on with your Blackberry Bourbon sauce??
Hopefully it’s slowly bubbling away, happy as can be!
Your heat should be on low so it shouldn’t be an emergency, but just remember to give that lil guy a stir every once in awhile – sugar can get angry & get angry QUICK.
Hopefully the bourbon has saved you from your sauce becoming a globby, overly-sticky mess. Give it a taste if you’re so inclined!
From start to finish this entire meal should take less than 20 minutes – your blackberry sauce should be beautifully thick by now & more than ready to be turned into a syrup for your French Toast!
Plating is definitely the fun part! Stack your French Toast overtop one another, spoon your rustic Blackberry Bourbon sauce overtop, drizzle with maple syrup for a double effect, and if you’re feeling inclined – salt-bae some powdered sugar.
Or if you’re fancy like we are, take a small sifter & make it snowwww!
French Toast doesn’t have to be daunting – at all! It seems fancy, tastes fancy, but truly uses minimal ingredients – the key is the bread itself! *wink* Enjoy!
treat yoself.
As I get older, there’s nothing more romantic than the idea of a lazy brunch. I love going out to eat for brunch, which we do occasionally, but sitting at home in my slippers, sipping on champagne while my husband cooks me breakfast is pretty tough to beat. The mood is relaxed & happy, Chris is an amazing breakfast-maker, and he even cleans up the kitchen when he’s done, too! Do yourself a favor & get on this recipe, stat! It’s a perfect excuse to use up those random berries you have sitting around – I’ll bet strawberries, raspberries, or a combo of all 3 would make this even more damn delicious! The bourbon choice doesn’t have to be fancy, any bourbon will do – and it will do the trick! The sweet, spicy back note of the bourbon will have you licking your plate for more so maybe make this a double batch if you have a larger crowd. Whatever you get into for brunch, do it with love & a glass of champagne in your hand. Cheers & happy weekend y’all!
Thanks for stopping by!
I appreciate you stopping by! If you loved it, I’d love to hear from you.
If you hated it, then same.
Have a great day & look for my next entry!
© 2021 Cookin’ & Cussin’
