French Toast Baked in Honey-Pecan Sauce

When I was still single I went to a bridal shower for a friend and someone gave her the cookbook Intercourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook. I looked it over and was hooked. Who cares if I didn't have a honey? I wanted the food! So I got the book and my roommate and I had some pretty awesome dishes from it - strictly platonic - while watching things like Friends and Ally McBeal.

After Ed and I married, we have gotten the book out on occasion and made a dish together on Valentine's Day or our anniversary. But even though these foods are supposedly seductive (chapters on pine nuts, strawberries, black beans, rosemary, etc.), there are some seriously good recipes in there for any time or relationship.

This is one of my favorite, and definitely most-made, recipes from Intercourses (from the Honey chapter.) Especially if I have half a loaf of French bread sitting around that would otherwise go stale. Just put it together at night, bake it in the morning. Yummy deliciousness - or, as the book calls it, "puffy clouds of ecstasy" - for everyone!

French Toast Baked in Honey-Pecan Sauce
4 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 T brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 thick slices French bread
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup chopped pecans

1. Combine the eggs, half-and-half, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a small bowl. Pour half the mixture into a baking dish. Place the bread in the pan and top with the other half of egg mixture. Refrigerate, covered, overnight.
2. The next morning, preheat oven to 350. Melt the butter in a 9x13 baking dish and stir in the brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, and pecans. Add the soaked bread slices. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until puffed and brown. Serve immediately, with sauce from the dish.