French Toast Layer Cake

I love me some French toast! If I'm going out for breakfast, it's almost a guarantee that that's what I'm ordering, with a side of bacon of course.

I've been thinking for a while about how to make a French toast cake and so far any recipe I found just involved adding an extra egg or two and some cinnamon and calling it a day. That sounds okay, but French toast has so much to do with the texture, so just adjusting the flavor doesn't quite do it for me.

But then I realized we've all been thinking about this the wrong way...why are we not just French toasting the cake itself??

So I gave it a shot using my vanilla cake. I was totally prepared for it to completely fall apart or to end up a soggy disaster, but no, it was perfect. <3

I paired this beauty with some maple flavored American buttercream that uses both maple syrup and maple extract. When I gave some to my husband to sample, he asked me how I got it to taste like bacon. Bless his heart. No, there is no bacon in the buttercream, but the combination of butter and maple clearly stirs up some other favorite breakfast tastes along with it.

To start your French toast cake, you'll need two layers of a 6" or 8" round vanilla cake. I wouldn't try frying anything bigger than an 8" cake. You can use your own favorite vanilla cake recipe if you like, but results may vary. You can find my recipe here.

Start by leveling your cake and gently cutting away the "crust" that forms on the bottom. This will help let the egg mixture absorb into the cake layers.

Then split each cake layer in half so you have four thin layers to work with.

Using a pie dish, dip each layer on each side into the egg mixture until fully coated, but don't allow to sit more than a couple seconds.​​

Fry each piece in butter over medium heat until golden brown. It may take a little longer than French toast usually does due to the size of the pieces, but be patient and don't be tempted to turn the heat up too much! Make sure you have an extra wide spatula handy for flipping the pieces.

Once the fried cakes have thoroughly cooled off, ice with maple buttercream, drizzle with maple ganache, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

For a cinnamon French toast cake, I like to set aside 1/4 of the buttercream and mix it with 1 tsp of ground cinnamon and use that as the filling.

French Toast Layer Cake
Vanilla Cake (2 6” or 8" rounds) 
6 eggs
½ cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla
Butter for frying

1) Prepare your vanilla cake by leveling the top and trimming a small amount off the bottom. Split each layer in half.
2) Whisk eggs, milk, and vanilla in a pie dish.
3) Dip each slice of cake in egg mix until coated on each side.
4) Fry each slice with butter over medium heat until golden brown.
5) Let cool completely before icing.
 
Maple Buttercream
226 g (1 cup) Butter (room temperature)
250 g (2 cups)  Powdered sugar, sifted
2 Tbsp Maple syrup 
1/2 tsp Maple flavor
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)

1) Using an electric or stand mixer, cream butter until smooth.
2) Slowly add powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
3) Mix in maple syrup and maple flavor.
4) Optional - Set aside 1/4 of the buttercream and mix with 1 tsp of cinnamon to use for the cake filling.

Maple Ganache
1/3 cup White chocolate chips
1 Tbsp Heavy cream
1 Tbsp Maple syrup
1/4 tsp Maple extract

1) Melt white chocolate chips and cream in the microwave, stopping every 15 seconds to stir, until smooth.
2) Mix in syrup and extract.
3) Use a spoon or pastry bag to drizzle over the sides of the cake.

Let me know how you enjoyed the recipe! Tag me @JuliesSugarMagic and #JuliesSugarMagic on Facebook and Instagram and follow me for more recipes like this!