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Growing up, Cinnamon Toast was considered a treat, not something we ate
for breakfast. I don't know why, maybe it was because anything covered in
sugar couldn't possibly be considered regular fare. Even today, I still
think of cinnamon toast as something special, a perfect comfort food that
I make on cold or rainy days, or when I am feeling a little under the
weather. I enjoy the whole process of both making and eating cinnamon
toast. I love how the whole kitchen fills with the delicious smell of
browning bread. I love slathering the hot, golden brown toast with butter,
sprinkling on the cinnamon sugar, and then placing it under the oven's
broiler, impatiently waiting for the sugar to melt and bubble. I love eating
cinnamon toast while the sugar is still hot and delightfully crisp yet
underneath the toast is wonderfully chewy. And I especially love having it
with a steamy cup of Hot Chocolate.
I know many think Cinnamon Toast is so easy that a recipe is
hardly needed, but there are differing opinions as to how it should be
made. Its long history attests to that fact, for as British food writer
Jane Grigson tells us
in her lovely book 'English Food', as far back as 1660, Robert May in his 'The Accomplisht Cook'
has a recipe for 'Cinnamon Toafts' that calls for putting a mixture of
cinnamon, sugar and claret on toast and then warming it over the fire. So, while the recipe I have given here is how I like cinnamon
toast, it is by no means the only way to make it. So to begin with my preference is
to use a good white bread, one that is sliced, but not too thick. You
can toast the bread in a regular toaster, but I prefer to use the oven's
broiler, where I can carefully watch the bread to get it toasted just
until it is golden brown on both sides. Then I slather one side of the
toast with a good unsalted butter, making sure that the butter comes right
up to the edges of the crust. I then sprinkle the surface liberally with a
cinnamon sugar mixture (you can use either white or brown sugar and adjust
the amount of ground cinnamon to taste) and place the toast back under the
broiler until the sugar begins to melt and bubble to form a lovely glaze.
Now, while cinnamon toast is usually eaten straight away while it is still
hot, I have been known to sneak leftovers hours later when the toast
has cooled and become deliciously soft and chewy.
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