My quest for the perfect French Toast has halted in recent years but this morning, after fighting a very disappointing losing battle with my coffee machine, I felt that the only thing to do was to go to the store for French Toast ingredients and pick up where I left off.
Picture perfect French Toast, in my opinion, starts with two key things: the right bread and the right egg mixture. If you have those down, the rest is a piece of cake! Or rather, a piece of toast…
That said, I am definitely still searching for the perfect bread. Today I used a sweet batard and it worked really well, although it didn’t add a whole lot of flavor. But the consistency and denseness was certainly what I like for French Toast. It absorbed the egg mixture really well, which is super important when your considering what kind of bread to use. If it’s not absorbent you end up getting a dry inside with a soggy, eggy outside. Not pleasant!
Which brings me to: what’s actually in that egg mixture? This is an area where it’s really fun to experiment, but my favorite combination is still eggs (obviously), orange and lemon zest (a little heavier on the orange), a small squeeze of lemon and orange juice, a dash of vanilla*, and about a quarter cup milk (2% is still my favorite to use).
*I will say that even the smallest drop sometimes makes it too sweet, so I’m anxious to try it again sans vanilla
TIPS
- I finally learned to be patient when taking the bread out of the batter. If you let most of the excess batter drip off it really helps a lot of the flavor come through, and you don’t end up with scrambled eggs on either side of the bread.
- Use medium heat. This does take a little longer, but it helps you get that beautiful golden brown and cooks the egg nicely without getting them too dry. I usually do about 2-3 minutes a side.
What are some of your favorite ways to make French Toast? Do you have a secret ingredient or tip to share?
Eat Well, Travel Well ~ Samantha