Saturday, November 30, 2013

FFwD: Sugar-Coated French Toast


Today´s recipe for the French Fridays with Dorie group is Sugar-crusted French Toast, also called “pain perdu” (which means "lost bread") in France or "pain doré" (which means "golden bread") in Québec - I am just mentioning that because the first time I ate French Toast at a restaurant was in lovely Québec.




There is a 14th-century German recipe for French Toast under the name of "Arme Ritter" which literally translated means “poor knights”. It was a dish prepared with ingredients that were readily available at the time and when thrown together, they made a satisfying meal for the knights returning to their castle after battle.




For this rich and sweet treat of a dessert you can use just about any type of plain bread that you like. Of course homemade brioche would be the first choice but it can also be made with any other type of fresh bakery loaf. I always use a white loaf from a nearby bakery, it is called “tea bread” (Teebrot), a slightly sweet bread that can easily be sliced, making it the perfect choice for French Toast.

Once you have sliced your bread, all that is left to do is to prepare a simple custard as is usual for most French Toasts - a combination of milk, cream, sugar, eggs, salt and pure vanilla extract (I used my homemade vanilla sugar) all mixed together. Add the bread slices to the custard mix, leave for three minutes, on each side, melt butter and sugar in the pan, cook until nicely browned and with a sugar crust, add more sugar to the other side of the toast, turn, and cook some more until sugary and crusty and golden. Enjoy while still warm.




This recipe is meant as a dessert and although I know that French Toast is enjoyed as a breakfast in North America, in Germany it is also rather dessert than breakfast fare. My darling taste testers and all those knights in my life thought that this was a rather rich and sweet dessert – no need to add maple syrup or anything else but a light dusting of powdered sugar.

To see how much the other members of the French Fridays with Dorie group enjoyed today´s recipe, please click here.

If you happen to own Dorie Greenspan´s book “Around my French Table”, you will find the recipe for the “Sugar-coated French Toast” on page 418.



33 comments:

  1. Loved the background of "Arme Ritter". Sometimes I feel a bit like a deplete knight returning from battle myself by the time I get home from work and this would be an excellent (if weight adding.....) way to comfort oneself after a long day !! Your photos are just lovely and you beautifully captured this sugar crust with your close up. My family has so far enjoyed this twice as a dessert and we too only add a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Lovely !!

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    1. Tricia, I seem to be running late with my FFwD posts these days but better late than never. And this was just too easy a recipe to not make it - my family and all the knights in my life love this dessert! Thank you so very much for kind (and fun) words, dear Tricia!

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  2. Yes, we in North America tend to see this only served for breakfast, although I do make savory herbed versions with a cheese topping... The photos are beautiful, as ever, and I love your sugar spoon and all the other props, too! ~ Hugs, David

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    1. Dear David, you know I do not often make French Taost - it is easy and the kids love it but somehow I never really seem to get around to making some - it is nice but rather filling and we love dousing it with maple syrup when it is not sugar-coated like this version.
      Thank you so much for your darling comment, dear friend!

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  3. Lovely photos! I'm glad everyone enjoyed this!

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    1. Eileen, thank you - hope that you and your family enjoyed this easy recipe as well!

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  4. I would have a hard time serving this as dessert in our house - I might be able to get away with it for lunch, but probably not dessert :-)

    I enjoyed the background on the weary knights and echo Tricia's thoughts on that subject.

    Have a great weekend.

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    1. Cher, well, Dorie´s recipe stated that this is a dessert so we just treated it that way. Not sweeter and more filling than some of the other desserts out there. But I must admit tht I skipped dinner the day I served this.

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  5. Andrea, this sounds just amazing, I love the idea of the melted butter and sugar for a coating. I've made lots of French toast but never anything like this, can't wait to try it! That first picture is amazing!!

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    1. Chris, you are very kind, my dear - the only "difficult" part about this recipe was paying enough attention to be pan while cooking the French Toast and not be distracted by family members playing hide-and-seek-in the the house/kitchen - otherwise the sugar would have burned. But it was a very tasty and sweet treat! Thanks for your lovely comment!

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  6. Beautiful job. The French toast looks delicious. My taste testers loved this recipe.

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    1. Geraldine, thanks - this was a lovely dessert. Glad that you and your family really enjoyed this as well!

