Turn French toast into a work of breakfast art

One of my favorite breakfast items is French toast. Who doesn’t like the eggy-bread lightly browned in butter, topped with more butter and served with real maple syrup?

You can use any kind of bread for French toast. As you might already know, using a slice fresh from a loaf works, but after getting loaded up with the dairy mixture, the slice has a tendency to become too soggy and might break apart. Solving this could be as easy as slicing your own bread, like from a loaf of French bread, or drying out your fresh slice in a low oven. Removing some of the moisture in the oven allows it to hold up better to the soaking from the dairy mixture. My favorite bread is a loaf of brioche, a light yeast bread, of French origin. Its richness has to do with the recipe calling for lots of butter and eggs in it. It is classically baked in a fluted pan, with a knob in the top. Other shapes can also be used.

Cutting your own bread, or using the Texas toast loaf, gives you an option for add-ins. How so? You cut a pocket in the bread and place in a filling, such as a slice of ham and cheese, or a mixture of a sweetened cream cheese with shredded coconut. Simply fill the pocket with what you like, dip in the dairy mixture, then fry as desired.

A recent bread flavor in the pan-bread segment is a brioche loaf. How does it compare? Out of the bag it has amazing flavor and is as soft as any other bread in that product segment. How does it hold up in making French toast? Needs a bit of drying in the oven.

I prefer a dairy mixture that is at least equal amount of eggs to milk or cream. I’ve found if you use more liquid to egg, the bread becomes too soggy. Too much egg and you get something akin to a bread omelet. While I usually have cream in some form in the refrigerator, milk in any fat percentage would work okay, though I cannot vouch for skim milk. Half and half would work well. I suppose a non-dairy liquid creamer could work in a pinch, though I’ve not tried it that way (it would make an interesting test panel subject).

I know some of you prefer topping your toast with fresh fruit in some fashion. Strawberries are in good supply right now and prices have come down as the market is saturating with them. Sliced peaches might be good too, working well with the usual dairy flavorings of cinnamon and nutmeg. Sliced pears would work well too. Top with freshly whipped cream. How about topping with non-dairy whipped topping? I’m not going to try it.

I prefer plain ol’ butter and real maple syrup. Yeah, with the spices in the dairy, any flavoring from the maple syrup would be somewhat lost, allowing you to use a corn syrup-based maple syrup.

One chef I once worked with years ago asked me a question that pops into my head from time to time: Is French toast really a single serving of bread pudding that has been lightly fried in butter?

FRENCH TOAST

3 large eggs

3/4 cup cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons rum or rum flavoring

1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter

Thick sliced brioche or slices of your favorite bread

Mix all ingredients except butter and bread together in a bowl. In a frying pan over medium low heat, place in a small amount of butter. Allow it to melt and come to temperature. Take a slice of bread and lightly dip it in the dairy mixture. Place it in the center of the frying pan and allow to lightly brown before flipping over. Time for this to happen will depend on the size of the bread and the temperature of the pan. Allow to brown on the other side. Remove from pan and serve with your favorite toppings. To cook a bunch of slices up for serving all at once, you’ll need to heat your oven to 200 degrees and have a baking pan at the ready. As you fry the slices of bread, place the completed ones in the baking pan and place pan in the oven. Add slices as they come out of the pan to the dish in the oven. This should keep them piping hot so many can be served at once.

BRIOCHE

1/2 cup milk, scalded

4 packages yeast (3 tablespoons)

1 heaping cup bread flour

5 eggs

5 cups bread flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 pound 2 ounces butter, softened

Make sure milk is lukewarm. Add yeast and allow to dissolve. Add 1 heaping cup flour and mix to make a sponge. Let rise until double. Gradually mix in eggs and then dry ingredients (using the paddle attachment on your mixer) to make a soft dough. Beat in butter a little at a time until it is completely absorbed and the dough is smooth. Dough will be very soft and sticky. If the dough will require much handling in makeup, as for small brioche rolls, it is easiest to refrigerate the dough overnight. It can then be made up while chilled in order to reduce stickiness. If the dough is to be simply deposited in pans, the stickiness and softness of the dough is not a problem, so the dough need not be refrigerated. Proof 20 minutes, then cut and place in pans. For rolls, use a muffin tin. Spray well with non-stick coating. Make balls as above to fill the cups 1/2 full. Proof. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown.

BREAD PUDDING

1 quart milk

4 ounces butter

10 cups cubed brioche (staled)

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup raisins

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

4 large eggs

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat the milk and butter together until the butter has melted. Place the bread, sugar, raisins, and nuts in a large bowl. In another bowl, beat the eggs, salt, and flavorings. Pour into bread mixture. Stir. Place in a buttered 9 inch square pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until set in the center. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.