This French Toast Eats Like Crème Brûlée

I was making a few versions of French Toast a couple weeks ago in preparation for the upcoming French Toast episode of our podcast, The Recipe with Kenji and Deb. One of the recipes I tested was for Caramelized Cinnamon Sugar French Toast from my podcast partner Deb Perelman's third book, Smitten Kitchen Keepers. In that recipe, you start by soaking slices of stale baguette (for a truly "French" French toast) in a simple milk and egg custard before tossing them in a cinnamon sugar mixture and baking them in a buttered casserole dish. It's delicious, delivering a crunchy, buttery, caramelized crust around a tender, custard-y center.

When I had a few slices of bread leftover, it occurred to me to try the exact same method, but frying the sugar-coated slices on a griddle with butter instead of baking them. After all, if sprinkling a thin layer of sugar over a slices of sizzling French toast just before flipping it gives you a thin, crunchy crust (a technique I learned from my colleague Daniel Gritzer and now use in my own Basic French Toast recipe), then couldn't reserving all the sugar and coating the outside of the bread with it before frying produce a thicker, crunchier crust?

It sure does, and it sure is delicious. This is a french toast that eats far more like dessert than breakfast and has no need for extra maple syrup. Think bread pudding, but with the caramelized crust of a good crème brûlée and you're in the right ballpark. Like crème brûlée, this isn't just a one-dimensional sweetness. There's complexity built-in from the varying degree of caramelization you get in the crust, from a crunchy light caramel to a toasty, nutty deep amber, to the slight hints of bitterness you get from a smattering of darker black spots. On top of that, there's the flavor of browned butter, the spice from cinnamon (or, in this particular case, poudre douce, a medieval mixture of warm spices), and the aroma of vanilla from the custard.

Caramelized French Toast

Every recipe I publish here is personally tested, tasted, and approved.

What I like about this recipe:

• Tossing the soaked bread in a mixture of sugar and warm spices gives it a crème brûlée-like crust with the same depth of flavor.

• As the french toast cools, the crust hardens a bit, furthering the contrast between crunchy crust and rich, custardy interior.

Yield: Makes 4-6 slices

Active Time: 10 mimnutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Notes: Extra french toast can be stored loosely covered on a plate in the fridge. Toast it for a few minutes to revive. Alternatively, allow the toast to cool completely, then cut it into squares and serve them as a snack.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole milk or half and half

• 2 eggs

• A pinch of salt

• About a teaspoon of vanilla extract

• 1 cup of sugar

• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, or a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, and allspice

• 4-6 slices of stale or dry bread, cut about 3/4-inch thick

• Butter for the griddle

Steps:

1. Preheat a griddle to medium heat.

2. Combine milk, eggs, a pinch of salt, and the vanilla in a wide, shallow bowl and beat with a fork to combine. Place as many bread slices as you can fit in a single layer and allow them to soak in the custard for a minute or so, flipping occasionally until well-saturated.

3. Combine the sugar and ground spices in a second shallow bowl.

4. Butter the preheated griddle thoroughly.

5. Working one slice at a time, lift it from the custard mixture and allow excess to drain off. Place it in the bowl of cinnamon sugar and turn a few times to coat it in the mixture. Transfer to the griddle. Repeat with the remaining slices, working in batches as necessary.

6. Fry on one side without moving until deeply browned with a few dark brown-to-black spots here and there. Flip, using a thin metal spatula and making sure to get the caramelized crust with it.

7. Fry on the second side until well-browned. Transfer the cinnamon toast to a serving platter and allow to cool a few moments before serving.