French toast Ingredients
1 loaf of brioche
4 eggs (Agreeable Nature)
1 cup cream (Holy Cow)
1 tsp vanilla
Butter
Oil (Dunford Grove)
Honey and thyme syrup
6 apricots (Willowbrook Orchard, Earnscleugh Co-op, Rosedale Orchard, and Waitaki Orchard)
Mascarpone to serve
Thyme flowers for garnish
Honey and Thyme Syrup Ingredients
1 cup water
½ cup honey (Blueskin Bay Honey, Bennies Honey)
½ cup sugar
8 sprigs of thyme
Put the water, honey and sugar in a pot and bring to the boil
Add the thyme and continue to boil for another 5 minutes. Turn the syrup off and leave the thyme to steep in the syrup for ½ an hour
Strain the syrup through a fine sieve to remove the thyme stalks and leaves
Refrigerate the syrup until ready to use
In a bowl whisk the cream and eggs. Add the vanilla and transfer mix to a shallow dish to make dipping brioche easier
Slice the brioche into thick slices. Wash, cut in half and remove stones from apricots
Preheat the oven to 120 degrees
Warm the pre-prepared syrup in a pot on the stove
Heat a pan on a moderate to high heat. Add a splash of oil and a knob of butter and then add the apricots cut side down in the pan. Cook until they have a good bit of colour and then turn over. Place the apricots onto a baking tray and place in the oven to continue to cook slowly while cooking the French toast
Dip the slices of brioche into the egg mix, coating both sides. Lower the heat of the pan to a moderate heat. Add a couple of knobs of butter to the pan before adding slices of the egg dipped brioche
Cook the brioche until golden brown and then flip over and do the same on the other side. Place in the oven on a tray if you are doing more than what will fit in the pan at once
Once all of the brioche is cooked. Place 1-2 slices on a plate with 2-3 grilled apricots. Drizzle over some of the syrup and finish with a dollop of mascarpone and some thyme flowers to garnish
