Challah French Toast
Blue Ribbon Restaurants, New York, NY
“We love to make French toast with challah because the bread is already so extravagantly eggy, rich, and buttery that it adds a lot to the overall flavor of the dish, and soaks up the custard surprisingly well. For the fattest, most custardy and satiny French toast, you need to get the bread to absorb as much of the egg mixture as possible before it saturates and falls apart (a dunk of about 5 minutes will do the trick). Of course, you can still fry it up even if it does fall apart—it just won’t look as pretty. (If you serve it before everyone is caffeinated, they may not even notice.)”
–Bruce Bromberg and Eric Bromberg
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 6 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 8 (1-inch) slices challah
- 3 to 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, as needed
- Fresh berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, or sliced strawberries, for serving
- Confectioners’ sugar, for serving
Method
To prepare the maple butter, in a small bowl, beat together the softened butter with the syrup until smooth. Cover tightly and refrigerate if not using soon. (It will keep for up to 1 week.)
To make the French toast, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Pour the custard into a wide, shallow dish. Soak each slice of bread in the liquid, turning to coat on both sides until the bread is saturated but not falling apart, 4 to 5 minutes.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Melt 1 1/2 tablespoons of the butter in the pan. Working in batches, cook the challah until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining challah, adding butter as needed.
Divide the toast among individual plates and top with maple butter, fresh berries, and a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.
Yield
4 to 6 servings
