French Toast the right way! Terry's way!

When I cook French toast I like to think of it more like bread pudding. The problem I have with the usual French toast is that it is usually flavorless white bread, dipped in custard. The custard is barely set and the center, of the slice, is complete mush.

The next level uses thicker sliced bread called Texas toast. Yes, a thicker slice of the same flavorless bread. We can do better.

We could always switch to heartier bread. In that direction we can switch to one of those designer rustic breads. The problem is many of those breads have a loose structure with larger holes. It doesn’t really hold onto the custard.

Another choice would be challah. It has a tight structure that holds the custard but most loaves are huge. If you cut a piece thick enough to hold up to cooking, you have too large of a slice for one serving. You could cut the slice into smaller pieces but you loose the support you need from the crust.

What we need is a bread that has a good flavor and a nice crust that we can slice fairly thick without throwing off our portion size. A bread like a baguette.

I prefer a baguette that is made by an independent baker, who uses an established starter and no chemical preservatives.

Starter

A starter is a mixture of flour, water and sometimes sugar, which acts like a yeast magnet. This slurry will become home for a colony of local yeast strains.

That leads to an interesting question. Many restaurants and bakeries have starters they claim are 100 years old and from a region that has a particularly flavorful strain of yeast.

Since yeast have a fairly short lifespan, those restaurants and bakeries do not have 100 year old yeast. The yeast will reproduce making little baby yeastlings but who is to say that over the 100 years local yeast hasn’t taken over the colony?

Now that we have our bread, we need to prepare the slices. I cut off the ends and then cut two inch slices. Place the slices on a rack and let them dry for several hours. Several hours could be 8 hours or more.

The custard recipe is good for about 4 to 6 slices. I plan on 1 per person as a side, or 2 for the featured item.

The custard

½ cup heavy cream

3 each large eggs

½ tsp. allspice, ground

½ tsp. cinnamon, ground

½ tsp. ginger, ground

2 Tbsp. honey

1 pinch salt

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate until the bread is ready.

Here is where I stray from traditional French toast and start making bread pudding. Rather than a quick dip in the custard, I soak the bread for a least an hour, turning the bread over every 15 minutes.

When the bread slices have soaked up as much custard as they can hold, pull them from the custard and place them on a cooling rack to drain any excess custard.

To sear the bread I like to use a non-stick sauté pan with about a tablespoon of butter. Warm the pan over medium heat until the butter has stopped bubbling.

Add the bread to the pan and sear on the first side till golden brown. Turn the slices over and place the pan in a 350° oven for 15 minutes.

Pull the French toast out of the pan and place on a cooling rack. Let them rest for 5 to 10 minutes. This will give the custard time to completely set.

I like to serve them with fresh berries, maple syrup, honey, a berry compote, whipped cream, a knife and fork or any combination thereof.

As I stated before, I like to treat my French toast more like bread pudding. I like the long soak in the custard as opposed to a quick dip. I like my bread in thick chunks rather than thin slices. Finally, I prefer to finish the toast in the oven and not try to complete the cooking on the stovetop.

Oh, why the rest? To let the custard set. There is an old saying in the kitchen when it comes to egg cooking. “If the eggs look done in the pan they will be overcooked at the table.” The same is true with our custard. We want the custard to be a bit runny when we pull the toast from the oven. Then let the custard finish setting on the cooling rack.

Yes, this recipe is a bit more complex than the dip and sear technique but the results are well worth the effort.

Like and Share this on you social media sites. Send me an email with your results or if you have any culinary questions. April or I would be more than happy to answer your questions.

~ T