Start off your day with a classic French toast

Lifestyle Monday 18/February/2019 22:10 PM
By: Times News Service
Start off your day with a classic French toast

French toast is a breakfast that is sure to win over everyone at the breakfast table. There are tons of variations to this 'egg and bread' breakfast that is sure to bring a smile to everyone who gets to feast on this traditional morning meal. Classic French toast is made by dipping bread into an egg and milk mixture. It is then fried on a skillet that has been buttered or has oil. Each side is grilled for about 4 minutes and then flipped. Traditionally, the dish is topped with butter, cinnamon, powdered sugar, maple syrup, and served with a glass of milk at breakfast time.

Once they have been cooked, you can add a variety of toppings to them to make them unique. It is common to usually put syrup and powdered sugar on them. There are variations that are delicious and unique. Topping with jam, honey, or fruit filling can be a flavourful way of changing up this traditional breakfast. In addition, French toast can be topped with butter, Marmite, apple sauce, whipped cream, fruit, chocolate, yoghurt, marmalade, or peanut butter. If you are looking to add more protein to this meal, it is not uncommon that pecans, beans, beef, or even bacon is added on top. When these meat toppings are added, chefs do not add syrup to these plates as they are eaten as a meal and not a sweet pastry breakfast.

If you are looking to change up your classic French toast, you may want to try using different styles of bread. In parts of the South Western United States, sourdough bread replaces the standard bread as the base for the dish. Australians have been using sliced baguettes instead of white bread in their French toast and also adds spices to the egg-milk mixture. Here, they have also been known to top the dish with cheese and tomato sauce. In Australia, French toast is not always eaten as a breakfast meal.

Despite the many variations of French toast, this meal will always have the basic style of bread dipped in an egg-dairy mixture. How you choose to transform this meal is entirely up to you and your imagination.

One major mistake most people make is using the wrong type of bread. A thin slice of white bread simply will not be good when trying to create fluffy French toast. So, a person should opt to use challah bread or brioche, which are thicker in nature. One should also avoid using French bread for making the dish, which is a mistake that is more common than many people might think.

Another tip many people do not consider is using of old bread. Old bread makes the perfect choice. If a person plans on making the dish for a weekend breakfast, then he or she should cut as many slices of bread as needed the night before. Then, it is a great idea to leave the bread out sitting on the countertop in the kitchen. By allowing the bread to air out over night, these slightly old pieces of bread will be able to absorb syrup and custard much better than bread with a bit of moisture in it.

When soaking the bread in the egg mixture, another good idea is to use cream instead of milk. Cream tastes better than milk. Using heavy cream, or even coffee cream is a great idea when making French toast. One will surely be able to notice the difference. For French toast that is crunchy, a good tip is to use flour in the ingredients. A bit of flour will add that much needed crunch.