Mascarpone Stuffed French Toast With Peach Compote

French toast made with challah bread that is golden on the outside and fluffy and custard-like on the inside, stuffed with a sweet mascarpone filling and topped with a fresh peach compote.

This incredible breakfast is so beautiful and indulgent, it's just like having dessert. The French Toast is made extra special by using challah bread, which is already so eggy and rich. It gets golden and crisp on the outside but doesn't fall apart when cooked in the egg and milk mixture, becoming like a custard. Using only egg yolks keeps the flavor so clean, but if you want to use the entire egg, it will have that "eggy" flavor, which is great too:). I keep going back and forth between using whole eggs and only the yolks when making French Toast. Stuffed with a creamy and luscious mascarpone cheese filling, that melts a little bit into the bread and then oozes out when you break the French Toast open with your fork. The sweet and slightly tart peach compote is the perfect topping.

It's so delicious, you might be serving this as the dessert at your next dinner party. 

Ingredients:

Peach Compote:

2 ½ lbs peaches, pitted, peeled and chopped (about 4 ½ cups chopped peaches)

¼ - ⅓ cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Cheese Filling:

8 oz mascarpone cheese, room temperature (or cream cheese)

1 Tablespoon granulated sugar

⅛ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

French Toast:

6 thick slices challah bread (1 ½ inches thick, each slice)

1 ½ cups milk

3 egg yolks

1 ½ - 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar

⅛ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

4-5 Tablespoons butter, for cooking the French Toast

Instructions:

Peach Compote

Place the peaches, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 15 minutes over medium low heat. Set aside. You can use a potato masher, blender or food processor to blend it up to a sauce consistency or keep it chunkier.

Mascarpone Filling

In a medium bowl, mix the mascarpone, sugar, salt and vanilla just until combined. Set aside. You can use cream cheese instead of the mascarpone cheese.

How To Prepare the Bread

My favorite bread to use for French Toast is challah bread. It is the perfect consistency. It is soft and tender, but is sturdy enough not to fall apart when dipped in the egg and milk custard. Cut the challah bread into 1 ½ inch pieces, then use a small but sharp paring knife to cut an opening in the center of each piece of bread, stopping just around the edges. Spread ⅙ of the cheese filling in the center of each piece of bread. (If you want the French Toast to be extra creamy and cheesy, use a little bit more mascarpone or cream cheese.)

Making the French Toast Custard

Mix the milk, egg yolks, sugar, salt, vanilla in a shallow bowl or pie plate, big enough to fit the bread.

Cooking the French Toast

Melt about 1 Tablespoon of butter in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

Dip each stuffed piece of bread for about 1-2 seconds in the milk and egg custard, allowing the excess to drip away, before placing it into the hot skillet.  Cook for about 3 minutes, uncovered per side. Add about ½ Tablespoon more butter when flipping the French Toast over. Repeat with remaining bread and custard. If you are cooking a big batch of French Toast, you can keep it warm in a 200 degrees Fahrenheit oven. Place the cooked French Toast on a rack, so that it doesn't get soggy in the oven.

Serve with the peach compote.

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