Raspberry-Cinnamon French Toast

Pandemic Easter. No church (we don't attend regularly, but Lily was looking forward to the Easter egg hunt at the Bench Community Center, which is cancelled). No family gathering. Just us — me, Mason, Lily, Tom, Hank — and an egg hunt in the backyard that I organized at midnight using plastic eggs filled with candy and coins, hidden in bushes and under lawn chairs and in one case inside a garden bed, which Lily found immediately because Lily knows every inch of the garden.

Mason, at nine, has reached the age where he suspects the Easter Bunny is not real but is not yet ready to confirm his suspicion, which means he hunts eggs with the dual consciousness of a child who wants to believe and a scientist who knows better. He found twelve eggs. Lily found fourteen, because Lily hunts with the competitive intensity of a child who has been placing in horse shows and applies the same drive to everything including egg retrieval.

Tom was there for Easter morning — a first, a holiday shared, another step in the integration of his life into ours. He helped me hide the eggs (at midnight, whispering, trying not to laugh, stepping on Hank who was confused about why we were in the yard at midnight). He sat at the breakfast table and ate cinnamon rolls with my children and drank coffee from my mug (I gave him the "World's Best Mom" mug because it was clean and the irony delighted me). He fit. He fits in this house, in this kitchen, at this table. The fitting is not forced. It's natural, the way water fits in a riverbed — it just goes where the space is.

I called Mom. She and Dad are isolated in Twin Falls — no visitors, no outings, just the two of them in the house with the garden and the kitchen and fifty years of marriage. She said, "We're fine. Your father is watching westerns and I'm baking enough bread to feed an army." I said, "Same, Mom. Same." She laughed. Two Dawson women, three hours apart, baking bread during a pandemic. The genetic programming is strong.

I made Easter dinner: roast lamb with rosemary and garlic, roasted potatoes, green beans, and a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (Mason's request — he's moved beyond lemon into the broader citrus-and-spice category). The lamb was Tom's first time eating my cooking at a holiday table, and he looked at the plate and said, "This is the kind of meal I want to eat for the rest of my life," and I heard what he said and I heard what he meant, and both were welcome.

We had cinnamon rolls that Easter morning — the kind from a tube, which I am not ashamed of, because sometimes you are hiding eggs at midnight and you use the dough that does not require you to think. But the spirit of that breakfast table — Tom in the “World’s Best Mom” mug, the kids still in pajamas, Hank underfoot — is one I want to be able to recreate on any given Saturday. This Raspberry-Cinnamon French Toast is my answer to that. It’s the kind of breakfast that turns a regular morning into the kind your kids remember, and the kind that makes whoever is sitting at your table feel like they belong there.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

8 thick slices brioche or Texas toast
3 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
2 tablespoons raspberry jam
1 tablespoon water
Powdered sugar, for serving
Maple syrup, for serving

Instructions

Make the raspberry sauce. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, combine raspberries, jam, and water. Stir gently and cook for 5–7 minutes until the berries break down and the sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat and set aside.
Make the custard. In a wide shallow bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sugar until fully combined.
Heat the pan. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Work in batches to avoid crowding.
Dip and cook. Dip each bread slice into the egg mixture, letting it soak for about 20 seconds per side. Place in the skillet and cook 3–4 minutes per side until golden brown and cooked through. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter when starting the second batch.
Serve. Plate the French toast, spoon warm raspberry sauce over the top, dust with powdered sugar, and serve with maple syrup on the side.

Nutrition (per serving)

Raspberry-Cinnamon French Toast — The Easter Morning Tom Fit Right In