French toasts with banana in mini cocotte

What we know here as torrijas is known as French toasts in the English-speaking world and as pain perdú in France. In all cases, it is a matter of using bread or biscuits from the day before , but in the case of French toast and pain perdú, they are cooked in a frying pan with a little butter and are lighter than traditional French toast fried in oil.

Today's recipe is a version of the popular French toast but using croissants and baking them in the oven in mini cocottes . As you can see, it is a very easy recipe to make that is really delicious accompanied by caramelized banana. It's addictive!

Set of two cappuccino cups with star pattern and Le Creuset ceramic mini-cocottes

Ingredients (for 6 people)

• 6 butter croissants cut into 2cm thick slices
• 2 bananas cut into slices
• 8 large eggs
• 2 cups of cooking cream
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon Madagascar vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Salt

For the caramelized banana:

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 bananas cut into 1.5cm thick slices
• Icing sugar for decoration

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Arrange the croissant slices in six mini-cocottes , inserting a few banana slices between each layer.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until thoroughly combined. Pour the mixture over the slices in the mini-cocottes, making sure they are completely covered with the mixture.
4. Bake for about 10-15 minutes. You'll know it's ready when it has puffed up a bit and turned a bit golden.
5. Meanwhile, combine the butter and sugar in a Le Creuset saucepan and stir over a medium heat until it begins to brown. Add the bananas and stir for 5 minutes until caramelised.
6. Once the mini-cocottes are removed from the oven, place a few slices of banana in each mini-cocotte and sprinkle a little icing sugar on top before serving.