Cheesy Cornbread French Toast with Bacon and Avocado
Photography Manja Wachsmuth.
A delicious take on French toast – this easy, moist cornbread is dense and flavoursome and best made a day ahead for easy slicing.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
1½ cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1½ teaspoons sea salt
1 cup instant polenta
1 tablespoon finely chopped thyme or rosemary
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1½ teaspoons smoked paprika
pinch of chilli powder or cayenne pepper
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons canola oil
200 grams cottage cheese
To assemble
2 eggs
3 tablespoons milk
butter and vegetable oil for cooking
To serve
hot cooked bacon (we use Freedom Farms)
1 avocado, peeled and sliced
handful of baby salad leaves
purchased tomato chilli jam or relish
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
Grease a 24 cm square cake tin and line the base with baking paper.
Sift the flour, baking powder and soda together into a large bowl and stir in the salt, polenta, thyme, sugar, paprika, chilli powder, cheese and the corn kernels.
Whisk the eggs, milk, oil and cottage cheese together then add to the flour mixture. Using a large metal spoon, fold together until well combined but don’t over mix.
Spoon the batter into the tin and smooth the top.
Bake for 23-25 minutes until the top is golden and the bread is firm to the touch. Don’t overcook or the bread will be dry.
Cool completely before removing from the tin.
To assemble: Cut the cornbread into 2 cm thick slices. Beat the eggs and milk in a shallow dish and season well. Dip both sides of the bread in the egg, letting the excess drip off.
Heat a sauté pan with a little butter and oil and cook the cornbread until golden and crusty on both sides. Drain on kitchen towels.
To serve: Layer the cornbread, bacon, avocado and salad leaves on each plate and serve with the tomato jam. Serves 4 with leftover cornbread
Cook’s tips: Cornbread will keep well wrapped in plastic wrap for 3 days in the fridge or 1 month in the freezer.
Avoid using tinned sweetcorn kernels as they have already been cooked and are too soft for this recipe.
Keep up to date with
dish weekly recipes,
food news, and events.
Related Content
latest issue:
127
In Dream Escape, we journey from Japan and Morocco to Italy, India and beyond, sharing recipes inspired by travel, heritage and comfort. We celebrate the champions of the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, explore the stories and recipes of chefs shaped by their cultural roots, and warm up with everything from West African soups and slow-braised lamb to porchetta, butter chicken and beef noodle soup. Alongside destination menus, Scandinavian sweets and cosy pub classics, Chrisanne Terblanche shares her favourite street-side dining spots in Bangkok, while Yvonne Lorkin explores red wine varietals. This issue, we invite you to slow down, turn the pages and escape through food.