The Culinary Works

French Toast is universally loved. I don’t believe I have ever met someone who didn’t enjoy it. What’s not to like? Bread saturated with custard with warm syrup, yum. There are a few tricks of the trade I can give you to take yours to a whole new level.

You have mixed your standard egg and half n half batter recipe, whatever recipe you have found that works for you.

Here is mine:

• 6 eggs
• 8 ounces of half n half
• 2 Tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

First, the boozey truth. I have to tell you that adding some flavor to the custard is going to raise your dish to new heights and I prefer to do that with a bit of liquor. Perhaps I prefer to do a lot of things with liquor, but that’s not why we are here. My personal favorite is Amaretto. I add enough so that after it’s mixed, I can smell it….not too strong, but it’s there. I would suggest starting with 2 Tablespoons per pint of custard batter. Bourbon, orange or hazelnut liquor also work nicely.

Next, the bread is really important. It should be thickly sliced, or a whole loaf so you can slice it. It should have some body to it and should be a variety that does not have a lot of ‘makeup holes’ in it. You want it to be able to soak up some of the batter. A rich bread, (meaning it has egg and a bit of sugar in the dough) like brioche or challa bread works great. But, I don’t think you should limit yourself, I even use whole grain and oat breads, banana bread is a good choice as well. Some people like using cinnamon rolls, a bit too sweet for me, but the idea is the same, so be creative, or stick with a well-made loaf of country bread.

Then, it’s as simple as letting it soak up enough batter without letting it fall apart. I know, we have all had that batter with broken up pieces floating in there. If you start with good bread, that will solve most of it. I leave it in the batter for 10 seconds, flip it over, and after 10 seconds give it a squish. You can feel the texture change when it is fully saturated. Each bread will be slightly different so after the first few pieces you will have a good idea how long to soak them.

Once it’s soaked up your fabulously flavored custard, cook it on a flat griddle or pan with a bit of melted butter. Set it down and don’t mess with it for about 4 minutes. Then you can peak under the edge. You don’t want it to cook to quickly or it will be raw in the middle or get too dark on the outside, so be mindful you have the heat NO HIGHER than medium. Once it has reached a nice color, flip it and give it another 4 minutes. It will firm up as it cooks. When the center is just starting to firm, it’s done. It will finish cooking out of the pan. Leave it in the pan too much longer and it gets tough.

I personally prefer the traditional maple syrup, which when warmed with a bit of whatever liquor you used in the batter, makes the perfect compliment. Sounds like the perfect Sunday morning to me.