This is a progression of two breakfast and brunch recipes. They both have a few things that you may not find in your pantry and fridge however the investment is quite worth the result in the end!
Budget Tip:
It's one of my suggestions to buy fresh fruit when it's buy one get one or on sale and freeze it if possible. One of those items that you can freeze is strawberries. Now, the problem with freezing strawberries is they tend to mush after you freeze them so you can't really put them in a recipe that expects them to be firm. The good news is you can use these strawberries in all kinds of recipes where its OK for them to be a bit mushy such as shakes, strawberry sauces or in something like the recipe that eventually follows: Strawberry and Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast. The key to freezing strawberries? Freeze them whole with the stems in tact. Shake them every now and then to keep them from sticking together. The key to thawing? Depends on what you are doing with them. If you need to cut them up, put them in the fridge until they are just thawed enough to get the knife through hem. Otherwise, you can just let them thaw on the counter or for quite along time in the fridge.
On to the recipes.
Normally, I would re post a recipe that isn't originally mine with my take on the recipe, however in this case, this recipe is PERFECT the way it is so here is the link:
Tiramisu Pancakes: Recipe
http://ivoryhut.com/2010/03/tiramisu-pancakes/
The only personal notes here is that I do usually have to add about 2 TBSP of flour to the pancake batter and I would suggest unless you have a big family to 1/2 the pancake batter recipe.
There are two reasons I'm posting this recipe. One is that it's absolutely FANTASTIC and always a hit. Two is that you only use 1/2 the mascarpone and there is usually a bit of the creme mixture left over which can be used in the next recipe.
Strawberry & Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast: Recipe
OK, so I got this original recipe from another blogger: http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/
You can go to the blog to get an awesome array of recipes!
I made some adjustments however and found that this is a bit more to my taste than the original and wanted to share it because it not only can use some of those frozen strawberries, but it uses the rest of the leftover mascarpone AND you can top it with the creme from the Tiramisu Pancakes recipe! All of a sudden the 4 bucks you spent on the mascarpone cheese is looking a bit more affordable isn't it?
Suggested Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries, freshly frozen, mostly thawed, sliced
1/2 cup or so mascarpone cheese
1/2 cup light fat-free vanilla yogurt
2 TBS sugar
1/2 cup milk
generous sprinkle of cinnamon
1/2 cup milk (i use fat free but I'm sure whole milk wouldn't be awful)
1 egg
bread (you can use french bread but to keep it on the light side I used regular bread such as either wheat or healthy white)
2 cups strawberries, freshly frozen, completely thawed, but sliced for the sauce
Suggested Method of Cooking:
First, I will start by suggesting, if you can preplan the best thing to do is to let 2 cups of strawberries - and really it can be any amount because you are just going to use it for the topping - thaw completely and then store it in the fridge for a day or so. This coaxes all the juices to run out of the strawberries and get naturally sweet. Put these in a small pan and simmer them on the stove while you make the rest.
Mix the mascarpone, yogurt and sugar together and let stand for 10 minutes. The mixture will be a little lumpy but that's OK. Mix in the other 2 cups of strawberries gently. Taste it. It's good right!?!
Combine egg, milk and cinnamon in a flat bowl for dipping in the bread. Now, you can go two ways here. If you don't mind your bread being a little soggy, then put some of the strawberry mixture on the bread pieces and make a sandwich with another piece. Dip it in the milk mixture and fry it up in a skillet with a bit of butter or non-stick spray. If you'd rather your bread be a little more firm, which is the way I like it, dip both sides of 2 pieces of bread and fry them up in the pan first. THEN, when they are done, put the filling in between the slices and put it back in the skillet for a minute or so just to warm it all up a bit.
For serving, simply cut the french toast on a diagonal and pull the two sides apart a bit. Top with the strawberries that have been simmering and then for the coupe de gras: add a generous dollop of the tiramisu creme!
I promise, after you have both of these recipes, you will not mind the investment into a bottle of kahlua or mascarpone cheese.
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