Pumpkin French Toast (Pain Perdu Recipe)

It’s that time of the year again! Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away. The time for fall flavors has definitely arrived. Pumpkin is one of the most versatile ingredients of the season, and today I used it to put a twist on French toast. I prepared a simple custard batter flavored with pumpkin purée and saffron and soaked day-old stale bread. I paired it with a saffron-sweetened heavy whipping cream. The dish is fragrant and flavorful without being overly sweet. It’s definitely a departure from your average pain perdu (literally "stolen bread").

This would be a wonderful treat for Sunday brunch, or for the day after Thanksgiving. I’m making it today for Lulu as a reward for volunteering to take the girls trick-or-treating last night. The girls’ feet started hurting, so he cut the outing short and took them to the supermarket to buy bags of chocolates and candies. That still counts though, right?

Gulab Jamun (Indian Sweets)

Gulab jamun is my husband Lulu's favorite Indian dessert. The sweets are deep-fried balls of dough, bathed in rose (gulab) and cardamom syrup. The texture resembles the liquor syrup-saturated French cake Baba au Rhum.

I've just experienced making my own for the first time and it tasted pretty similar to the ones I've had in the past. I added a few saffron threads to impart a brighter yellow color to the syrup and I didn't add finely crushed pistachios as Lulu's great-aunt does, because of my little sister-in-law's nut allergy.

You can eat them cold, but our favorite way to enjoy gulab jamun is to warm them a bit before serving. It adds another dimension to the dish. Gulab jamun is a bit too rich to eat on a regular basis, but it's perfect for special occasions when you want something more exotic than cake.