Hello, lover.

Recent conversation between an ex and I:
him: You love to read. Have you read anything great lately?
me: ummmm, nothing I think you'd be interested in.
him: Oohhhhh!! Have you read 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?' It's seriously amazing.
me: .........................aaahhhh no...... I haven't..... BTW, don't tell anyone we EVER dated.

It's not that I have a problem with that book per say, just the fact that a dude, a dude I dated no less, called it "seriously amazing".

Cook books are my reading material of choice. No one dies, no one's getting their heart broken and I don't feel bummed about the fact that there really are no Vampires. The Cullens are not real. I usually wake up in the morning with the company of three different cook books in my bed {yes, I'm a Polyg-read-ist, don't judge}. The recipes marinate in my mind overnight and in the morning I usually wake with some kind of inspiration for the day.  And then on special days like today, I'll wake up with a downright revelation. 

It's cold. I feel like something sweet..... something chocolatey but warm....What about Hot Chocolate French Toast?... WHAT?! Am I crazy?! That can't be done! Oh, but YES it can....

But, how..?

...and that's why they pay me the big bucks folks {except for the fact 'they' don't.}

Double Chocolate Loaf
Firstly we need to start with a dense, ridiculously chocolatey loaf. Something that will hold up to all that vanilla custard and fried goodness. This is it! It's from my new favorite cook book Baked Explorations. Do yourself a favor, get this one asap. In the meantime, recipe found here.

Now, once you've made this little baby and it's cooled to room temperature, it's time to slice it. Remove the 'butts' of the loaf so that each slice has a moist exposed surface that's able to soak up all that custardy goodness. You should get around 8 - 10 slices of bread per loaf.

Hot Chocolate French Toast
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups of milk
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 bag of Large Marshmallows
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Unsalted butter
Vegetable oil

Preheat Oven to 250 degrees.

Place heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in a bowl and lightly whisk until evenly incorporated and slightly thickened. Pour into your desired serving boat as this will be your substitute for traditional Maple Syrup.

Whip together eggs, milk and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Place as many slices of the loaf into shallow dish with custard mixture and allow to soak in for around 5 minutes turning once. Heat one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of vegetable oil in pan and place soaked bread onto hot skillet. Cook on each side for around 2-3 minutes until crisp and toasty. Place toast on baking sheet in oven until you've finished cooking the entire loaf.

When everything is toasty and delicious, cram as many Marshmallows as you can on top of each slice {I can safely fit around 9, remember they will expand} and place back into the 250 oven for around 5 mins until they get all puffy. Take them out and then blaze with your trusty kitchen torch! If you don't have a kitchen torch, never fear, just place the chocolate toast under your broiler until Marshamallow's are puffed and caramelized on the outside.

Drizzle with vanilla cream...

I'm not playing... this ones a life changer. If you've never made any of my recipes before, you just have to try this. Except you Jeanette, I'm still working on a Gluten recipe for you :)

Happy weekend beauties! Hope it's filled with a sweet love that fills you like this one did this morning!

xo t