Hallo, and Coconut Encrusted French Toast

Aaaaaaand we're back! I've had a few friends try to talk me into getting the food blog back up and running, but for a while, I had approximately three jobs and was planning a move to Germany and then adjusting to said move. So, it's been a bit busy. But now, I've adjusted to my new life and and my terrible attempts at the German language and not getting lost in Berlin all day, errrrrryday.

There are definitely some adjustments that I've had to make—with different ingredients and measurements and other factors. For instance, cream cheese is lighter here and doesn't make as dense and thick of a cheesecake. Additionally, you can't find the brown sugar that we know and love (people always think I'm talking about turbinado sugar which is not even close) in the bigger grocery markets, but you can find it in some Asian markets. How am I supposed to make chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar?!? Also, the granulated sugar is beet sugar, not cane sugar. These are only a few examples, and I'm sure I'll talk about more of them over time. So, this blog will be about new recipes, and different things I'm learning from living in a "new to me" place and also food love from my travels.

On to the goods...

As a freelancer, I have the luxury of working from home. Which means sometimes I make a fancy breakfast for myself because, I do what I want! American-style breakfasts aren't readily available and I needed some french toast. So I did a search through the recipes that I've clipped over the years and found this one from Two Peas & Their Pod. I obviously had to make some adjustments due to using what I had on hand—also, note that the coconut or "kokos" you can find here is different than the sweetened flaked coconut you can find in the states, which the original recipe calls for.

Coconut Encrusted French Toast

Batter:
3 eggs
3/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup coconut flakes (we only have this kind here)
6 slices of whole-grain, nutty bread

Maple butter:

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup butter

Coconut yogurt sauce:

1/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup yogurt

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of ground nutmeg

Blueberries for serving

Directions:
1. In a shallow dish, whisk together the eggs, coconut milk, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Place the shredded coconut on a plate. Dip both sides of each slice of bread into the egg mixture and poke holes in bread so it absorbs some of the batter. Dip both sides of the coated bread into the shredded coconut. Drizzle a little egg mixture on top of the coconut to make it stick to the bread.

2. Meanwhile, heat a large non-stick frying pan or a griddle to medium to medium-high heat. Cook the slices of bread until golden brown on one side and then turn and cook the other side.

3. Serve with maple butter, coconut yogurt sauce, and blueberries. (I also suggest fresh ginger or "ingwer" tea and poached eggs on the side—breakfast is the best/most important meal of the day, so get it proper!)