Oklava Bakery + Wine’s Pistachio French Toast Recipe.
Selin Kiazim and Laura Christie’s new all-day eaterie in Fitzrovia borrows popular concepts from the original Oklava in Shoreditch – you’ll find the traditional Turkish baked fare, alongside breakfast and brunch dishes like whipped feta on toast; and daily changing pasta dishes and Pide specials. Excitingly, it’s open for dinner, too, serving new dishes such as the Tepsi kebab. There’s even a delectable wine list drawing from vineyards in Turkey, Armenia, Lebanon, Georgia and Greece.
The perfect spot to treat Mum on Mother’s Day. Or, if you’d prefer to spoil her at home, how about a spot of breakfast in bed? We’ve persuaded Selin to share one of her favourite brunch recipes – guaranteed to be well received!
Ingredients
For the French toast
2 eggs | 1.5 tbsp sugar | Pinch salt | 200ml milk | 50ml double cream | 4 slices good quality bread, thick sliced | Knob of butter | 4 tbsp lightly toasted, ground pistachios
For the syrup
75 grams caster sugar | 75 ml water | ¼ tsp orange blossom water
For the banana jam
200g dark brown sugar | 200g caster sugar | 4 ripe bananas, peeled and roughly chopped
For the tahini cream
3-4 tbsp tahini | 250g mascarpone
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°c.
- Whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt, milk and double cream. Place the slices of bread in this custard mix and soak for at least an hour.
- To cook, melt the knob of butter in a frying pan and place the soaked bread into the pan, cook over a medium heat until golden brown. Place on a tray in the oven and cook for 5 minutes, or until the custard is set.
- To make the orange blossom syrup, put the caster sugar, water, and orange blossom in a small saucepan over a medium heat, reduce to syrup consistency (approx. 105°c in temp). If you do not have a thermometer you can test the consistency by putting a little bit of the syrup on a plate and placing in the fridge to cool down – it should hold its line on the plate.
- To make the banana jam, gently heat both the sugars over a medium heat until caramelised. Add the bananas and cook on the lowest setting until the bananas break down and completely collapse. The sugar will go dark brown in colour, this is okay, but catch it before it goes black. Place into a blender and blitz until smooth. Allow to cool down before placing in the fridge to chill completely.
- To make the cream, gently fold the tahini into the mascarpone. Add enough tahini to suit your taste buds.
- To serve, flip the French toast over and brush with the orange blossom syrup. Sprinkle over the pistachios. Serve with banana jam and tahini mascarpone on the side.
64 Grafton Way, W1T (020 7383 3717; oklava.co.uk/oklava-bakery-and-wine)