Toast for Dessert.

I think that we under-appreciate and therefore under-use toast in this day and age. - at least, I know I do. “Dutch Toast”, and toast has appeared, and occasionally starred, in too many previous posts to link to at this point. I am forced to admit that toast in my own household is most likely to function as the vehicle for Vegemite or Marmalade or Avocado or Toasted Cheese. Toast is, of course, capable of much more. For dessert, even.

German Toast, for Dessert.

Cut in thick slices a loaf of stale bread – baker’s is best; lay it in a deep dish. Beat four eggs, and add to a quart of milk; pour the liquid over the bread; let it stand until it is all absorbed; then lay the slices on a buttered griddle, and fry them to a delicate brown. Serve hot, with rich sauce. Bread prepared in the same way and baked, is very good.

Ballou's Monthly Magazine, Volume 17 (American) 1863

Cherry Toast.

Stone and stew a quart of ripe cherries, sweeten them, place some slices of buttered toast in a deep dish, and put the stewed cherries over them. A little powdered cinnamon or grated nutmeg may be put on the toast.

Domestic Cookery, Useful Receipts, and Hints to Young Housekeepers,

by Elizabeth E. Lea (Baltimore, 1859)

Lemon Toast.

Take yolks of six eggs, beat well, add three cups sweet milk. Take baker's bread, not too stale, and cut in slices; dip them into the milk and eggs and lay into a frying pan with sufficient melted butter to fry a delicate brown. Take the whites of six eggs, beat to a stiff froth, adding large cupful white sugar; add juice two lemons, heating well and adding two cupfuls boiling water. Serve over the toast as a sauce, and you will find it a delicious dish.

How we cook in Tennessee ... Comp. by The Silver Thimble Society of the

First Baptist Church, Jackson, Tenn. (1906)

Custard Toast.

Dip slices of stale bread in plain custard and fry brown in hot fat. Sift powdered sugar

The Railway Agent and Station Agent: A Monthly Magazine (1898)

Banana Toast.

Prepare narrow slices of bread, two for each person. Butter them and spread half of them in a baking pan. Then cover them with thin slices of banana neatly arranged and cover with the other slices. Put in the oven until the bread is brown. Then lift each little sandwich carefully to a plate and serve with lemon sauce, well sweetened.

The Daily News (Perth, WA) Monday 12 October 1936

Toasted Chocolate Sandwiches.

Mix together ½ cupful each of sugar and grated chocolate. Cream ½ cupful of buttcr and with it spread 14 slices of bread. Sprinkle each slice with 2 tablespoonfuls of the chocolate mixture and toast them. Match the pairs and toast the outsides of the sandwiches. Cut each sandwich in thirds after it is on the plate and garnish it with a tiny paper cup of salted almonds, allowing ½ of an ounce of nuts for each portion.

Advocate (Burnie, Tas.) 4 August 1928

Apricot Marsh Mallow Toast

This is another recipe that can be used as a dessert toast. Soak 6oz. of dried apricots overnights and stew in the same water until tender. Drain, press through a sieve and place in a small saucepan. Add 3 tablespoons of sugar and stir over the fire till steaming hot. Pour on to hot buttered toast and place a marshmallow in the centre of each slice. Put in the oven for n few moments until the marshmallows are slightly brown.

Narandera Argus and Riverina Advertiser (NSW) 18 August 1939