Bread

1. In a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
2. Add the milk, sugar, eggs, butter, salt, and 2 ½ cups of flour and beat until smooth.
3. Stir in the remaining flour, one cup at a time, until the mixture forms into a soft dough.
4. Keep the mixer running for roughly 6-8 minutes or until the dough is completely smooth and elastic and doesn’t stick to the side of the bowl.
5. Transfer dough to a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.
6. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size for 1 hour.
7. Punch the dough down and divide in half.
8. Roll each half into an 18-in. x 8-in. rectangle.
9. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and allspice.
10. Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture over the dough. Roll up the dough starting from the short side.
11. Place seam-side down in a greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pan. Repeat for the second the piece of dough.
12. Cover both loaves and allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
13. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
14. Bake loaves for 25-30 minutes or until the tops turn golden brown. Remove from the pans and cool loaves on wire racks.

Tip: For the best French toast, you want to make this loaf a day or so ahead of time. That way it will be able to soak up more of the egg mixture when you go to make French toast.

French Toast

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and extract.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or cast iron skillet over medium-high flame.
3. Dunk each slice of bread in the egg mixture, letting each piece soak for a few seconds.
4. Place two to three pieces of bread into the pan and cook on both sides until golden brown.
5. Serve hot with the compote and whipped cream.

Compote

1. Combine the blueberries, water, sugar, balsamic vinegar, and cinnamon in a small saucepan.
2. Cook over medium heat for about 15 minutes, or until all the berries are cooked down and the sauce is starting to reduce.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water.
4. Carefully whisk the slurry into the pan, stirring to combine.
5. Cook for a minute or so more. Remove from the heat.
6. You can either serve it warm or put it in an airtight container