French Toast, Pamela's-Style

In which Lauren turns whole wheat bread into something very, very unhealthy

Pamela's doesn't have a website. It doesn't take credit cards. The servers don't wear uniforms. The chairs don't match, and they sometimes serve your coffee in a Styrofoam cup. But when you taste the pancakes, you understand: Pamela's doesn't care about this stuff, because Pamela's doesn't have to. The pancakes will keep you coming back.

Pamela's pancakes are somewhere between crepes and regular pancakes: spongy and absorbent in the middle with crunchy edges that disintegrate in your mouth in buttery explosions. You can order them plain, or you can fruit them up like me, with the diner's signature blend of berries, brown sugar and sour cream. Steal a lacy, crumbling edge piece off my plate, and be prepared for my wrath. These are the Helen-of-Troy of pancakes.

My former college roommate Lisa is taking a workshop in the 'Burgh this weekend, and she's free on Sunday morning. A two-time Pamela's champ, Lisa is not one to miss the chance for the Pamela's hat trick. As we made plans to meet there tomorrow, she said, "You know, I did a pretty good job recreating Pamela's pancakes at home."

Amazingly, I had never attempted this feat myself. Which got me thinking last night: Lauren has eggs. Lauren has sour cream. Lauren has brown sugar. And Lauren has glistening organic blackberries burning a hole in her counter. What Lauren doesn't have is the will to create a shabby reproduction of Pamela's perfect pancakes.

And thus, Blackberry French Toast was born.

Pamela's-Inspired Blackberry French Toast
Makes 2 servings

2 eggs
A few good splashes of milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 slices whole wheat bread
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup sour cream
6 tablespoons brown sugar
6 oz fresh blackberries

Whisk together eggs, milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Dip the slices of bread in the egg mixture one by one, then let them sit in the bowl for a few minutes until all of the mixture has been absorbed. If you are worried things will get too mushy, flip the stack of bread over a few times.

To keep the toast warm, set your oven to 200 degrees and put an oven-safe plate in there. You can eat this cold, but it's so much better warm. If you are feeling really Martha Stewart, warm your serving plates as well.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter and add three slices of the bread to the skillet. Grill until the bread has enough integrity to flip and is light brown on one side (3-4 minutes), then flip it. While the second side cooks, top each slice with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. When the second side is brown and the sugar has started to melt, stack the three slices up and transfer them to the oven. Repeat with the remaining butter and bread.

Arrange three slices of bread on each serving plate. Top with two tablespoons of room-temperature sour cream and half of the blackberries. Serve immediately.

Learn from my mistakes:
1. Don't try to flip the toasts until they have enough integrity to go on the spatula. When they go onto the spatula easily, chances are they are golden brown on the bottom. Perfect.
2. Do not entertain thoughts about how you made perfectly healthy whole wheat bread into what is essentially a sugary dessert while consuming your French toast. Shut up and enjoy it.

You can find Pamela's P&G Diner at four guaranteed locations in Pittsburgh: the Strip District (21st Street), Squirrel Hill (5813 Forbes Ave.), Oakland (3703 Forbes Ave.) and Shadyside (5527 Walnut St.). I can neither confirm nor deny rumors of a fifth location in Millvale. Also, I am pretty sure that French toast is on the menu, but... the pancakes...