Bread, Toast & Pizza · American home cooking
Cinnamon French Toast
Thick bread slices soaked in a cinnamon-vanilla egg custard, pan-fried in butter until the edges caramelise and the centres stay soft, served with berries and a little maple.
About this dish
Stale bread is the whole point here; a dry slice drinks up custard without collapsing, while fresh soft bread turns to soggy mush the moment it hits the pan. Whisk the eggs with milk, cinnamon and a spoonful of sugar until no streaks of white remain, then give each slice only a short bath, about twenty seconds a side. In the pan, butter should foam quietly and smell nutty, not burn. The finished toast gives a faint crackle at the crust and yields softly under a fork.
Before you start
Equipment: Skillet. Tap the ingredient checkboxes as you go.
Method
7 steps · tick each one off as you finish it.
Whisk the custard
Beat 150 ml egg, 200 ml milk, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/4 tsp salt in a wide bowl for 30 seconds. The moment to move on is when no streaks of white remain and the surface is evenly beige and frothy.
Soak the bread
Cut 240 g day-old bread into 4 slices about 3 cm thick. Lay each in the custard for 20 seconds per side; it is soaked enough when liquid has reached the centre but the slice still holds its shape when lifted.
Heat the pan
Set a wide skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add half the 30 g butter and 1 tbsp oil; the butter should foam quietly and smell nutty, not brown. A drop of custard dropped in must sizzle at once.
Fry the first side
Lay 2 soaked slices in the pan, leaving space between them, and cook for 3 minutes without moving. The underside is ready when it is deep golden, the edges look lacy, and the custard no longer runs when the pan is tilted.
Turn and hold
Flip both slices and cook 2 to 3 minutes more, until the centres spring back when pressed and the second side matches the first. Transfer to a tray and keep warm in a 100 °C oven while you cook the rest.
Wipe and repeat
Wipe the pan with paper towel, add the remaining butter and fry the last 2 slices the same way, 3 minutes then 2 minutes. The butter should smell sweet and nutty again, with no black flecks from the first batch.
Serve
Stack 2 slices per plate, add 120 g berries and a drizzle of 2 tbsp maple syrup. Serve at once, while the crust still crackles under a fork and the centres are soft and custardy rather than dry.
Tips that matter
- Use bread two or three days old; if it is fresh, dry the slices in a 120 °C oven for 8 minutes first.
- Wipe the pan between batches; browned butter bits from the first round will taste burnt by the third.
Easy variations
- Add 1 tbsp cocoa powder and 1 extra tbsp sugar to the custard for a chocolate version.
- Sandwich two thin slices with 30 g cream cheese before soaking for a stuffed, custardy centre.
Questions that come up
Why is my French toast soggy in the middle?
The slices soaked too long or the bread was fresh. Limit it to 20 seconds a side and start with dry, stale bread.
Can I make it dairy-free?
Yes, use 200 ml unsweetened oat milk and fry in oil instead of butter; the crust will be slightly less rich.
Nutrition, roughly
| Energy | 360 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 12 g |
| Carbohydrate | 42 g |
| Fat | 16 g |
Estimated per serving from standard ingredients, rounded. Treat it as a guide, not clinical data.
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