Challah French Toast "Sandwich" with Mango and Blueberries

At our local grocery store, they sell day-old bread for 50% off.  Obviously, the selection would vary day-to-day.  Sometimes I might be able to find a maple-pecan Danish, on other days an almond croissant.  One day, they had available some raisin challah rolls (Kaiser roll style).  At almost a dollar per roll, they were still pricey.  After all, it wasn’t a Danish or a filled croissant or anything like that.  Regardless, they were still very fresh and perfect for what I was planning for a weekend brunch!

The next day, I made a special version of pain perdu.  Literally translating out to “lost bread,” this staple of brunch menus is actually a way of being able to make do with leftover day-old bread.  Given that, getting day-old challah rolls and making French toast with it the next day was exactly the right thing to do.

• First, split each roll as you would a sandwich roll. 
• Whisk together 2 large eggs, ½ cup half and half, ½ t vanilla extract, ¼ t cinnamon, ¼ t sugar, and a dash of kosher salt.  Let sit to meld flavors together.
• Cube the flesh of half of a large ripe mango or a whole Philipino mango, and combine with ½ cup blueberries.
• In a large griddle, melt a tablespoon of butter over medium heat.  Whisk the egg mixture again to re-mix.  Dip each roll half in the egg mixture and let saturate a bit and then flip over to soak the other side.  Place on the griddle, cut side down first, over the melted butter.  Repeat with rest of the roll halves.
• Be patient with the roll and let sizzle in butter slightly and let the egg-custard mixture soak through.  When first side is nicely browned, flip over.  Lightly press with a spatula so that the very top and bottom of each roll is nicely browned as well.

• Place the bottom half of each roll on a plate, cut side up.  Spoon some mango-blueberry mixture on top, and then place the top half of each roll, this time cut side down.   
• Warm maple syrup in a small pitcher in the microwave for 10-15 seconds and then drizzle around the plate and a bit at the top.  You can also garnish with sweetened mascarpone cream or whipped cream as you wish.

You now have a very special challah roll French toast sandwich for your brunch!