Brioche French Toast

How to quickly stale fresh bread in the oven

1. Preheat oven to 250°F / 120°C (conventional oven). Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper and place a wire rack on top.
2. Slice the brioche loaf into ¾ - 1 inch thick slices. I use my brioche bread recipe.
3. Place the bread slices on the wire rack and transfer the baking tray into the preheated oven. Bake the slices for about 10 - 15 minutes, or until they feel stale and a little dried out.
4. Be careful not to let the bread slices brown or dry out too much.
5. Remove the tray from the oven and allow the brioche to cool down to room temperature before dipping in the custard. You can also do this step the day before you need to make brioche French toast.

Prepare the custard

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with just enough half and half / milk to create a smooth paste with no lumps. Place this in a shallow dish that's suitable to soak the brioche slices.
2. Add the rest of the half and half into the cornstarch slurry, while whisking.
3. Add the eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla, zest, and spices (if using). Whisk until the eggs have no “gloopy” texture. Let it rest for about 5 minutes (ideally).
4. STICK BLENDER - You can also place all the ingredients in a taller container and use a stick blender to blend the ingredient together to form a smooth mixture. Let it rest for 5 minutes and then pour it into the shallow dish.

Soak the slices

1. Soak each slice of brioche in the custard for about 10 - 15 seconds, per side. If your brioche slices are very dry or thick, you can soak them up to 20 seconds per side as well.
2. Once each slice is properly soaked, remove it from the custard and place it on the wire rack again. Although the bread is soaked, you should be able to lift it out of the custard in one piece. If the bread breaks apart, then the bread was soaked for too long.
3. Repeat with all the slices, and let the slices sit on the wire rack for about 5 - 10 minutes to absorb and distribute the custard properly throughout the brioche slice. This will prevent the custard pooling in the pan when you're trying to cook it, AND create a more evenly soft, custardy center that is not soggy.

Cook the French toast

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F / 150°C (conventional oven). See recipe notes on how to cook brioche French toast on the pan without the oven.
2. Preheat a large non-stick skillet or griddle on medium heat. The heat level might be different depending on your stove.
3. When the pan is hot, add a little butter to the pan and let it melt and spread it on the bottom of the pan. Place the custard soaked brioche bread on the pan.
4. Cook the bread slice for about 2 minutes. The bread slice should slowly caramelize and turn golden brown in that time. If the bread is caramelizing too fast, then turn the heat down. If the bread is caramelizing slower, then increase the heat a little.
5. Flip the brioche slice over and let it cook for another 2 minutes until it's caramelized on the other side. Add a little butter to help add color to the other side as well (optional, but recommended).
6. Place the caramelized brioche French toast on the wire rack.
7. Repeat with the rest of the bread slices. You can cook multiple slices of bread, as long as you have room on the pan WITHOUT over-crowding.
8. Once all the slices have caramelized on both sides, place them all on the wire rack that's placed on the half sheet baking pan.
9. Place the baking pan in the oven to cook the French toast through. This will take about 15 - 20 minutes. The bread should puff up just a little bit, and the internal temperature should register at 165°F / 75°C.
10. Remove the brioche French toast from the oven and let it rest for just a few minutes to cool down slightly.
11. Serve your French toast while still warm with whipped cream, fruits, and maple syrup.