Recipes / Breakfast / French Breakfast Thick-Cut French Toast Day-old bread, cut thick, soaked properly rather than dipped. Stale bread is not a compromise here — fresh bread turns to mush in the custard.
Time 25 min
Serves 4
Difficulty Easy Ingredients Servings
− +
Quantities for 4 servings
8 thick slices of day-old brioche or challah (2.5 cm) 4 large eggs 250 ml whole milk 60 ml double cream 2 tbsp caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon A pinch of fine sea salt 40 g unsalted butter, for frying Maple syrup, berries and icing sugar, to serve
The base is worth following fairly closely, but everything on top is yours. Change the fillings, herbs and garnishes freely, and use the method as your anchor rather than the exact list.
Method 1 Whisk the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt in a wide dish until completely smooth with no ribbons of white left. Unbeaten egg white cooks into rubbery streaks on the surface. 2 Lay the bread in the custard and leave it for 30 seconds a side, pressing gently. Thick day-old bread should soak until the custard reaches the centre but the slice still holds its shape when lifted. Fresh bread collapses — if that's all you have, dry the slices in a low oven for 10 minutes first. 3 Melt a knob of the butter in a large frying pan over medium-low heat. Low and slow is the point: high heat browns the outside in a minute while the centre stays raw and eggy. 4 Fry the slices for 3–4 minutes a side, until deep golden and just springy in the middle. Wipe the pan and add fresh butter between batches — browned milk solids from the last round will scorch. 5 Keep the cooked slices on a rack in a 120°C oven while you finish the rest. Stacking them on a plate traps steam and softens the crust you just built. 6 Serve dusted with icing sugar, with maple syrup and berries. Tap a step to cross it off. Your place is saved on this device.
Cook’s notes The custard ratio matters more than the bread: roughly one egg per 60 ml of dairy gives a set, custardy centre rather than a soggy one.
For an overnight version, soak the slices in a dish, cover, refrigerate, and fry straight from cold in the morning — add a minute per side.
How it should look Photos of the finished dish, so you know what you’re aiming for.
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