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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.
Ingredients
6 slices challah bread
1 1/3 cups milk (we used 1%)
2/3 cup heavy cream
4 large eggs
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Topping
2/3 cup granulated sugar
Directions
Cut the bread into 1- 1 ½ inch thick slices. Whisk together 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.
Source: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
About Kara Smith
Did you stir the sugar a lot? I think I’ve heard somewhere that if you stir sugar a lot when melting it, it actually encourages the sugar to develop large crystals, thus the lumps. It’s better to leave it be after an initial stir…or so I’ve heard.
I did stir because I was afraid it would burn. I won’t stir it so much next time. Thanks for the tip!