Pound Cake French Toast Stacks with Sweet Goat Cheese Mousse and Warm Balsamic Roasted Strawberries

How was your Thanksgiving, friends?  Mine was wonderful.  I'm still picking the meat off of a smoked turkey carcass and fighting the urge to dig into the remaining coconut pie. (Mom, please stick it in the freezer before I come over and tackle it.) We had one of our three (!) dinners at my brother-in-law's house in the woods.  It is absolutely gorgeous this time of year and some of us even found some treasures buried beneath the crisp fall leaves.

One man's giant acorn is another man's treasure.

I have one more decadent dessert to post before I make myself fast on broth and lettuce leaves until Christmas.  I just felt the urge to get this out of my hard drive and into the blogosphere where it can truly be appreciated.

It probably seems odd to be posting a strawberry dessert at the end of November, but I actually have some very nice looking strawberries in my grocery store right now.  But I bet if you don't have fresh strawberries, you have the frozen ones, and I'm sure they would work just as nicely.  Think of this dish as a cold weather version of Strawberry Shortcake.  I made French toast out of store-bought pound cake slices (oh yes I did), then whipped up a sweet and tangy goat cheese mousse, then layered that with warm strawberries that I roasted in aged balsamic vinegar and sugar.  It was heaven.  And I would be perfectly within my right to eat this for breakfast because everybody knows that French toast is a breakfast food. 

BUT WAIT!!!  There's more!!!

Let's just say that you didn't want to go through the trouble of making French toast out of pound cake slices.  You could easily layer some small cubes of pound cake with the goat cheese mousse and strawberries and put it all in cute little 8-ounce mason jars.  And the great thing about this is that it's instant portion control!

Unless you eat four of them in one sitting, then it's a train wreck.

Could you just die from all the cuteness? 

Here are my notes:

-I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I prefer aged balsamic vinegar, but you can use the regular.

-And if you think you don't like balsamic vinegar on strawberries, you are wrong.

-And if you think you don't like goat cheese, you are wrong.

-And if you think you don't like pound cake made into French toast, well, come one, DON'T BE RIDICULOUS!!!

-The balsamic vinegar and sugar will become thick in the oven and make a syrup.  This is a very good thing. :)

Pound Cake French Toast Stacks with Sweet Goat Cheese Mousse and Warm Balsamic Roasted Strawberries

Printable Recipe

Roasted Balsamic Strawberries:

3 cups sliced strawberries

4 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar

4 tablespoons sugar

Goat Cheese Mousse:

3/4 cup chilled heavy cream

1 (6-ounce) roll goat cheese, softened to room temperature

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Pound cake French Toast:

2 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon vanilla 

8 (1/2 to 3/4 inch thick) pound cake slices

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the strawberries, the balsamic vinegar and 4 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl.  Transfer to a baking sheet and spread in a single layer, making sure to pour all the liquid over the berries.  Roast in oven, stirring several times, for 40 minutes or until strawberries are roasted and syrup is very thick. 

2.      Beat the heavy cream in a medium bowl on high speed until medium peaks form.  In another bowl, beat the goat cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth.  Fold the whipped cream into the goat cheese until combined. 

3.      Whisk together eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla in a shallow dish.   Dip pound cake slices in egg mixture, evenly coating both sides. Cook pound cake slices in batches, in a large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray over medium heat 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  Keep warm.

4.      To serve, place one slice of French toast on each of 4 plates, then place a dollop of goat cheese mousse on top.  Spoon some of the warm strawberries over the top, then place another slice of French toast on the strawberries.  Place another dollop of mousse and top with more strawberries and syrup.  4 servings.