Chef Jacques Pépin is well-versed in French cuisine and often shares his methods and recipes — breakfast foods included — with his fans. Though French toast likely originated in ancient Rome and not France, Pépin is still pretty knowledgeable about it, as showcased by his unique French toast recipe that uses ice cream unconventionally.

Once his French toast has finished cooking, Jacques Pépin places the slice back on the plate to soak up melted vanilla ice cream for an ultra-indulgent finish. He then tops the whole thing off with some banana slices and maple syrup, making for a sweet and delicious breakfast.

"The beauty of it," Pépin says, is that "you can do it with strawberry ice cream, chocolate ice cream — it would be a bit different for a French toast." You can even experiment with different ice cream flavors and toppings to customize your breakfast, such as chocolate ice cream combined with peanut butter spread or vanilla ice cream and sliced peaches.