Cooking Lesson #750: The Best Custardy French Toast

…from the Perspectives’ Kitchen

How you doin’? I don’t know about you, but I like my French Toast to be creamy and custard like. I use a lot more egg and cream than most recipes call for. You can finish-cook it two ways—in a fry pan or in a large rectangular baking dish that finishes more like bread pudding than traditional French toast.
 
With my recipe you can either use fresh or stale bread. There are so many great uses for stale bread. Panzanella, the rustic Italian bread salad, is a versatile way to use it up. Another great use for stale bread is to make it the base of a savory or a sweet breakfast casserole bread pudding. The stale bread works well in these recipes because the moisture in the wet ingredients rehydrates the stale bread.
 
The quickest way you can make French toast is to dip the bread in an enriched egg and cream mixture and fried in a fry pan in butter. It is as delicious as any breakfast or brunch can be and it is an excellent vehicle for carrying maple syrup, cinnamon and sugar, berry compote and/or whipped cream.
 
Some people suggest you should use dry or toasted bread for making French toast. The question is, though, does toasting really make a big difference and is that difference better? I‘ve pan-fried them both ways in butter. I saw no difference in texture. The extra step seemed unnecessary.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes
Yield:  2-4 servings, depending on serving size
 
Ingredients 
5 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for garnish
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond or orange extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 thick cut slices Texas toast loaf bread, cut in half
2 ounces of unsalted butter
Confectioners’ sugar for garnish
3 ounces of warm real maple syrup
 
Directions

1. Set your oven to warm and place the serving plates in the oven.
2. Mix eggs, cream, baking powder, sugar, extracts and cinnamon the ingredients in a blender jar and whirl into foamy.
3. Place the bread pieces in a baking dish and pour the custard mix over the bread.
4. Turn the bread to evenly soak the pieces.
5. Melt the butter in a medium size pan on medium heat until it sizzles.
6. Transfer the soaked bread to frying pan.
7. Pour over any remaining custard and separate the slices with a spatula.
8. Cook until golden brown; 3 to 5 minutes.
9. Turn the slices over and cook for another 4 minutes
10. Place the finished French toast on warm serving plates.
11. Garnish with sifted confectioners’ sugar.
12. Serve with warm maple syrup.

ChefSecret:  If you like your French toast with a little crunch, sprinkle the tops with some Frosted Flakes before cooking.

Quip of the Day:  Brexit fallout: My French Toast has just surrendered to my English Muffins. Germany is sending in the Luft-waffle... these events could engulf the entire continental breakfast and my Irish coffee is drunk once again.
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