French Toast
Stale bread, a long soak, and a pan cool enough that the custard sets before the outside burns.
- Prep
- 10m
- Cook
- 12m
- Waiting
- 10m
- Total
- 32m
- Serves
- 4
- Effort
- Easy
Scale
Units
Method
| 4 | 1 Whisk until completely smooth 3m | 2 Soak each slice 30 seconds a side 10m Properly soaked, right to the middle. Dipping gives you eggy toast. | 3 Fry in butter over medium-low until deep gold on both sides 12m Medium-low. High heat browns the sugar before the custard sets. | |
| 1 cup | ||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||
| 1 tsp | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||
| 1/4 tsp | ||||
| 8 thick slices | ||||
| 2 tbsp | ||||
| to serve | ||||
- 1
Whisk until completely smooth
3m- eggs 4
- whole milk 1 cup
- caster sugar 2 tbsp
- vanilla extract 1 tsp
- cinnamon 1/2 tsp
- fine salt 1/4 tsp
- 2
Soak each slice 30 seconds a side
10m- from 1 Whisk until completely smooth
- stale bread 8 thick slices
Properly soaked, right to the middle. Dipping gives you eggy toast.
- 3
Fry in butter over medium-low until deep gold on both sides
12m- from 2 Soak each slice 30 seconds a side
- butter 2 tbsp
- maple syrup to serve
Medium-low. High heat browns the sugar before the custard sets.
Why stale bread
Fresh bread is already saturated with its own moisture and collapses the moment it meets custard. Stale bread has lost water, so it draws the mixture in and holds its structure. If yours is fresh, dry the slices in a 150 °C oven for ten minutes first.
Notes
- Thick slices, long soak. Thin bread cannot absorb enough to be custardy in the middle.
- Wipe the pan and use fresh butter between batches — the milk solids from the first round will be burnt by the third.
- Hold cooked slices on a rack in a low oven, never stacked on a plate.