Strawberry Jam Stuffed French Toast

Ingredients for French toast 

• 4 slices of bread (sliced 1-2 inches thick)
  • I used my Black Sesame Swirl Milk Bread for this particular recipe to add a little bit of unique nutty black sesame flavor. You can use brioche or challah bread for this as well. I sliced my bread to be 1.5 inches thick, which I think is the perfect thickness for stuffing as well as making sure the toast soaks up the liquid.
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon butter + 1 tablespoon oil (for the pan)
  • You can use any neutral oil here. The main reason for it is to balance out the low smoke point of the butter.
• (Optional) Honey, maple syrup, powdered sugar, more jam for serving
  • I served mine with a drizzle of honey on top

Ingredients for strawberry jam

• 1 cup strawberries
  • I used a combination of fresh and frozen because that’s what I had handy, but you can use all fresh or all frozen. All feel free to mix this up with other fruits! Other berries, mango, or even pre-made jams and spread will work well.
• 3 tablespoons sugar
  • I like my jam tart, so definitely adjust this accordingly

Instructions

1. First, let’s prepare the toast. This recipe is actually a double toasted version, so first, toast the bread in a toaster or in an oven at 350 degrees until golden brown (about 5 minutes). This step helps harden the crumb of the bread to make it easier for you to stuff it with jam. Let the toast cool.
2. In the meantime, let’s make the strawberry jam. In a saucepan, add strawberries and sugar. Cook and stir on medium high heat until the strawberries start breaking down and the mixture starts to thicken (about 10 minutes). If you’re using pre-made jam, nut butters, other types of spreads, you can skip this step.
3. Back to the bread! Take a sharp knife, and cut a slit from the bottom side of the slice of bread. Make sure that you don’t break through to the other side (the crust side), and that you leave a little bit of room on the sides.
4. Using a butter knife, take the strawberry jam and carefully stuff it into the slit that you just cut into the bread. This is easiest to do with a knife, since it’s flatter than a spoon or fork. Stop when you can’t any more jam inside. You’ll notice the toast will bulge up as well.
5. Now, let’s make the soaking liquid. In a bowl, add eggs, heavy cream, sweetened condense milk, sugar, and salt. Using a whisk, mix well until the mixture is smooth. You can also filter this through a sieve as well.
6. Pour this mixture into a shallow dish or a plate with sides. Place your stuffed toast into the mixture. Leave it on that side for 30 minutes, and repeat for the other side. This soaking time may vary based on the type of French toast you like. If you like it super custardy, you could leave it for an hour each side or even overnight. If you like it crunchier, you could just do a quick flip or just 10 minutes.
7. Let’s toast the toast! In a pan, add butter and oil, and heat up to medium high heat. Once the pan is warm enough, place the toast into the pan. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Make sure you also cook the bottom of the toast as well, where you made the slit to stuff the jam in.
8. Serve with some honey, butter, syrup, powdered sugar, or toppings of your choice, and you’re done!

Strawberry Jam-Stuffed Black Sesame French Toast is a simple twist on an old classic that is so worth is. When you dive into this French toast, each forkful has a nutty crunchy exterior from the black sesame swirl, custardy milk bread, and an explosion of tartness from the strawberries. My favorite part is when you slice each slide in half, you can see all the layers, which makes for an impressive brunch. I’d highly recommend to also try to switch it up! Use peanut butter, marmalade, other jams, matcha spread, chocolate, etc to fill up the middle. Let me know what you create in the comments below!