Pumpkin-Gingerbread French Toast with Lemon Sauce

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        It is that fun time of year when I get to cook Christmas food and using my Christmas bowls adds to the festive feeling. 
        The photo above shows my preparation to try out a new idea!  I had been reading an article about gingerbread french toast on a blog called Vegging at the Shore.  I loved the idea because I love french toast.  As I thought about it, I wondered if it wouldn't be delicious to make the french toast out of real gingerbread.  Then, to take it a step further, how about Pumpkin Gingerbread, since I had some pumpkin in my fridge?  So, I went to Pinterest and searched for a recipe for Pumpkin Gingerbread and of course, I found many recipes.  I settled on this one from Simply Recipes.  It came out beautifully! 

If you want to use this recipe for breakfast, make the loaf the day before.

Nice and hot out of the oven.

You are going to have to hide it in order to save it for the next day's breakfast.

      The recipe calls for raisins, but you can easily leave them out. Also, if you would rather use regular gingerbread instead of pumpkin gingerbread for the French Toast, that would probably taste great, too.

     After I made the bread, I started wondering about what to serve it with.  I love just butter and powdered sugar on my regular french toast, but I wanted to make this a little more special.  I remembered that when I was a kid and my mom made us gingerbread, she would serve it with what she called "Lemon Hard Sauce."  I don't know why it was called hard sauce, there was no alcohol in it.  But, it was delicious over gingerbread and other cakes, so I decided that is what I would make to go over this french toast instead of a maple syrup.

       Do you have one of these lemon squeezing gadgets?  My son-in-law introduced me to them. I love it.
​         Here is the recipe for the lemon sauce.  It is super easy.  Kind of like a lemon curd when it cools, but I made it before I made the french toast and kept it warm to serve.

Lemon Sauce

           This recipe makes quite a bit, so if you have left-overs, store the sauce in a jar in the fridge for a couple of weeks and use it like a jam on toast or English muffins.

            Once the lemon sauce it made, start making the french toast.  I made my regular egg mixture, but added spices to it like cinnamon and ginger.  Or, you could use the recipe that Marci gave on her original recipe. 
Slice your bread, and carefully dip it into the batter and fry on a hot griddle. (I like my cast iron, like this one.) The bread is kind of tender, so be gentle.

     Here is how I served it:  I still love the idea of powdered sugar and butter, so I put that on first.  Then, I spooned the lemon sauce over it all. 

          I think that this would be such a festive breakfast to serve on Christmas Eve morning.  I love Christmas Eve, the anticipation is so high and it is fun to eat a breakfast that totally speaks of the holiday, to listen to holiday music, watch your favorite Christmas movies one last time, to look at the lights on the tree, whisper your secret surprises, read some special Christmas books, and make the day magical for your kids.  To make that day happen, you have to plan ahead! You could always make the bread now and freeze it! 

         Remember to save your leftover lemon sauce to use later. 

Kind of pretty!

           If you have any bread left, they are great the next day together, not even as french toast! 

You can see that I used raisins in my bread, but you don't have to.

         If you love French Toast as much as I do, you will love this recipe! Whether you serve it on Christmas Eve, or anytime, I hope you enjoy it.