March Madness is upon us

While the rest of the nation has been filling out their brackets with their favorite college basketball teams, we’ve been stuffing our brackets (and bellies) with French Toast. About this time last year, we announced our French Toast Challenge, and since then French Toasts from around the globe have been battling it out for French Toast supremacy. We made 13 in all, but only four can be selected for the big dance.

But before we get to the competitors, it wouldn’t be March Madness without some controversial snubs by the selection committee. Miss A and Mr. N did a fantastic job on the selections, but two French Toasts found themselves on the wrong side of the bubble despite having strong performances. Romanian French Toast, a savory style French Toast surprised everyone, but fell just short of making the cut. The most controversial decision, though, was the omission of Bananas Foster French Toast. A top pick in the preseason, they fell short as the committee decided that two banana recipes was too many. Fans of Bananas Foster complained of the committee’s hypocrisy and argued that if they were in the top four, they should have been given a bid. Mr. N and Miss A were having none of it, though.

But enough of the also-rans. Here are the brackets:

Bracket Blank

The first matchup pairs top-seeded Bermuda French Toast against Pumpkin French Toast. We made both of these again and tried them side by side to see who would come out on top.

The Bermuda French Toast was the prohibitive favorite, and really the inspiration for the challenge. Bermuda didn’t bring its A game. The oranges were a little mild and the orange flavor didn’t come through as strong as it can, while the bread didn’t seem to cook evenly and was a little tough in spots. Still, this recipe has so many weapons.

Bermuda French Toast

The Pumpkin French Toast was the last entry to be selected into the challenge, as it was a surprise favorite when we made it the first time.

Pumpkin French Toast

For the first few bites it looked like the upstart had a shot at pulling an upset and becoming a tournament Cinderella, but in the end, Bermuda’s overall excellence pulled out the Round 1 victory.

Bracket 1

Bermuda better execute better in the finals if they hope to win the title, because next week we’ll pair second-seeded Blueberry Stuffed French Toast against the three seed, Grand Greenlandic French Toast. I’m not going to try and pick a winner, but I will predict we’ll eat all we make and French Toast fans will cheer like crazy along the way.

IMG_9646

37 thoughts on “March Madness is upon us”

  1. Charles says:
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    Looking forward to seeing the winner guys! Do you still make the winner of the banana bread championship? Is it still your favourite? Just think… if you continue like this you’ll have a vast collection of “tried and tested family favourites” in ten years time. You could put them into a book 🙂

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  8. Purely.. Kay says:
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    How did you guys have a March Madness French Toast challenge and I couldn’t eat any? LOL. I love the Bermuda french toast as well… it’s making my mouth water completely 🙂

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    • ChefDad says:
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      Mr. N has a picture on his wall that I just noticed yesterday that looks almost identical with the same pose and same expression but a different vacation and different beach.

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  13. Three Well Beings says:
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    Oh boy! I have listened to March Madness talk all weekend and when it comes to basketball, I’m lost! But I can get very excited about a French toast playoff! My guess is that I would still have found a way to get the pumpkin one in no matter what, but to be fair I need to give the Bermuda French toast to play fair! 🙂 What a fun post, Kristy!

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  14. Kelly @ Inspired Edibles says:
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    Relishing this sports lovers post complete with tidy brackets and all – (feel like doing a cut and paste for my hockey pics ;-)). Awesome Chef Dad! I feel fully caught up – sideline controversies and all – and ready for the final dance. I hope the whole family is enjoying March Madness to the fullest and look forward to the next installment!

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  18. ChgoJohn says:
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    First Gonzaga and now I learn that Bananas Foster didn’t make the cut. Oh, the brackets! Never has a March seemed so mad. I eagerly await to the next round, even as I look to next year when Bananas Foster return to the Big Dance.

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  21. sallybr says:
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    Best thing of landing back in the US is being able to indulge in my favorite blogs… yeap, you guys make THAT cut easy! 😉

    Looking forward to the development of this exciting March madness!

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