Coconut French Toast with Strawberry Sauce

A few years ago, when times were lean and I didn’t have much extra cash, I made my mom Mother’s Day brunch instead of buying her a gift. To me it was a one time thing, but she loved it so much that this was our third year carrying on with the tradition. Every May I create something new to whip up based on her favorite foods. Not to toot my own horn, but I’m almost positive I outdid myself this year.

Coconut French Toast with Strawberry Sauce

• 1 C shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 C coconut milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 loaf Italian style bread, sliced diagonally into 9-12 thick pieces
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 pint fresh strawberries
• 1 Tbsp honey

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the shredded coconut on a baking sheet, bake for 4 minutes. Stir and return to the oven for 4 more minutes, or until it begins to brown. (I didn’t pay enough attention to mine and it got a little too well done.) In a shallow bowl or casserole dish, whisk together coconut milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt. While your skillet is heating up and the butter is melting, set a few pieces of bread into the custardy mixture to soak. I let mine go for about a minute on each side to suck up as much coconut goodness as possible. Cook each piece until golden brown on each side, which works out to about 10 minutes for each batch. Repeat until all has been cooked.

For the strawberry sauce you can opt to either use a food processor or blender, I was too lazy to drag out my processor and opted for the latter. This couldn’t be easier. Trim the green top off of each strawberry, quarter, and toss into the machine. Add honey and puree until liquid.

To serve, top each serving of French toast with a sprinkle of toasted coconut and a drizzle of strawberry sauce.