There are two recipes which are considered the ‘most asked for’ from guests who have stayed at Horizon Guest House. The first is usually the whole grain hot cereal which we featured in an earlier blog post, and the second, is our delicious Portuguese sweet bread French toast.
The Portuguese sweet bread we usually use in this recipe is made locally at the Punalu’u Bake Shop in Naahlehu, near South Point, less than an hour’s drive south of Horizon Guest House. This type of bread was originally brought to Hawaii by Portuguese sugar workers in the 19th century and is still a favorite in Hawaii today.
Unfortunately, on August 16th hurricane Lala seriously damaged parts of Hawai’i Island, in particular Na’alehu, and the Punalu’u Bake Shop and Visitor Center, which is currently closed as they the assess the significant damage. The bake shop not only produces the wonderful bread we use in our French toast but it is one of our recommended tourist stops on the drive south, and we hope it will re-open at some point in the future.
Until the amazing bread is back in production at Punalu’u Bake Shop we are making our own.
Don’t worry if you aren’t able to find any Portuguese sweet bread, any egg-rich bread, such as challah, will work just as well. The braided egg bread, above, works well for French toast. For the egg bread recipe click here. For this recipe we used a basic challah bread recipe.
The French toast recipe
First, cut the bread into thick (1″ or so) slices.
Soak overnight in the refrigerator in the following custard: (for 6 slices)
Mix the following ingredients well:
6 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1-2 tbs. rum
A pinch of salt
1.5 cup half & half
Pour over the slices and make sure to move them around so the custard soaks in all over the bread.
About an hour before cooking, remove from the refrigerator, turn over and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Fry over a medium heat in a buttered pan until golden. Watch carefully, the sugar can burn. Transfer to the oven and bake at 300 for 15 minutes to finish. If you lower the heat and flip over frequently, you can finish on the stove top.
And serve! (Check out the short video of your breakfast buffet below).
We have heat lamps here at Horizon to keep it nice and warm for when you arrive for breakfast. And don’t forget to top with all of your favorite toppings.
Our favorite toppings here at Horizon are:
Homemade lilikoi syrup, homemade jaboticaba syrup, homemade mango & ginger jam, and of course maple syrup.
Download the recipe here.
Author: Angus Meek