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  7. Glad your family enjoyed this dessert! We had it for breakfast, though I'll admit that I don't love sweet breakfasts. I really liked the texture of the sugar coating and the contrast to the delicious bread! Hope you have a great week!

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    1. Betsy, thank you, yes, we enjoyed this but it dioes make only an occasional appearance at our house - there are too many other wonderful dessert recipes out there that are not quite as substantial as this lovely dessert!

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  8. I love to try out your recipe, my favourite.

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    1. Candy, this recipe is definitely worth trying at least once - it is a very substantial and sweet treat - best to be enjoyed when there is no dinner planned that day!

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  9. I agree with you Andrea, I prefer sweet things for dessert not breakfast so I rarely ever make French toast but just looking at your lovely photos is making me hungry so all my rules for sweet food for breakfast are about to be thrown out the window :)

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    1. Karen, around here we go for rather savory/hearty breakfasts and try not to indulge in too many sweet things before the day has started. And this recipe was quite sweet with the sugar crust and all but nice and a special treat for those days when there is definitely room left for dessert!

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  10. My dear Andrea, sorry it has taken me so long to read this post and visit you. I've been drooling since I saw the photos on FB but with Thanksgiving cooking and craziness and all the kids at home, it was a bit hectic. I have time today since they are all back in school. I too find French toast very sweet for breakfast and can't understand how my husband can still drown it in syrup! I eat it straight up without any more sweetening. Yours look so delicious! Gorgeous and crispy outside and soft inside, yummy!

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    1. Nazneen, no apologies, please, I have (lot of) kids myself and I certainly know how life with kids and holidays and all that baking and cooking an blogging feels like - I was so drained last week, it felt as though I could not move. So, I truly appreciate the time you take to like me on FB, link my posts and support me with all your lovely and thoughtful comments! I am grateful for all of them and yes French Toast is a bit on the sweet side - a true once.in-a-while treat!
      Hope all is well!

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  11. Your photos are making me hungry! We're your ears burning last weekend? I met Chris of The Cafe Sucre Farine at Mixed...and she was telling me how your prop cupboard inspired her to organize hers. Now I have some catching up to do! She's as wonderful as you'd expect. Wish you could have joined us (a bit of a long haul for you, I know!).

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    1. Dear Liz, they sure were - Chris must be such a wonderful person - just looking at her blog and all the lovely pictures, you can certainly tell how very dedicated she is in all that she does! Darn that long distance between good old EU and the US but I will just have suggest a blogger conference in Cologne (my hometown!) next year! There are sooo many wonderful things to explore in and around Cologne, I am sure that you would all just love it - and I gladly volunteer to organize it!

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  12. You got FABULOUS results... tempting me to make some again!

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    1. Emily, some more might be in order on the weekend indeed! Thanks for the nice comment!

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  13. Wow, those poor knights, having to eat French toast! Your toast looks delightful.

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    1. Oh, yes, just imagine being a knight in battle and having that French Tpast on your mind!

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  14. Oh how did you know I'm craving French toast?! Need to make this ASAP xx

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    1. Trishie, of those cravings...I think it is easy to have a craving for French Toast and this recipe will certainly make you crave this lovely, sweet French dessert.

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  15. Beautiful photos and lovely French toast! I loved this one…I think this is my new favorite French toast recipe!

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    1. Kathy, so glad that you liked this recipe so much - we thought is was nice but rather sweet and this recipe will certainly remain a once-in-a-while indulgence for us. Thanks for commenting!

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  16. What's fun about cooking with international comrades is to learn how other cultures enjoy what is basically the same recipe world-wide. I had never considered French Toast to be a dessert, Andrea. My mother made it often, very plain and served with maple syrup. I was a kid and would smother mine with Welch's grape jelly (no accounting for taste!!!). I also made it, the same plain way, for my girls. A dessert? No clue. Ask your girls if they'd ever think about this being served for breakfast? The question would probably produce giggles. A gorgeous looking post, as usual. Thank you for the Thanksgiving greetings. It was wonderful to be with my family. By the way, please tell your young ladies that my refridgerator is totally bare of Christmas artwork. Hmmmmm

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  17. Your French toasts look so good, I think sugar coated variation sounds good, and this is better snack than junk food - seriously! Love your dreamy photography, make me want to get some right away!

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  18. I love your second photo. What a pretty sugar canister!

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