We think we know French toast, this quick dessert that we prepare almost mechanically. However, a small gesture, discreet but decisive, can transform this simple recipe into a real crunchy and melting treat. And many families do it without ever really explaining it.
French toast is the ultimate spontaneous dessert: a few slices of bread, milk, eggs and a little sugar. But let’s be honest, it’s often too softSometimes too fator simply not as delicious as we imagined.
However, some families get a version golden, fragrantand above all crunchy-melty of irresistible simplicity. Their secret does not lie in a rare ingredient, but in a gesture that we almost always forget: working with French toast like a dessert that also deserves real care. This goes through the good breada controlled imbibitionand above all a cooking in a light caramel. It’s that last tiny but magical gesture that makes French toast so much better.
It all starts with good bread, the one that keeps its hold
Amazing French toast cannot be made with bread that is too fresh or too soft. Families who make this dessert successfully always use a tight crumbA little racecapable of absorbing milk without falling apart.
A dry briocheand country bread or a sourdough bread offer this solid texture which promises a golden surface and a melting heart. The choice of bread alone explains why some versions hold up perfectly when cooked while others collapse.
The discreet gesture: ultra-rapid imbibition
This small gesture already changes everything. Soaking bread too long results in a mushy result. Not long enough, it stays dry. The secret is a short soakalmost a round trip in the milk-egg mixture.
This brief hydration allows the heart to remain soft and on the surface to transform into a delicate crust once cooked. It is this mastery of time which gives the double texture so sought after: melting in, crispy outside.
The little gesture that makes French toast such best: cooking caramel
This is the step that you never see in quick recipes, but which changes the dessert completely. Before placing the soaked slices in the pan, we prepare a caramel blond : a little sugar, allowed to melt, then a knob of butter to soften it.
When the bread touches this hot caramel, the surface is instantly adorned with a thin crunchy crustlightly caramelized, which captures all the flavors. Inside, the crumb remains tender, fragrantdelicately melting.
This contrast is what makes French toast amazing. A simple, quick, almost invisible gesture… but it’s the gesture that changes absolutely everything.
Also read:
Our tips for making perfect French toast
The secret recipe for French toast from our childhood by Philippe Etchebest
Do you know the 4-3-2-1 method for ultra-fluffy pancakes?
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