EwE - Mango Stuffed Challah French Toast - Stuff It!

For Eating with Ellie this week, Peggy chose the theme of Stuff It!  I lucked in, because I have just bought a new Ellie book that had the perfect recipe in it. 

I already owned two Ellie books, but because Ellie is not well known in Australia, her books are not readily available other than through mail order sites, and they are expensive - $40 plus a book.  However, one day a couple of weeks ago, I just happened to wander into The Book Grocer on Bourke Street at lunch time.  The Book Grocer sells remainders for $10 each.  I was really just passing time when I ran my eyes over the shelves - and lo, there was a stack of Ellie's Comfort Food Fix.  Bonus!!  I clarified the price ($10!) and I was sold.   Some of the other Ellie cooks have used this book and I knew it had some great recipes, so I am so pleased to add it to my collection.

For the Stuff It! theme, there is a recipe in Comfort Food Fix for Mango Stuffed Challah French Toast.  Perfect!!  I already had the mango (it is summer here), although I had to buy the cheeses and the bread.  I hit a snag with the challah, because I tried 4 supermarkets and no-one had it.  My local Woolworths normally sells challah, but of course, when I went to buy it, they did not have it.  Having already done the rounds of supermarkets near where I work the day before, I was not going to walk miles up the road to see if Glicks, the Jewish bakery, was open on a public holiday, so I looked around for alternatives.  I chose a pane di casa, which to my surprise was a very nice loaf, even though it was the supermarket's own brand.

I made this for brekky the next day before work (yep, I did!! so quick), and loved it.  When Ellie says that it is ambrosial, I'd have to agree with her.  A thick slice of bread has a pocket cut into it, which is stuffed with a mixture of cream cheese, ricotta, diced mango, honey and cinnamon.  It is then pan-fried in egg and milk.  You are supposed to top the whole thing off with maple syrup, but I forgot, and anyway, it didn't need it - the French toast is just the perfect amount of sweet as is.

While I don't think it would be wise to eat this every day, despite it being lower calorie than regular French toast, it was delicious, and perfect as a sometimes treat.  When mangoes are out of season, I think tinned peaches would be a fine substitute (or tinned mango, but I often find tinned mango to be tart).

To see what everyone else made this week, visit the LYL section of the Eating with Ellie website.