Brown Sugar Brioche French Toast
The queen of all brunch foods. Easy to master, quick to whip up & always a crowd pleaser. In a past life my French toast recipe served up a sad thin little piece of egg drenched white bread toast that needed to be drowned in syrup to be considered semi edible. Those were the days before I discovered how valuable a few quality ingredients and kitchen experiments are to perfecting the craft of cooking.
“Her family grew or raised everything they ate and her recipes reflect that same energy today.”
I didn’t grow up around a gourmet pantry or obscure ingredients. I had Bobbie Jean, the queen of Southern cooking who was born around the great depression. Her family grew or raised everything they ate and her recipes reflect that same energy today. Beautiful, simple, but bare bones and nothing fancy about her pantry. My mama was raised in the deserts of California during the 70s. She’s a good cook but nothing gourmet came from her camp either- lot’s of meat, beans, potatoes, & Mexican food came out of mama’s kitchen.
Brioche was a bread I’d never heard of until discovering it’s semi sweet, cloud soft, delicate goodness at WholeFoods about six years ago. Since then she’s been a pantry staple. The bread of all breads for the fanciest tomato sandwich or BLT on which you’ll ever set your tastebuds- but the true beauty of brioche shines through when you use her for French toast. A French bread for French toast, of course together they create a delicacy.
This French toast recipe is sweet with a hint of cinnamon spice, and requires no syrup. In fact, I think adding syrup would completely ruin the beauty and complexity of her flavor. A sprinkle of powdered sugar and some fresh berries are my all time favorite way to eat this brown sugar brioche French toast. Sidenote: She’s best served on a lazy Sunday morning to the faint sounds of Count Basie playing in the background.
What You’ll Need:
Makes About Five Slices
5 Slices of Brioche Bread
3 Large Eggs
1 tbs Heavy Cream
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tbs Light Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Salted Butter
Powdered Sugar
How To:
In a wide mouth shallow bowl whisk together your eggs, heavy cream & vanilla extract until thoroughly combined
Whisk in brown sugar & cinnamon to egg mixture
Turn your stove on to a temp between low and medium. Slow and low is they key to skillet toasting. Too high and you’ll burn the butter and make the bread too crispy with a slightly burnt taste.
Melt a bit of salted butter in a large skillet (only enough to toast one side)
Place a slice of brioche bread in the egg mixture, flip bread to saturate other side. Make sure not to leave bread sitting in the egg mixture. You want to flip it quickly so the egg covers each side but doesn’t make it so soggy it falls apart or stays too mushy when cooking.
Place a piece of French toast on the skillet once the butter has melted. Move it around a bit to get the melted butter around the edges. I’ve also found it keeps the egg from sticking if I move the toast around the butter right after placing it in the pan.
Using a spatula, tip up a corner of the toast checking it’s progress. Once golden brown, pick up toast with spatula, melt another bit of butter, then toast the other side.
Make sure not to press down on the toast with your spatula as it’s cooking. This will flatten the toast and create a soggy texture.
Once finished, sprinkle some powdered sugar and top with fresh berries.
Serving tip: If you’re serving more than one piece of toast per plate sprinkle some powdered sugar in between each piece of toast. The sugar will melt between creating a heavenly glaze of sorts.
