Banana Rum French Toast in a Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Batter

My significant other finished taking the California Bar Exam this week! Since I know from personal experience what a tremendous triumph this is, I decided to indulge him this weekend with all sorts of fun surprises and activities...Since he is a huge specialty beer aficionado, this includes an afternoon trip to Monk's Kettle, but first--a breakfast treat!!

This french toast involves soaking sticky cinnamon bread in a vanilla rum batter and then grilling them to crisp perfection with a coating of mashed bananas...seriously, people, what could be better?!

INGREDIENTS:

* 3 eggs (I used egg substitute)
* 2 Tbsp. heavy cream or half & half
* 1.5 Tbsp. dark rum (I used Meyers)
* 1 tsp. Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla (never use fake extract! you will know the difference when you use the real thing...)
* 1 banana, cut in half (use one half for the batter and one half for topping)
* 5 or 6 slices of sticky cinnamon bread
* 1 big handful of pecans, toasted

DIRECTIONS:

* Whisk together the first 4 ingredients.
* Add the half of banana and mash it into the batter.
* Soak the slices of cinnamon bread until thoroughly coated.
* Place on a hot griddle or pan and cook till done.
* Top the slices french toast with slices of the rest of the banana, toasted pecans, and, of course, maple syrup and powdered sugar for garnish if you feel like being naughty!

Serves 2 naughty, indulgent people on the weekend! :)