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In my 20 years of cooking, I've found that one of the hardest jobs a chef has to face is a breakfast or brunch service, particularly on weekends. It comes fast and furious - you've never seen so many eggs pass by your eyes in such a short period of time. Having said that, brunch is my meal of choice on the weekend, and there's a lot more to it than just eggs.

This leads me to one of my all-time favourite brunch items: French toast. When I was a child, there were two choices: bacon and eggs or French toast. Of course, the French toast that we are all familiar with is the classic white bread dipped in egg and browned in a pan, served with maple syrup. One of the things I have always loved about French toast is the sweet component of maple syrup.

With this recipe, I have increased the richness by substituting plain white bread with brioche. Brioche is a bread composed of a high content of eggs, butter and sugar. By using brioche, plain French toast develops into a richer, more succulent, sweeter dish. But what I really love is the combination of sour cream mousse, candied pecans and bourbon maple syrup.

If you find there are too many steps to the recipe, you can simply use plain sour cream, sweetened with a touch of sugar - but don't lose the bourbon maple syrup. I highly recommend taking the time to find a pastry shop that serves brioche in loaf form. If not, a sweet fruit bread will work as well. If all else fails, you can always go back to your standard white bread, Texas-toast style. This is for the next time you feel like being indulgent and serving up a sweet treat.

BRIOCHE FRENCH TOAST

WITH BOURBON MAPLE SYRUP, SOUR CREAM MOUSSE

AND CANDIED PECANS

What you need

Candied Pecans

2 cups pecan halves

4 tablespoons simple syrup

Pastry Cream

1 cup milk

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup cornstarch

Mousse

3 sheets gelatin

½ cup pastry cream

¾ cup sour cream

2 cups whipping cream

¼ cup sugar

Maple Syrup

¾ ounce bourbon

1 cup maple syrup

French Toast

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1/3 cup whipping cream

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ vanilla bean, pulp only

8 slices brioche, 1-inch thick

4 tablespoon unsalted butter

Icing sugar, for garnish

What you do

Candied Pecans

Preheat oven to 325 F. Toss pecans in simple syrup, then spread out on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake in the oven, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until sugar on pecans is dry. Remove and allow to cool. Will keep in an airtight container for two to three weeks.

Pastry Cream

Combine milk and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then remove from the stove. Whisk together egg and cornstarch in a bowl until well combined. Temper the egg mixture (so that it doesn't curdle) by whisking in one tablespoon of the hot milk mixture. Do this twice more. Add the remaining milk mixture and whisk well. Return the milk and egg mixture to the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring well, for two to three minutes, or until thick. Remove from the stove.

Mousse

Soak gelatin leaves in a bowl of cold water for one to two minutes or until softened. Take out gelatin leaves and squeeze out any excess liquid, then place them in a stainless-steel bowl sitting on a small saucepan of boiling water over medium heat. Whisk in pastry cream. Remove from the stove and stir in sour cream, mixing well. In a chilled bowl, whisk together whipping cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Fold into the gelatin mixture. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Maple Syrup

Mix together bourbon and maple syrup in a bowl. Adjust the amount of bourbon to suit your taste.

French Toast

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, vanilla extract, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Transfer to a blender and puree. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Add vanilla pulp to egg mixture and whisk well. Transfer mixture to a flat-bottomed dish and add brioche slices to soak for five minutes on each side. Melt butter in two large ovenproof frying pans on medium heat. Add brioche slices and cook for about 10 minutes, or until golden. Turn over brioche slices, then place the frying pans in the oven for three to four minutes or until nice and golden.

To Serve

Place two brioche slices on each of four warm plates. Drizzle bourbon maple syrup, then garnish with candied pecans, sour cream mousse and a dusting of icing sugar.

Serves 4

Rob Feenie is a cookbook author in Vancouver and an Iron Chef America champion.