The circular recipes: panettone French toast, baked apples and molasses

Summary

• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation: 40 min
• Serves for: 4 people
• Cost: Low

Ingredients

For the French toast

• 4 thick slices of leftover panettone cake
• 2 eggs
• 200 ml milk
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• Butter to taste for cooking

For the cooked apples

• 3 medium apples
• 1 cinnamon stick or cinnamon powder
• Water to taste.

For the waste molasses

• Apple peels and cores
• Scraps and edges of panettone
• 100 g sugar
• Water to taste.

Proceedings

• Start by preparing the cooked apples. Wash the apples, peel them and keep the skins and cores aside. Cut the flesh into large, even pieces. Place it in a large pan, add the cinnamon stick, optional, a few drops of lemon, and a small amount of water, enough to cover the bottom. Cook over low heat for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are soft but not flaky. Turn off the heat and keep aside, saving any cooking liquid.
• For the molasses, place apple peels and cores in a blender along with the panettone scraps. Cover with water and blend until smooth, then strain the mixture through a fine strainer or clean cloth, collecting the liquid. It should result as a flavored water.
• In a small saucepan, melt the sugar dry or with a tablespoon of water until an amber, almost brownish caramel is obtained. Slowly pour in the strained liquid, stirring carefully. Return to the heat and let reduce over a gentle flame until the molasses reaches a syrupy, glossy consistency. Turn off and allow to cool.
• Move on now to the French toast. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the milk until smooth. Dip the panettone slices, letting them absorb the liquid without flaking. Drain them slightly and dip them in sugar on both sides.
• Heat a nonstick skillet with a knob of butter and cook the panettone slices over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes per side until the surface is golden brown and caramelized and the interior is soft.
• To serve, arrange the hot French toast on the plate, add the cooked apples as an accompaniment and top with molasses obtained from the scraps.

Circular kitchen and long cycle

This recipe fits within a long cycle logic, in which ingredients that have already been processed and are close to losing their value are reinserted into the kitchen system through new uses and meanings.

Leftover panettone, the quintessential symbol of the festive season and often destined to be wasted in the days following the celebrations, is salvaged and turned into French toast, taking on a completely different function from its original one.

Similarly, apples are enhanced in their entirety: the pulp becomes accompaniment, while peels and cores, normally considered waste, enter a second transformation in the form of molasses, further extending the life cycle of the ingredient.

The recipe thus activates a cascading dynamic, in which each processing step generates by-products that do not leave the system but are reused in subsequent preparations. Processing also plays a central role in terms of shelf life: cooking, sugar concentration and reduction allow ingredients to be stabilized, making them storable for longer and usable at different times.

The result is a dish that demonstrates how the home kitchen can function as a small circular ecosystem, capable of prolonging the shelf life of food, reducing waste and enhancing the seasonal memory of the holidays, turning what remains into a new opportunity for conscious and creative consumption.

Photos by Alessia Dinatale