French Toast Joie de Vivre

About author / Rebecca Michaels

Queen of the desserts and pastry chef extraordinaire; graduate French Culinary Institute; Golden Scoop Award winner; Flying Monkey Bakery founder

French toast seems to be all the rage these days.  I've seen it not only on brunch menus lately, but interestingly enough, dessert menus too.  Finally someone has had the good sense to get people to eat it after 4 pm.  After all, it makes perfect sense to have something sweet, comforting and carb-o-licious after dinner!  Ever seen crème brulee French toast?  Well, it's here, and you've gotta try it.

In my opinion, French toast should be not too hard, not too soft, not too eggy, and not too bready.  And it should always be accompanied by an interesting condiment.  But let me get to the bread and butter of a basic French toast recipe first:

Use a hearty bread, one that will hold up to the egg and milk mixture. I personally like using brioche bread, cut in 1 1/2 inch slices.  My egg mixture is generally 1 egg to 1 cup of milk; figure you'll be able to dip 3 pieces of bread per egg.  Heat a hot skillet, add plenty of butter and wait for it to sizzle.  Dip your bread briefly in the egg and milk and then slap it into the pan.  Cook over medium about 3 minutes per side, or until it's golden brown.  Don't overcrowd the bread in the pan; cook what you reasonably can and put it in a warm oven until you're ready to serve.

Now that you've got the basic idea down, it's time to have some fun with your food.  First, you can alter your egg mixture in a host of ways: add some vanilla extract, rum or brandy.  Now, let's talk about bread or cake.  Cake?  Oh yes.  Trade in your basic bread for slices of buttery pound cake. You cannot go wrong.

Wanna stuff it? Go for it.  Cut a slit in the side of your bread (through the crust, not the middle) and fill with a dollop of jam, some fresh bananas and marmalade, or chocolate chips.  

Now for the condiments:  add some loosely whipped cream sweetened with a little sugar or vanilla sugar.  If fresh berries or pitted fruit are in season, toss them on top of your warm French toast with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Or sauté some fruit in butter and sugar until soft. And if you decide to go the traditional syrup route, try and find grade B pure maple syrup. Grade B is a darker, less filtered type of maple syrup than Grade A. It's used for cooking and has a delicious, slightly stronger taste than its better known sister. In this case, a B is definitely superior to any A in my recipe book.

Ready for that crème brulee French toast?  It's so easy, I'm not even going to give you a full-fledged recipe: simply replace 1/2 of your milk with heavy cream and replace two egg yolks for each egg. Scrape a little vanilla bean into the mixture.  Add a couple of tablespoons of white or brown sugar, some melted butter and whisk well. Lay your bread or cake in a shallow baking pan.  Pour mixture over until covered.  Now this time, do soak your bread or cake for a couple of hours or overnight.  Bake in a 325 degree oven for 35 minutes or until the mixture is puffy and lightly golden.  Serve immediately with your favorite condiments or--I have to
admit--plain is mighty fine too.  French toast has never had it this good. And neither will you.