French Toast with Caramel Sauce

I forgot to post this last year. When our friends came round (and we baked cookies) the girls had a sleepover while the parents got some alone time. Alaina and Tegan are great kids and I wanted to surprise them by getting up early and making a special breakfast. Unfortunately they are morning people (at least Tegan is) so I couldn't really surprise them. But I still banned them from the kitchen, so at least the type of food was a surprise.

I made French toast. We had a loaf of crusty, white bread (sort of like a Pullman loaf) that I sliced into thick(ish) slices. For the eggy mixture I used milk, eggs, orange juice, orange zest, a bit of sugar and a generous pinch of cinnamon. I dipped the bread in the orange-y, eggy mixture so that it was soaked through but not quite soggy, if that makes sense. Then I just fried them up in butter. I usually use olive oil, but it was a treat and I figured at that point the butter wasn't what made it unhealthy. Instead of maple syrup, which is difficult to come by in the UK and very expensive when you do find it, I served the French toast with apple caramel sauce. No one seemed to mind the substitution. And everyone had seconds.