...on French Toast

Several people have asked how to make a great french toast. It is quite simple; only a few things to do.

The batter is eggs, milk and flavoring much like bread pudding. As a matter of fact, french toast is really a bread pudding, one slice at a time. At the cafe, we made our batter with 6 eggs, 1litre of milk, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar, lemon juice. This will yield way more batter than you want. Just cut the recipe, e.g. use 1 egg with 330 millilitres of milk. The flavoring is always to taste. You can adjust even the basic recipe. For example, if you'd like it richer use more egg than I use.

The bread is more important than you'd think. I cannot emphasize this enough. The bread should be a top quality bakery bread -- dense, soft crust works best. A brioche or challah would work quite well, also. The slices should be thick, i.e 2.5cm (1 inch). Contrary to what you might expect,  fresh bread does not work best. It tends to make a soggy product -- 1 - 2 day old bread is best.

There are two ways to cook french toast. On the top of the stove, get the pan hot, add a bit of veg oil or clarified butter. Dip the bread in the batter, leave for a 2-count on each side. Cook on the first side til it is well-caramelized (browned); flip it over and do the same to the other side.

The second method of cooking  takes longer, but gives almost totally different product. Get the pan hot and pre-heat oven to 200 degrees C (165 C for fan oven). Oil the pan. Soak the bread completely. Carefully lift the slice into the pan. Let it caramelize, then flip it over. When caramelized on second side, place in the oven for about 10 minutes. This will turn the mixture inside the bread into a fine custard.

Serve with maple syrup or golden syrup, if you prefer. Some people like to melt butter over. As you like it. Experiment. Let me know your results.
bob