David Lebovitz’s French Breakfast: Honeyed Cereale Toast

What do our fellow bloggers, writers, and online friends eat, first thing in the morning? This is a series Leela Cyd designed for us a couple years ago, and in honor of Breakfast Week we’re bringing back five of our favorites!

David Lebovitz’s eponymous blog is one of the wittiest, most insightful, and delicious food blogs around. Join us in digging into a simple, yet extraordinary, way of eating toast. Warning: This breakfast might become your favorite any-time-of-day-I’m-feeling-slightly-peckish snack.

David’s blog chronicles the pastry chef and cookbook author’s favorite Parisian haunts as well as new recipes. He writes with such humor and panache, you’ll laugh out loud then maybe drool a little on your keyboard at one of his creative, sweet creations. Homemade Nutella anyone?

David is also a prolific writer and photographer, posting a thorough, lovely post with loads of gorgeous imagery, every few days or so. He’s an incredible voice contributing a great deal to the food blog community, and we’re honored to have him on The Kitchn this morning.

About this breakfast David says:

I have a rather “French” breakfast; always a café au lait (in a bowl, because that’s how one drinks café au lait in France-and as you read in my book, there ain’t no café au lait in the cafés!) I don’t grind my own coffee because I can’t stand the noise in the morning, and I use a Bialetti Moka pot exclusively. I’ve tried the cheaper ones but they just don’t work as well. I make it really strong, then use lowfat milk in my café au lait, which I don’t steam or heat because I don’t like having to cut through foam (ie: air) to get to that first sip of coffee in the morning.

I have a glass of Tropicana “Ruby Breakfast” juice, which I’m not sure is available in the US. It’s a mix of orange juice, pink grapefruit juice and blood orange juice. I always put an ice cube in it because 1) The juice is really strong, and 2) I like it really cold.

To eat I always have 2 pieces of toast, usually some kind of pain aux cereales (I have a few favorite bakeries that make their seeded bread with a lot of seeds in it), and on top I spread salted butter and either some homemade jam or marmalade, but more often chestnut honey. I love chestnut honey because it’s slightly bitter and goes really well with the salty butter.

I should preface this all to say that if I have any leftover cookies, particularly chocolate chip cookies, I’ll often have one of those while I’m making my breakfast as a little snack : )

Later in the morning I will try to have a bowl of mixed fruit with yogurt and homemade granola, just to get me through to lunchtime!

David’s description is so vivid and detailed. As I sat down to indulge in his recommended fare, I was struck at how each element came together, sitting on my table in an elegant manner, tasting remarkably fresh and different.

At first bite of the cereale toast, French butter (I did my best David, not sure if President brand is up to par with what you’re getting over yonder in Paris), I was amazed. The depth of flavor, the textural contrasts, the charmed synthesis of butter and fresh local honey — it was incredible. I could not help but think, the French, they just know how to do everything better.

I know David’s American by blood, but clearly the bon vivant ways of his adopted compatriots are rubbing off on him in all the best ways. I implore you, dear readers, to make this decadent honeyed toast, with all the little accompaniments David prescribes.

Thanks David for contributing to our Breakfast with a Blogger series!

Related: The Perfect Tartine from Anne of Pret a Voyager

(Images: Leela Cyd Ross, photo of David provided by David)