Restaurant-Worthy French Toast, Without the Wait

[elleng]

'If you’re like me, when it comes to French toast, you’re a slosher, someone who just throws the ingredients together. Your method might go something like this: Slosh milk into bowl (I stock the 2 percent kind), add a couple of eggs and whisk until it looks right. Soak the bread, and sizzle in butter until done. Sometimes it’s delicious, and sometimes it’s disappointing. But it’s rarely worth the $12 price and the hour’s wait, sometimes in the rain, that the mobs sign up for every Sunday at brunch destinations like Egg, in Brooklyn, and Sqirl, in Los Angeles.

French toast that good demands a recipe. And, fortunately, it’s one that calls for no new ingredients, tools or technology. You don’t even need stale bread.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/02/dining/french-toast-recipe-video.html?

[procon]

1. I cook French Toast in the waffle maker.

It was a serendipitous discovery from years past when the last of the waffle batter was used and people still wanted more. In a pinch, I whipped up a new bowl of frothy egg custard and laid out the slabs of soaked bread on the already hot waffle grid.

With all those pockets for butter and syrup its delicious, and now it's a family favorite. Yum!

[elleng]

2. Sounds good!

Dad used to make French Toast 'standard' way, recipe 'graduated' to French Toast Nuggets for grandkids (who now have their own kids.) NOW I'm thinking of French Toast for the weekend. Maple syrup handy? YES!

[angstlessk]

3. I would have liked to read the whole article, but

all that video/music ruined it for me!

[csziggy]

4. I take the lazy way out

Cube the bread and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg, put into a greased dish. Mix up the milk (and sometimes half & half), and eggs, and pour over the bread. Let soak overnight then bake in the morning. Maybe sprinkle some sugar on top before putting in the oven so it can caramelize. Cut into serving size pieces and enjoy.

I've also made oven baked French bread - preheat a cookie sheet, dip the bread in the milk/egg mix, rub the hot cookie sheet with butter, then put the bread slices on and back into the oven. Bake until crispy on the bottom, flip and finish. That's a lot easier than pan frying the slices.

I've never had restaurant French bread.

[longship]

9. Try some ground cardamom instead of the nutmeg.

Gives it a Scandinavian flavor. Smother in lingonberries.

I prefer pure maple syrup, though.

A multigrain bread is best. No white bread or (horrors) sour dough, please.

[csziggy]

11. I'll have to try that the next time I make some

The best French toast (or even the "bread pudding" version) I've made was with my homemade multigrain sandwich bread. I use whole wheat flour, five or seven grain cereal, and tupelo honey (not much honey, just enough for the yeast to get excited with) in it. I bake the bread in 12" long loaf pans for a lot of slices. But with just two of us, it tends to go bad sooner than we can eat it, so French toast is an obvious use for it.

Maybe the next time I make bread I will try the French toast method in the OP link - it would be good fresh. That's an idea for next week - I haven't made bread for over a year so I need to get back into the routine of it.

[longship]

13. Sounds delish!!

Yummy to the tummy!

[dem in texas]

10. Baking the French Toast

Baking the French toast on a cookie sheet sounds good, will be crispy like you said. I put cinnamon in my egg mixture too. I keep low fat milk in the house, but when French toast, I add some cream, need that richness. I use French or Italian bread cut in thick slices. Left-over raisin bread is good too.

[csziggy]

12. The original recipe I use is in the old Betty Crocker cookbook

The one with the orange cover - I think I bought mine around 1977. This is the cover:

[JHan]

5. great tips and challah bread is best :D

[elleng]

7. Yes, challah is the best!

[JHan]

8. I'm soooo addicted to that bread, it's insane. I can't get enough of it.

[Warpy]

6. I've done several types, from Julia Child to my own variations

What most people miss about French Toast is that skim milk doesn't work well, at all, and that it really needs to be flavored by something besides milk and egg, or you get bread soaked in scrambled eggs.

My basic recipe uses egg and at last half and half, preferably heavy cream, whisked with a little sugar and a splash of vanilla, the tiniest pinch of salt. Use thick slices of a decent bread, store bought Italian bread will work if you haven't baked, and cook slowly over medium-low heat. Serve with jam, berries, maple syrup, or any favorite topping.

Fancy variations can sub Cointreau for the vanilla with a little grated orange peel, top with confectioner's sugar dusted on through a strainer. A splash of brandy and it becomes fancy enough to support a scoop of ice cream for dessert.

One major variation came when I'd done a double batch of crepe batter, had to stop in the middle to go to work, and used the leftover crepe batter to soak the bread in the next day. The results had some of the best texture I've ever produced but it needed a bit of extra flavor.