French Toasted Apricot Brioche

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 pounds ripe apricots
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1 baked brioche loaf
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups apricot nectar
• 2 tablespoons grated orange peel
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Vanilla ice cream or softly whipped cream (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Lightly butter a large shallow baking dish and sprinkle it with 1 tablespoon of the sugar.
3. Cut the apricots in half, remove the pits and place them, cut side up, in the baking dish, in a single layer if possible.
4. Sprinkle them with 3 tablespoons of the sugar and the brandy.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes, until they begin to brown around the edges.
6. Remove the apricots from the oven and set aside.
7. Meanwhile, slice the brioche into 8 equal slices and cut each slice in half.
8. Beat the eggs in a bowl and stir in the nectar.
9. Stir in the orange peel, 2 tablespoons of the sugar and the nutmeg.
10. Pour this mixture into a shallow dish and add the slices of brioche, turning them so they can soak up the liquid.
11. Set aside.
12. Heat half the remaining butter in a large, heavy skillet or a griddle.
13. Fry the soaked brioche slices to brown lightly on each side, adding more butter to the skillet as needed.
14. Place 2 pieces of the browned brioche side by side on each of eight dessert plates, leaving about 2 inches of space between the slices of brioche.
15. Spoon the apricots into the space between the pieces of brioche and on top of them.
16. Serve at once, with ice cream or whipped cream on the side, if desired.