Turn Last Night's Leftover Cake Into Decadent French Toast For Breakfast

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Preventing food waste is now more essential than ever. When it comes to stretching your sweet treats into new meals, even the most dried-out cake can be useful in your next dessert. Much like repurposing cake scraps into dessert sandwiches with a frosting filling, you can simply reuse leftover pieces of firmer style cakes to make a decadent and irresistible French toast.

Use leftover pound cake or other confections of a similar texture and density for this. Start by cutting the cake into thick slices, sticks, or pieces. Next, toss the cake in a sweetened egg batter just like you would with any other French toast recipe, and cook it on the griddle to let it crisp up on the outside, leaving a tender and sweet cake on the inside.

There's certainly no shame in making the most of your leftovers, and this is an especially practical way to use leftover cake for an indulgent brunch or breakfast food. You can even dress up your toppings with wholesome additions to round out your meal. Let the flavors of your leftover cake and favorite brunch dishes inform your choice of ingredients.

Using the basic cinnamon and vanilla flavors of a French toast recipe as a jumping-off point, consider adding a dash of fall spices to your egg batter and a topping of apple pie filling for your cake transformation. This would work especially well with a denser type of spice or apple cake. Similarly, if you've got a portion of leftover lemon pound cake to which you'd like to give the French toast treatment, try a spoonful of lemon curd on top or even just a simple sprinkle of fresh lemon zest over your French toast prior to serving. The most important part of this trick to using up leftover cake is making sure the cake itself is dense enough to hold up to an egg custard batter and griddle cooking.

This would also be an excellent method for transforming leftover holiday fruitcake into a more palatable breakfast or treat. Drizzle it with pure maple syrup and a gentle sprinkle of powdered sugar for even more familiar French toast tastes.

On the healthier side, use plain Greek yogurt and a sprinkle of granola atop your French toasted cake leftovers. Fresh fruits or preserves would also make a nutrient-rich topping for your breakfast. Served with a side of eggs and lean proteins such as turkey bacon or sausage would also help to round out the meal. Any way you choose to enjoy it, leftover cake French toast is a new must-try.