The Simple Secret To Never Soggy French Toast

I absolutely adore french toast!  But I won’t order it in a restaurant, because you never know what you are going to get.  Often french toast at a restaurant is made with plain white sandwich bread and ends up looking good on the outside, but is mushy or gooey on the inside.  This mushy centre makes me wonder if I am eating raw eggs and completely horrifies me.

The simple secret to well battered yet evenly cooked, never soggy french toast?  Use baguette for the bread.  Leftover baguette is virtually uneatable the next day because they turn hard as a rock so quickly, but it is this very nature that lets them absorb the french toast egg mixture completely, without ever becoming soggy.

I even use orange juice instead of syrup on my french toast and they still don’t give a hint of sogginess!

Ingredients:

Baguette, fresh is fine, one or two day old even better

2 Eggs

Up to 1/4 milk or cream (They ran out of my usual 18% cream over the holidays at my local grocery store.  So sad.)

Optional but nice: vanilla, cinnamon

Butter for frying

Don’t forget some fruit for topping!

Makes 8 little slices of french toast, good for 2 people with small appetites or 1 person with a large appetite.

Try slicing your baguette on an angle to create larger pieces.  I’ve even sliced the baguette, left the slices out on my counter over night and then used them to make this french toast.  Seriously stale still works!

Use a bowl with a fairly flat bottom so it is easier to soak up your egg mixture with the bread later.  I’ve used tupperware sandwich containers in the past.  Break 2 eggs  into the bowl.  Combine with about 1/4 cup of milk or cream.  This isn’t the best photo, but I can’t help love those action pour shots!

Add a little bit of vanilla if you have some.  I find vanilla gives anything a homey, comforting feeling.

Add a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Stir well.

Soak your baguette pieces in the egg mixture.  I leave them in there a good 30 seconds or even a minute until they are nicely soaked through.  You cannot over soak stale baguettes!

Place the soon-to-be french toast into a hot buttery frying pan.  If there is any egg mixture left, I use a little spoon to pour it evenly over each slice as it’s frying.  Baguette has nice little crevices that you can fill up with the mixture. Waste not, want not.  That isn’t entirely true, but the first part is still a good adage to live by!

Flip after a few minutes once golden on the first side.  At this point, you can turn off the burner and let the residual heat in the pan cook the other side.  May as well not waste electricity while we’re on a roll!

Place on a plate and top with fruit!  Try a spoonful of orange juice on top for extra sweetness instead of syrup.  The extra bonus to using angled sliced baguette is you can play around with stacking it prettily, especially if you are aiming for a romantic breakfast!

What’s your favorite french toast topping? Jump up.