French Toast is one of those interesting dishes that can range from basic (and horrible) to gourmet. It’s easy to fall into a rut of making basic French Toast. However, it’s also super easy to get creative.
Fundamentally, you will always start with a custard base of eggs and milk, soak your bread and fry. But with a little experimenting, you can turn something ordinary into a tasty surprise for breakfast or brunch (or even make a savory version for dinner).
Let’s start with the bread. Don’t just settle for a bag of ordinary white bread. Stop by the bakery section at your grocer and pick-up a baguette, ciabatta, sourdough, or anything that looks good. ANY good quality bread can make a beautiful French Toast. Just look at the photo of my breakfast today. That was pumpernickel, and it was fantastic. You can also get creative with slicing. Try thick one day and thin another… You’ll find they’re both great, but with different characteristics. And if you slice diagonally, you’ll have some nice thin edges that will crisp up beautifully.
Now that you’ve got your bread, you’re going to want to think about your custard base. It’s not critical in this situation to have perfect measurements. Just crack a few eggs and pour some milk in (I always use and recommend whole milk). I generally go for about half eggs and half milk. But here’s where you can get creative with your custard base… adding spices. Don’t just stick to the basics. Experiment and try anything that you can imagine baking with. In the photo above, I used a good amount of cinnamon and cardamom. But you could consider, allspice, cloves, fennel, anise, even ground cayenne pepper. And don’t forgot a generous pinch of salt. Everything that is going to end-up sweet is better with salt. And speaking of sweet, I leave that for the toppings… no need to add sugar to your custard base.
Now, you’re ready to dip/soak and fry in fat over medium-low heat. The fat you choose is another variable. I typically use butter, but today I just through the slices right into the pan that I had just used for the bacon. Three slices of bacon rendered just the right amount of fat to fry three slices of bread. In addition to butter and bacon fat, you can try a neutral oil, olive oil, lard, or one of my favorites for sautéing… a 50/50 mix of butter and EVOO.
Want to kick it up a notch higher? Make Hong Kong style French Toast. In Hong Kong, the trick is to start by making a peanut butter sandwich. Then, dip the whole sandwich, and using tongs for help, fry the sandwich on all six sides. The custard mix that gets fried on the sides locks the two slices together, and the result is a single thick piece of French Toast with molten peanut butter inside… sorta like the French toast version of a Juicy Lucy.
So there you have it. A million variations on a breakfast staple to add some spice to your mornings. Do some experimenting and post a comment below with your favorite variation.