My Mind's Ink

Toast and kissing, the French have their priorities straight. All of their cooking has fat and sugar, is washed down with wine, and they have less than half our heart disease and one third the obesity¹. This recipe is delicious, but it is not low fat, and I am trying to give you a rationale for not caring.

It is not typical French Toast, in fact, my sisters and I tried to come up with a title that fit better. “Crunchy Gooey Breakfast Bread” is an accurate description, but it lacks pizazz, so I’ve left it alone. If you Google “Creme Brulee French Toast” the top five sites I looked at mirror this recipe, but my instructions are easier and crunchier.

The recipe is fool proof, and you can make it a day ahead, both bonuses. I like nice breakfasts, but I am not a morning person, and all this requires is turning on the oven.

• 2 tbsp. corn syrup
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 loaves French Loaf
• 5 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups half & half
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. Grand Marnier (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. salt

In a small saucepan combine the syrup, butter and brown sugar. Bring to a simmer and let it bubble merrily for about five minutes, until syrupy. Pour this mixture into a 9″ x 13″ baking pan that has been lightly greased with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

Cut the crust off of the top of the French loaves. As gently as you can tear the soft insides out of the loaf leaving the crust. Tear the bread into fist sized chunks and place on top of the syrup in the baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, vanilla, Grand Marnier and salt. Pour evenly over the bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, leave the casserole at room temperature while the oven preheats. Bake at 350 degrees (or 330 Convection) uncovered, for 45 minutes. Cut into squares and serve immediately with maple syrup, butter, and fresh fruit.

Serves 8-10 adults. Can be reheated.

Download a copy of the recipe

Notes

I know you have Aunt Jemima’s in the fridge, but buy some nice maple syrup, something that originated from a tree, it’s worth the extra dollars.

I also have a personal preference for the dark molassesy brown sugar, but whatever is in your cupboard is fine.

I never let the thing come to room temperature before baking. I just turn the oven down a few degrees and cook it a few minutes more.

This recipe differs from these mainly in the instructions for handling the bread. When I first made this the instructions called for cutting the crust off, and then slicing the insides, which sounds easy, until you try and do it. It’s like trying to thinly slice a marshmallow. Anyway, tearing it out with your hands is easier, and the peaks and valleys of the bread mountain range that results makes nice crunchy bits.

Footnotes

1. Statistics from the World Health Organization [↩]

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I often notice home cooks that are afraid of heat. The burners on their stove have never been turned all the way up. Everything they produce tends to be done on med-high heat and cooked to within an inch of its life. Vegetables are soggy and limp, meats are dry and flavorless. (more…)

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I don’t do a lot of baking. I like to cook, but cooking is an entirely different skill set. I consider most items in a recipe to have an “optional” or “approximately” beside it, which works fine in normal cooking.

Anyway, I have learned a valuable lesson. Flour is not an optional ingredient in banana bread. If you forget this line in the recipe you end up with a loaf pan full of chocolate banana soup. Actually that is being kind. Truthfully you get a chunky, mildly bubbly, semi-gelatinous dark brown rectangle.

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Truffle Oil is not sold everywhere. You are going to have to look at your high end gourmet shops for this item. I’ve even been to places where they have it under lock and key. It can be exorbitantly expensive and you may balk at the idea of such a big price tag for such a small item. However, good truffle oil is extremely powerful stuff, and a very small amount of it makes a huge taste impact in a dish. A good quality bottle will last you for years.

Like all ingredients you get what you pay for. Although you can certainly shop around and find larger volumes of oil for less money, you are likely going to just end up using more for the same taste in a given recipe. Spend the money and get a good quality product.

The Oil comes in White and Black. I’ve always used White.

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