Warmth Against the Chill: Celebrate Holiday Brunch with French Toast Clafoutis and Brandied Plums

French Toast Clafouti with Brandied Plums/Photo: Monica Kass Rogers

Whatever your cultural background, the last months of the year are packed with festivities that generate goodwill. Thanksgiving, Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas, New Year’s… These sparkly bits of the season bring warmth against the chill.

With friends and family gathering, special brunches are on the roster. But what to make? Thoughts of a nice baked French toast put me in mind of two other favorite things: brandied plums and clafoutis, the not-too-sweet French dish of fresh fruit baked in custard. Why not omit the flour from the clafoutis custard recipe, quick-brandy the plums and combine the two in a sumptuous version of overnight-soaked French toast? Why not, indeed!

This festive pan full of custard-plummy goodness trumps standing at the stove flipping French toast to order when you really want to be singing carols in the other room with everyone else. And while true brandied plums take weeks to set up, macerating the fruit in sugar and brandy overnight before tucking it in with the toast for its bake still yields spirited flavor. I use Italian prune plums (prunica domestica, sold as Empress plums) in this recipe because they hold their shape better than other varieties, but you can substitute any of your favorite plums. Because more is better here, I roast extra plums with brandy, lemon zest and sugar to serve alongside the French toast.

A little tip: If you’d like to make true brandied plums for a boost through the coming winter doldrums, all you need is a pound of plums, pitted, quartered and mixed with one and one-half cups of brandy, one-half cup of sugar and a vanilla bean.

As my Mom did making rumtopf, I put the mixture in a crock and place it in a dark room with a heavy plate pushed down over the fruit to keep it submerged beneath the liquid. Within three weeks, the plums soften into boozy splendor, ready to be enjoyed.

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients

French Toast

1 lb. loaf of brioche, cut into thick slices
3 tbsp softened butter, divided, plus more as needed
6 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1 cup cream
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla paste
¼ tsp. almond extract
Pinch of salt
Confectioners’ sugar, to dust finished toast

Brandied Plums

12 Italian plums, pits discarded, cut in half
Zest of one fresh lemon
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup brandy
1 ½ tsps. vanilla paste OR 1 Madagascar vanilla bean

Brandied Plum Sauce

12 Italian prune plums, pits discarded, quartered
Zest of one fresh lemon
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup brandy
1 ½ tsps. vanilla paste or 1 Madagascar vanilla bean

Preparation

Prep Custard and Brioche

Evenly coat the inside of a two-quart baking dish with one tablespoon of butter. Spread remaining two tablespoons of butter on the tops of the brioche slices, using more butter if needed. In a large bowl, whisk eggs. Add milk, cream, sugar, vanilla paste, almond extract and pinch of salt. Whisk again until smooth and well incorporated. Working one slice at a time, dunk the buttered brioche in the custard to soak it a bit, and, starting at the back of the dish, shingle the slices (upright and tilted slightly backward) in the dish, overlapping as needed. Pour the rest of the custard over the bread. Press tops down a bit to help them soak up the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Macerate Plums in Brandy

In a medium-sized bowl, mix twelve quartered plums with zest of one fresh lemon. In small bowl, whisk one-third cup brandy with one-third cup brown sugar and one and one-half teaspoon of vanilla paste. (OR if using a vanilla bean, split bean, scrape seeds into brandy mixture and add bean to the fruit.) Pour liquid over the fruit and mix well. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Make Extra Plums!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. From second brandied plum recipe (plum sauce) listed above, mix twelve quartered plums with zest of one fresh lemon. Whisk one-third cup brandy with one-third cup brown sugar and one and one-half teaspoon of vanilla paste. (OR if using a vanilla bean, split bean, scrape seeds into brandy mixture and add bean to the fruit.) Arrange halved plums cut side up in a nine-inch pie dish; add brandy liquid. Roast in oven for forty minutes, occasionally basting the tops of the plums with the juices. Remove from oven. Cool.

Bake French Toast

In the morning, an hour and one-half before you want to serve the toast, place oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place a pan that is larger than the two-quart baking dish of French toast on your counter; center the French toast dish inside the larger pan. Remove and discard plastic wrap from macerated plums and custard. Carefully pry apart the slices of soaked bread and insert the macerated plums between slices. Cover the top of the French toast baking dish with foil and place in the larger pan. Place pan on oven rack. Carefully fill the larger pan with boiling water until it comes half of the way up the outside of the baking dish. Make sure the foil doesn’t touch the water. Bake at 350 degrees for thirty minutes. Remove foil. Continue baking for twenty to thirty minutes until custard has completely set and toast is golden brown. Remove from oven. Once cooled a bit, dust with confectioner’s sugar. Serve warm with the extra roasted plum sauce and dollops of whipped cream, as desired.