Banana French Toast With Berry Sauce And Cashew Cream
I’m so happy to share this recipe for banana french toast with you. It requires only a handful of ingredients and tastes amazing. The technique I’m going to show you is virtually un-burnable and you only need the tiniest amount of oil!
If you head over to my Instagram page, you’ll find an Instagram Live Cook-along for this very recipe, so if you fancy some company in the kitchen, feel free to cook this one with me!
I made lots of different versions before I settled on this recipe, because I had some very specific requirements.
It was important to me that this recipe was reminiscent of the french toast my mum used to make me and my sister when we were kids. A bit soft in the middle and caramelised on the outside. I also wanted to make sure this recipe was foolproof in terms of not burning everything! With such a sticky batter, it’s really easy to get the timing wrong with French toast, by either flipping it too soon (the batter just sticks to the pan) or leaving it too long (it burns and there’s no going back). Sometimes, if you put your bread into the pan when it’s not hot enough it’s game over before you’ve even started :(.
Luckily, the method that I’m about to share with you has plenty of room for error, so it’s much harder to mess it up! We start by making a batter which has a freakishly eggy consistency without the egg. After dipping our bread in the batter, it goes into the oven briefly. This allows the outside of your french toast to dry out slightly, so that when it goes in the pan, there is much less chance of sticking and burning! You have the opportunity to flip multiple times until you get the golden colour you want. It’s great!
The eggy texture is largely due to tapioca or corn flour and ground flax. Both of these add a gooeyness which firms up when cooked, just like egg. For a bit of hyper-realism you can add a pinch of turmeric to your batter so it looks even more like the non-vegan version.
You might be surprised to see nutritional yeast in the ingredient list, since it’s most commonly used to create cheesy flavours in vegan dishes. In this recipe, it adds a subtle savoury-ness and helps to recreate the flavour of non-vegan french toast. Trust me, the finished product won’t taste of cheese, or egg.
To top the French toast, I love a drizzling of mixed berry sauce and a good dollop of cashew cream. Both are incredibly simple to make and add a delightful boost of nutrients to your dish.
The mixed berry sauce is made using a simple combination of…. mixed berries (would you believe), chia seeds, water and an optional splash of maple syrup if you feel it’s needed. The great thing about making your sauce in this way, is that it’s incredibly simple, you can use whatever you have to hand (I always keep frozen berries in the freezer) and if you leave the leftovers in the fridge overnight, it will firm up into a lovely jam you can use for the next few days.
If you don’t have or aren’t into cashews then I recommend a good dollop of dairy-free yogurt. If you are going to make it, you’ll need to use enough ingredients for your blender to catch. This means you’ll probably end up with more than you need for your French toast. But don’t worry, because cashew cream is great for so many things!
Just a few things you could do:
make a cheese sauce
add creaminess to pasta dishes or stews/soups
add more water and turn into a creamy cashew milk
add to smoothies
add flavourings like zest or spices
turn into sour cream with a little lemon, salt and garlic powder
If you don’t think you’ll eat your leftover cashew cream within a few days, freeze it in an ice cube tray and then when completely frozen, store in tupperware in the freezer.
As far as additional toppings go, the options are endless. Some of my favourite things to sprinkle, drizzle or dollop include:
nut butter (thinned out with a little water)
maple syrup
chopped fruit
nuts and seeds
cacao nibs
desiccated or flaked coconut
dried fruit
chocolate chips
In terms of the bread you use, you’ll need to make sure it’s fairly sturdy. Something like a sourdough or a nice rustic loaf should do the trick. Even better if it’s a few days old. If you can tap it on a table it should be fine. Soft, floppy sandwich bread on the other hand could end up being a little soggy. That said, it should still taste good. There’s no gluten in the batter so as long as you choose a nice gluten-free bread, it’s easy enough to make this French toast gluten free!
Ingredients
For the Banana French Toast
1 large ripe banana
6 tablespoons plant milk of choice
1 tablespoon tapioca flour or cornflour/cornstarch (this is white and not to be confused with cornmeal which is yellow)
1 tablespoons ground flaxseed (ideally golden, but brown will work too)
1 +1/2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1-2 teaspoons maple syrup (plus extra to drizzle at the end)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Tiny pinch of turmeric for colour (optional)
2-3 large slices of sturdy bread cut in half
For The Mixed Berry Sauce
1 cup frozen berries
1/4-1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1-2 teaspoons maple syrup (optional)
For The Cashew Cream *
1/2 cup cashew nuts soaked in water overnight in the fridge
1/4 cup water
squeeze of lemon
*double this recipe if you have a large blender and see notes above about how to use/store leftovers
Extras
Any additional toppings you fancy, such as fresh or dried fruit, seeds, coconut, chocolate chips, nut butter.
Method
Begin by preheating your oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and line an oven tray with parchment paper.
Now make your berry sauce by combining the berries and enough water to get everything to blend.
Then simply transfer to a bowl and stir in the chia seeds. As it sits, the mixture will thicken.
To make the cashew cream, discard the soaking water from the cashews and rinse them well.
Combine the cashews with fresh water and lemon and blend until smooth. If you want the mixture to be runnier, just stir in a little more water. No need to keep blending.
Set both the berry sauce and cashew cream aside for now.
To make the banana French toast, begin by adding the tapioca flour or cornflour and ground flaxseed to a small bowl and slowly add the milk, whisking as you go to avoid lumps.
In a separate bowl, mash your banana really well with a fork. Keep going until it’s as gooey and smooth as you can get it.
Slowly pour the milk mixture into the mashed banana, again whisking to get it as smooth as you can.
Add the nutritional yeast, maple syrup, cinnamon, salt, vanilla and turmeric (if using) and mix mix again.
Take your first piece of bread and submerge one side of it in the batter. Hold it there for about 3 seconds then do the same on the other side. Then lift it and let any excess drip into the bowl for a couple of seconds. Your bread should be quite saturated with the batter.
Place the bread onto your parchment paper and repeat the dipping process with the rest of the bread.
Now bake the bread in the oven for 5-7 minutes.
When it’s time to remove your bread from the oven, it should have dried out slightly on the surface, just enough to touch it without getting wet fingers. When you add it to the pan, it will go face down, so it will be this drier surface that makes contact with the frying pan.
Heat up a pan on a medium heat with a tiny drop of oil. Really no more than 1/4 teaspoon should be fine.
Once your pan is hot, add 2-3 halves of bread face down and cook for about 3 minutes before flipping and cooking for another 3 minutes on the other side or until golden. Your bread shouldn’t stick, but use a sturdy spatula and a firm hand when you turn it just in case. You might want to have a peek underneath your bread after about 2 minutes to check your heat isn’t too high.
Once you have flipped your toast and it’s nearly done, add a drizzle of maple syrup to the surface and then spread it all over with a spoon before flipping once more for about 10-15 seconds. Repeat on the other side. This will really caramelise the outside of your french toast.
Repeat the frying process with the other pieces of bread.
Serve with your berry sauce, cashew cream and any other toppings that you like.
Store any extra cashew cream, berry sauce or batter in the fridge for a few days.