While attending a conference in Washington, D.C. a few months ago, I met up with a friend for brunch at Tatte Bakery & Cafe‘s City Center location. I ordered the French toast and was absolutely blown away! Tatte’s French toast is housemade Challah bread soaked overnight, and it was topped with this ricotta goat cheese mousse, raspberry jam made in-house, strawberries, mint, and toasted almonds. It was simply sumptuous and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since! So, I decided to make my own version at home and it’s pretty close to the amazing Tatte version. If you’re looking for a good recipe for a Valentine’s Day Brunch, this one may do it for you!
What You’ll Need
Challah French Toast
Challah bread – I found a loaf at Trader Joe’s and at a local natural food market. If you cannot find Challah bread, you could try making your own loaf or substituting with French bread or Brioche bread.
Large eggs – I know these are a luxury these days with the recent egg shortages and resulting price increases! I used mine for this recipe (and gave the meal to my husband as an early Valentine’s Day treat).
Heavy whipping cream
Milk
Pure vanilla extract
Brown sugar
Salt
Cinnamon
Goat Cheese Mousse
Softened Ā goat cheese
Softened cream cheese -You could substitute ricotta cheese if you like!
Honey
Optional Toppings
Fresh mint
Fresh raspberries
Toasted almonds
Powdered sugar
1. Prep your egg mixture.
Whisk the eggs, heavy whipping cream, milk, vanilla extract brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon together to make an “egg mixture.”
2. Soak the Challah bread in the egg mixture.
Soak your Challah bread slices in the egg mixture. You can pour the mixture over the slices and let them soak for about an hour. If you do not have that much time, you can dip each side of the bread into the egg mixture for about thirty seconds.
3. Cook the French toast.
Heat oil in a large pan over medium-low to medium heat. Cook each side of the toast for about 3 minutes. Be careful not to overload your pan with too many slices, as it will make it difficult to flip your bread!
4. Prepare your goat cheese mousse.
Using a hand mixer, beat the goat cheese, cream cheese, and honey together until it forms a mousse. You can use ricotta if you want your recipe to more closely resemble the Tatte version.
5. Top your French toast with the mousse and additional toppings.
Top each slide with the goat cheese mousse, raspberry jam, toasted almonds, and sprigs of mint. You can dust some powdered sugar over the entire dish if you want a little more pizazz!
I made smaller plates for my littles so they could enjoy this meal, too!
Enjoy!
Challah French toast with Goat Cheese Mousse
Notes
If you cannot find Challah bread, you can use Brioche bread or French bread for this recipe. Brioche bread will soak up the egg mixture quickly. French bread may need to soak in the egg mixture longer than Challah bread.
Ingredients
- 8 one-inch wide slices of Challah bread
- 4 large eggs
- 5 tbsp heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp brown sugar (packed)
- Dash of salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 8.5 ounces goat cheese (softened)
- 6 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 5 tablespoons honey
- Fresh mint (optional, for garnishing)
- Fresh raspberries (optional, for garnishing)
- Toasted almonds (optional, for garnishing)
- Powdered sugar (optional, for garnishing)
Instructions
- Cut eight one-inch wide slices from the Challah bread loaf.
- In a deep bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.
- Soak the bread slices in the egg mixture for one hour in the refrigerator. If you are pressed for time, you can dip each bread slice into the egg mixture for about 30 seconds on each side.
- Preheat a large pan over medium heat with oil.
- Place battered slices into the preheated pan. Cook for 3 minutes each side.
- Prepare the goat cheese mousse by beating the goat cheese, cream cheese, and honey together.
- Layer the goat cheese mousse on each slice, and top with fresh mint, fresh raspberries, toasted almonds, and powdered sugar. Enjoy warm!
