Best French Toast Recipe (Pain Perdu)
User Reviews
5
Best French Toast Recipe (Pain Perdu)
Description
The Best French Toast Recipe (Pain Perdu) involves soaking thick slices of day-old bread or brioche in a custard of eggs, milk, cream, and both granulated and brown cane sugar. The dual sugars add sweetness and subtle caramel notes. After soaking to ensure the bread is saturated but not falling apart, slices are fried in butter until golden brown, producing a balance of a soft, richly custardy interior with crispy toasted edges. The butter also browns during cooking, enhancing flavor.
This version uses a pinch of high-quality sea salt to enhance the sweetness subtly. Serving suggestions include a dusting of powdered sugar, fresh berries, or slices of fried apples with salted caramel, adding complementary sweetness and texture contrasts.
Leftover French toast can be kept warm in a low oven or frozen for later use. The recipe notes emphasize precise measurements by weight and clarify that brown cane sugar differs from soft brown sugar, providing a slight vanilla or caramel flavor.
Ingredients
- white bread unsliced, or brioche, day-old, loaf
- 3 (150g) egg organic
- 200 ml (¾ cup) milk or semi-skimmed, whole
- 50 ml (bit less than ¼ cup) heavy cream (crème liquide)
- 50 g (¼ cup) sugar
- 25 g (2 tbsp) brown cane sugar (unrefined, granulated, crystallised sugar) See NOTES
- pinch salt fleur de sel, Maldon or Celtic, sea salt
- 25 g (2 tbsp) butter unsalted
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and cane sugar. Pour in the milk and cream.
- Cut the bread or brioche into about 6 thick slices of about 2-3cm (an inch) per slice.
- Soak each slice in the liquid for a few seconds (or more if the bread is quite dry) until completely soaked through the bread. Transfer each slice to a tray.
- In a medium-hot non-stick frying pan, melt the butter until it starts to mousse a little.
- Fry the slices in the butter until well toasted on each side. As the slices cook, the butter will also become toasted. Repeat until all the slices are used.
Notes
- Serve the French toast warm immediately or keep it warm in a low oven at about 120°C (100°C fan) before serving.
- Top with powdered sugar and fresh berries or fried apples with salted caramel sauce for added flavor variations.
- Leftover slices can be cooled, stacked with a plate cover, and stored, or frozen in sealed bags for future use.
- Brown cane sugar used here is unrefined and adds a distinctive vanilla/caramel note, distinct from soft brown sugar.
- Measuring ingredients by weight in metric grams yields best results.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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