Crème Brûlée French Toast

As Kelly mentioned yesterday we recently made challah bread. I had been eyeing the recipe for ages. I love, love, love challah bread! The recipe looked kind of complicated though. I am often leery of making bread. And braided bread, even more difficult! But then when I saw that Deb from Smitten Kitchen made crème brulee french toast, I knew I had to make it with challah bread. Challah bread with honey butter is great on its own, but add custard and a caramel top and it is irresistible! Breakfast is not my favorite meal. In fact, it is my very least favorite meal. I pretty much stick to pancakes, granola, fruit, bagels and donuts. I never eat french toast because I think it is “soggy.” And I never put syrup on my pancakes. Again, soggy. But this french toast is great because 1, it is not soggy. And 2, because of the caramelized topping it doesn’t need syrup. Perfect for me! I really hope you enjoy this one!

 


 

Here is what you’ll need

Add the milk to a bowl

And the heavy cream

And the sugar

And the eggs

And the salt

And the vanilla

And finally the orange zest

Lay the bread on a rimmed tray and pour the custard over it. We should have used a smaller tray. Live and learn.

Pop them in the over for 30 minutes

Pour the sugar into a heavy sauce pan

Cook until the sugar melts and takes on a honey color. I dont know why ours is so chunky!!

Pour the caramel over the toasts

And spread quickly. Very quickly.

Perfect french toast. No syrup required.

 

Crème Brûlée French Toast

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Breakfast, Main Course

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/3 cup milk
  • 2/3 cup heavy cream
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt or table salt
  • 1 tsp orange zest
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Topping

  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar

Instructions
 

  • Cut the bread into 1- 1 ½ inch thick slices. Whisktogether milk, cream, eggs, sugar, salt, orange zest and vanilla extract.
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
  • Arrange the bread slices on a rimmed tray. Use the smallest tray that you have so the custard goes on the bread and not on the tray.
  • Pour the custard over the sliced challah. Allow them to absorb the custard for 30 minutes, turning the slices over at one point to ensure they’re soaking it up evenly.
  • Cook for about 30 minutes.
  • Melt the remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a small, heavy, completely dry saucepan over moderate heat, stirring with a small spoon or fork until fully melted and the color of honey.
  • Working quickly spread the caramel over each slice of french toast
  • Serve with fresh berries
Keyword Brulee, toast