This last weekend we had another fun market at the West Side Farmers Market in West St. Paul. Not as much foot traffic this weekend, yet we still had a good amount of sales and sold almost all the bread we came with so I consider that a great day!
My main objective for farmers markets or any vendor sale has always been the same: get good bread to people. I just want people to enjoy it as much as I enjoy it. That’s what keeps me baking so even if I don’t sell out, I’m ok.
But alas, you didn’t read this to hear about my very generic philosophy on bread, you came here for that click baiting title about focaccia french toast!
Above is the focaccia pre bake!
This weekend at the market we were placed next to a vendor who was new to me. He and his partner had both plants and art work. What a cool combo! So naturally conversation started up during a lull in customers. I don’t think I actually caught his business, just his instagram @chef_in_the_garden. Hopefully I can tag him in a social media post later!
As the market began to wind down, I still had some items left over despite a fairly decent day of sales. Specifically, I had some apple cinnamon sugar focaccia that nobody seemed to want despite how delicious it is! Alas, it sat on my table alone and in need of a good family to consume it.
The apple cinnamon sugar focaccia is very simple recipe. It’s my base focaccia with dried apples, cinnamon, and sugar sprinkled on top before pressing the dough into the classic shape of focaccia. It’s very good by itself, however, I’ve always toyed with the idea of some sort of glaze on top. I’m not really a glaze or frosting guy which has definitely held me back from trying that out for this focaccia. Regardless, I figured if someone bought it they could always make up a glaze for it if they so chose to!
So, after some talking with my market neighbor, he expressed interest in the focaccia. I gladly gifted him some, but he demanded I take a plant in return. I left the plant selection to my wife who is far more knowledgeable than I am in anything plant related.
The next day after the market, I received a text from the market manager. She said that my vendor neighbor chef in the garden wanted to send me a message and she passed along his number. I reached out to him and he sent me back the most delicious looking photo of my focaccia.
So there you have it! Focaccia french toast! Obviously after he sent me this, I needed to make it myself and wowza. It does not let down! This is absolutely a fantastic use for this focaccia and I’d 100% recommend it to everyone.
I made some french toast with both the regular and the apple cinnamon sugar. The latter being the better of the options for french toast but both were still delicious!
I won’t post a recipe for the french toast because I mostly measured with my heart on the ingredients. Milk, eggs, vanilla, some brown sugar. Hopefully this inspires you to make some french toast with your focaccia!
Big Stretch Bakery 