Now that's a breakfast!

A number of years ago, in more fun times, I was on one of the many hillwalks with my friends Pauline and Andrew, on this occasion in the Cairngorm in the highlands of Scotland.

We had just finished and were heading out of the hills when we popped out of the forest into a settlement called Rothiemurcus and headed straight into a small cafe there called the Ord Ban. Sadly the Ord Ban is no longer, but on that day Andrew and I had the most fabulous treat.

They served up this delicious French toast with smoked bacon and a sweet sauce ladled over it. It was heavenly, and the other day I recreated it as a treat for breakfast.

Here's what you need:

2 think slices of wholemeal bread. The artisan type, not the soft floppy type by Sunblest or the likes.

1 egg. If you can find them, duck eggs are the best.

6 rashers of good quality smoked bacon.

Real maple syrup.

Toast the bread. Beat the egg then coat all sides of the toast in the egg. Fry in olive oil. Grill the bacon until it's how you like it, then stack a plate with the toast, bacon, more toast and the last of the bacon. The finishing touch is to smother it in maple syrup.

Fantastic!

It brought back fond memories.

I believe that this dish originated in Canada, which doesn't surprise me given that maple syrup is key to this dish.

Enjoy.

As an aside, an alternative venue for breakfast, should you find yourself up near Rothiemurcus in the shadow of the Cairngorm, is Glenmore cafe just five miles up the road. Their bacon rolls are legendary and you get a free show of Scotland's cutest mammal coming down to feed right at the windows of the cafe, the red squirrel.

Hoping to get back there some time soon for the autumn colours in the surrounding forest.

Photo by Gary Lowes