French Toast. Different Context.

Well, after yesterday's attention-deficit post, I promise this will be more focused...

If overprocessed white bread and plastic cheese are good - then more is better! I bought the "Texas Toast" thick-sliced bread and good ol' American slices and had a fantastic sandwich yesterday. So now I have a (loaf - 2 slices) of bread, so I decided to make French toast. I don't overwhelmingly love French toast - in the Breakfast Trifecta, waffles and pancakes always beat French toast by several points. The crust edges are serviceable, but the middle is almost always soggy. So, I figured thicker bread would make for tastier toast, and I was pleased.

Jen's French Toast (Cooks Illustrated recipe)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 c. milk
2 T. butter, melted
2 t. vanilla
2 T. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. flour

Whisk together egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla. Whisk in sugar, salt, and flour. Pour into shallow dish. Heat a pan over medium heat for at least 5 minutes - longer is better. Add some butter to the pan. Soak both sides of bread in egg mixture, then place in pan. Brown on both sides.

Hints and notes: I didn't have enough milk, so I used half milk and half cream. I mistakenly used double-strength vanilla, but I usually over-vanilla everything anyhow. Make sure the butter is thoroughly combined into the wet ingredients, or else your flour will clump to it. I was relatively quick with the batter-soaking. If you like the "custardiness" (read: soggy!) more, fine, but you still don't want the bread oversaturated.

Summer fruit is the best thing about summer, so I scattered fresh peach slices and blueberries on top and coated it all with a dusting of confectioners sugar. Not bad.

I would actually like to try a savory variety with a slice of French toast (minus the vanilla and sugar), topped with ham and Gruyere - maybe a schmear of raspberry jam, like an open face Monte Cristo, maybe?



Okay, one digression. But it's still food - so it's tangentially related. I've been making every excuse to use up leftover fondant, so here's a marbled-fondant cake that I made for our anniversary earlier this week. Inside: vanilla cake, dark chocolate ganache filling, irish cream buttercream.

You know, as much as I say I'm trying to use up my fondant, it's fun stuff to have around. I'm making a friend's birthday cake this week, and I can't wait!