Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Custard French Toast

Click on over to White Trash BBQ to see my guest post for the most diet unfriendly breakfast treat ever -- Custard French Toast. You can see my write up and get the recipe here at White Trash BBQ or read the edited version of the post below.

Enjoy!


Custard French Toast.

A breakfast dish so sweet and delicious is should be legally only be allowed to be served for dessert. A recipe that is absolutely ruined if you try to make it healthy by cutting back on the eggs or substituting whole wheat or multigrain bread. And one my now sons still promise their friends I’ll make for them if they come over. Eggs, sugar, milk, butter and challah or white bread. What’s not to like? Serve it with love, it really needs little else, although a drizzle of maple syrup is okay, too.

Custard French Toast
Serves 4-8 depending on age, cholesterol level and appetite

Loaf of unsliced French, Italian or similar bread; challah, brioche or other egg bread, or thickly sliced white bread (sometimes called Texas toast). Do NOT use whole wheat or multigrain bread. Stale or day old bread works well. (I think challah or other egg breads work best, though.)

Four eggs, beaten

One 14-ounce can of sweetened condensed milk. (It’s okay to use the fat-free kind of you want.) Tip: Open with a can opener and completely remove lid. Use a small spatula to get all the sticky contents out of the can.

24 ounces of milk (fat free okay)

1 tsp. of vanilla extract

Dash salt

Grating or two of nutmeg (or about 1/8 tsp if ground)

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Butter for frying

Cinnamon sugar (mix equal parts of ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl)

Powdered (confectioner’s) sugar, optional

Maple syrup, optional


Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Slice bread about 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Lay sliced bread to dry out a bit. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milks, extract, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix well so all ingredients are well combined.In a large, flat pan (I use a glass lasagna pan), pour out about a quarter of the egg and milk mixture and swirl pan so it coats the bottom. Put down a layer of bread slices. Do not overlap. Top with rest of the mixture. If you have more slices then space, don’t use a second pan, just pour about half of your remaining egg and milk mixture over the first layer of slices, making sure you cover the tops of the bread. Put another layer of bread slices on top and pour the rest of the mixture to cover those slices. Allow to soak in the egg and milk mixture for five (for softer breads) to 10 minutes (for firmer ones), turning and rotating the slices to make sure the bread becomes really saturated with the custard mixture. Handle with care as the slices become very soft and soggy.

Preheat a large frying pan. Melt about 2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan as needed and carefully add the bread. Do not crowd the pan. Fry on a medium to medium hot temperature until golden brown on one side. Flip. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar on browned top of bread being careful not to get any in the frying pan (to avoid burning.) Cook until golden brown on other side. Remove finished slices and keep warm in a the oven while frying remaining slices, adding more butter to the pan as needed. Sprinkle with powered sugar and serve with maple syrup.

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