French toast, also known as "pain perdu" or "lost bread" in French, is a classic breakfast dish that is both simple to make and incredibly satisfying. Made by dipping slices of bread in a mixture of eggs and milk, then frying until golden brown, French toast is a versatile dish that can be customized to suit your tastes. Whether you prefer it sweet or savory, there are endless ways to enjoy this delicious breakfast treat. Here's a comprehensive guide to making the perfect French toast at home.
Ingredients
Custard:
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sugar
- Generous pinch of salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Bread:
- 8 thick slices of stale bread
Butter and / or oil for frying
Topping:
- Berries
- Maple syrup
- Butter
- Whipped cream or yogurt
Directions:
- In a bowl, add the eggs, sugar, milk, salt, vanilla and any spices that you might be using. Whisk well until the eggs have mixed in completely. To make things easier, place the ingredients in a jug or other long tube-like vessel and mix with a hand blender.
- If you’re using a loaf of bread, cut them into even slices that are about 1 inch thick. Or you can use any thickly sliced bread.
- Preheat a pan on medium heat. Once the pan is sufficiently hot, soak a slice of bread into the egg mixture and keep it immersed for about 5 seconds, depending on how thick the slices are. Then flip over and douse the other side of the bread in the mixture for the same amount of time. Remove the bread and let the excess mixture drip back into the bowl.
- Put some butter on the heated pan and then place the soaked bread slice on it. You can also place multiple bread slices on the pan at the same time. But don't overcrowd the pan, there should be space for the slices to get properly caramelized.
- Cook the bread slices for about 5 minutes, then flip over and cook for another 5 minutes. Add more butter to the pan if needed.
- Once both sides are caramelized and properly cooked, place the slices on a wire rack.
- Repeat the process until you've cooked all the slices of bread.
- Serve the French toast warm with whipped cream, fresh fruits, maple syrup or honey, a scoop of ice cream, yogurt, butter, or any other topping of your choice.
Tips, tricks and notes:
- For every two slices of bread, you should use 1 egg. So depending on the number of bread slices you're making, adjust the quantity of eggs accordingly. And for each egg, use ⅓ cup of milk.
- You can make bread with practically any type of bread. In fact, you can get rather creative with this. You can use brioche, milk bread, sourdough, Italian bread, or even bagels or croissants.
- If your bread becomes soggy, youve either doused it in the mixture for too long or it's too thin. Avoid bread that's sliced too thinly and is flimsy. Consider your first slice as a trial and error piece so you can figure out exactly how long it needs to be soaked.
- If you want to make your French toast dairy free, substitute the milk with almond milk, soy milk or any other vegam, dairy-free milk you prefer.
- If you want to highlight the egg flavour, add some black salt instead of sea salt.
- If you want to reduce the egg flavour, add more cream and vanilla extract to the egg mixture. Also make sure you're using lemon or orange zest and ensure you're using fresh eggs.
- If you want a gluten free dish, simply use gluten free bread.
- If you want to make an egg free French toast, then use some flour or cornstarch in the mixture. Generally, use ¼ cup cornstarch for every cup of milk.
- If you want to make the French toast ahead of time, it's best to store it for not longer than a day, or it will get stale. If you're using a pan that has place for multiple slices of bread, you can generally make the French toasts in just about 10 minutes or so. Just add the toppings then and you're good to go.