The Most Important Meal of the Day

"'When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,' said Piglet at last, 'What's the first thing you say to yourself?'
'What's for breakfast?', said Pooh. 'What do you say, Piglet?'
'I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?', said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. 'It's the same thing.', he said."
-A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh 1926

A short time ago I decided to take on a culinary challenge and attempt to make macarons. A foodie blog that I love, Tartelette, features these tasty treats quite often, and I thought that by following her skilled instruction I too may be able to make these challenging cookies. Well, my culinary adventure ended up being a culinary catastrophe! Instead of looking like Tartlette's puffy delights, mine looked like flat saucers.

But there is a happy ending for the creamy filling I had prepared. What was once intended to be sandwiched in the middle of the macarons, I used as a delicious topping to french toast. Since I rarely get to make breakfast in the morning, I enjoy serving it for diner from time to time.

I started by making homemade wheat bread. Bread sounds more intimidating than it should. If you have a good recipe it's fairly easy to make.

Whole Wheat Bread

1 pkg. dry active yeast

1 1/8 cup warm water

1 T. brown sugar

1 T. olive oil

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cup white bread flour

1 tsp. salt

In a large bowl dissolve yeast in the water, add the sugar and let sit 5 min. until it starts to foam. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together. Scrape onto a lightly floured surface and kneed for 8 min. adding more white flour as needed to get a smooth elastic dough. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic and let sit at room temp. to double, about 1 hour. Punch, re-shape and rise to double, about 45 min.

Put in a lightly oiled loaf pan. Cover and rise to double, about 45 min.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 min. Deeply colored and sounds hollow by tapping the bottom. Cool on rack.

I then cut the fresh bread into thick, generous slices. Soak each slice in a mixture of eggs, milk, a dash of salt and a dollop of maple syrup. Cook on a griddle until golden. Top each slice of french toast with a spoonful of Cream Cheese Buttercream filling.

Cream Cheese Buttercream

1 1/2 sticks (170 gr) butter at room temperature

4 oz (120gr) cream cheese, softened

3 egg whites1/2 cup (100gr) sugar

2 Tb water

1 tsp vanilla extract

In the bowl of stand mixer, whip the egg whites until they have soft peaks. In the meantime, combine 2 Tb water with the sugar to a boil in a heavy saucepan and bring the syrup to 250F. Slowly add the sugar syrup to the egg whites. Continue to whip until the meringue is completely cooled. Slowly add the butter, one tablespoon at a time. The mass might curdle but no panic, continue to whip until it all comes together. Add the cream cheese, the same way, a little at a time until everything is smooth. Whisk in the vanilla extract, or paste or bean.