Banana Bread French Toast

Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously butter a 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pan.

Sift first 3 ingredients into a small bowl. Using an electric mixer, cream butter in a large bowl until light. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add mashed bananas and lemon juice and beat until well blended. Mix in dry ingredients alternately with milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Mix in pecans. Pour Batter into prepared pan. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes. Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Turn out onto rack and cool completely. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Wrap tightly and refrigerate.) Cut bread into 3/4" thick slices.

Preheat oven to 250F. Whisk eggs, cream, sugar, vanilla, and spices in a large bowl until blended. Melt 1 tb butter in a heavy large skillet over medium heat. Place some bread in the batter and turn to coat thoroughly. Add bread to skillet. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer French Toast to a cookie sheet, place in oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining bread slices and batter in batches, adding more butter to skillet as necessary. Serve French Toast with maple syrup.