Crunchy Maple French Toast with Maple-Whiskey Butter

Make maple-whiskey butter. This can be made ahead of time and will keep for several days in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen. Put corn flakes in a Ziploc bag and securely close bag, pressing flat so that there are no air pockets in the bag. Place bag on counter, and with a meat mallet (or a heavy rolling pin) crush the corn flakes in the bag to create fine crumbs. Don't worry if crumbs are not uniform size. Pour onto a plate or into a pie pan. Set aside. In a flat dish (I use a Pyrex pie pan) big enough to accommodate several slices of bread, add eggs. Whisk in maple syrup, cinnamon, cardamom, and scraped vanilla bean. Slowly add milk and half and half to mixture, whisking briskly until milk is thoroughly incorporated and egg-milk mixture looks foamy. Heat your skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. I use a cast-iron griddle that fits over two electric burners. I can cook 6-8 pieces of French Toast at a time. Add four slices of bread to egg-milk mixture, turning them, so that all surfaces are coated. Let them soak for about 30 seconds. If your bread is very dry, let slices soak for a full minute. Pick up a slice of bread. It should feel wet but not thoroughly saturated. Add each slide of bread to plate of corn flakes. With your fingers, press bread down lightly into the corn flakes crumbs and turn bread from side to side until all surfaces are coated with corn flakes. Put corn flakes-encrusted slices of bread on a large plate or cookie sheet. When griddle or skillet is hot but not smoking, add butter. Brush butter as it melts, with a silicone pastry brush, over surface of hot grill. Add as many pieces of battered and crumbed bread as will comfortably fit into your pan or griddle. Cook slices of bread, undisturbed, for about 90 seconds to 2 minutes, then flip. Cooked side should be golden brown and look nice and crunchy. Turn heat down if crumbs on French Toast are looking blackened. Cook second side of bread for same amount of time, then remove to serving platter. Serve immediately with pats of maple-whiskey butter, fresh sliced strawberries or other berries (blueberries are nice) and, if you really want to gild the lily, warm maple syrup. Enjoy! In small bowl, add butter, maple extract, whiskey, sea salt, and brown sugar. Mix with a large spoon until well combined. Add pecans and stir into butter. Take butter out of bowl and place on one end of a sheet of plastic wrap about 14 inches long. Fold sides of plastic wrap over butter, then wrap plastic wrap tightly around butter, forming butter into a log. Chill butter in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes, so that it firms up just slightly.