I'm Frank Proto,
professional chef and culinary instructor.
And today, I'm gonna show you the best way
to make French toast...
Frank style.
We're talking everything you need to know
to make the most crispy, custardy French toast
you have ever stuffed in your face.
This is French toast 101.
My perfect French toast is lightly crispy on the outside,
custardy like a bread pudding on the inside,
and a little bit of sweetness.
The worst kind of French toast,
dry, flat, or squishy and soggy.
No flavor at all.
Let's get this going.
[light guitar music]
The secret to the best French toast
is choosing the right bread.
I like the challah. Challah bread, baby.
It's got the right density, great flavor,
and I like to slice my own.
I like to go two fingers.
I don't really use the butt end that much,
although my wife will eat this.
I'll give that to her.
I like the thickness because I want it to be substantial.
I don't want a wimpy piece of French toast.
Not only that, the thickness allows for maximum amount
of absorption of the liquid that we're gonna put this in,
and I want it to soak in really well.
I want it to be like a bread pudding,
plus it looks really good on the plate.
Look at it.
She's gorgeous.
What I like about challah is got a really tight crumb.
Bread that has like a very loose crumb,
like lots of big bubbles,
doesn't really work all that great for this
because that tight crumb is what soaks up the liquid.
If you can't find holo bread, find a nice sturdy white loaf.
Something that is baked at the local bakery,
not something you get on the shelf at the supermarket.
I'm gonna slice these and put them on a tray
because I want our bread to dry out a little.
Pain perdu.
The French term for French toast means lost bread.
It's daily bread that's a little stale.
Not only does it soak up more liquid,
which means more flavor in our French toast,
I feel like it also gives us a little better texture,
So, that when we finally cook it, it's not gonna fall apart.
If you don't have the time to let this dry out overnight,
put it in a low oven, 200 degrees, 250,
and just do a really light toast on it
for about 15, 20 minutes.
So, I'm gonna put this aside.
And while we wait for it to dry out,
I'm gonna make my batter.
[light guitar music]
Your batter is your chance to add as much flavor
as possible to your French toast.
One of the biggest mistakes I see with French toast is
that people do not set it up like a custard.
At the end of the day, this is a custard.
It's got eggs and cream or eggs and dairy in it.
First thing I wanna do for my custard
is I have a little bit of nutmeg.
I'm gonna put that in the bowl.
Nutmeg and custards is just wonderful.
Orange zest, this is one of those things
that is a very Frank thing, right?
I love orange zest in my food.
And then you pair orange zest with nutmeg and brandy
and you are in heaven.
We're gonna put a pinch of salt.
Salt is a flavor enhancer.
You always want to use a little bit of salt with your sweet.
It accentuates all the flavors.
We're gonna add cream.
If you're worried about cream, use half and half.
Use whole milk.
Once you start getting into the 1%, 2% milk, even skim milk,
it's like, don't bother.
Now, you're just gonna have wet bread.
The basic ratio for a custard
is two cups of cream, four eggs.
With that ratio, your custard will set up
and not be watery at the end of cooking.
So, I have my cream, my nutmeg, my orange zest.
I'm going to add sugar.
You need sweet here.
Brandy. Is it a little over the top?
Yeah, it's a little over the top.
But hey, that's me, a little over the top.
I think it compliments all the flavors in here really well.
If you don't have it, don't bother.
Some vanilla extract.
Last but not least, we're gonna put our eggs in.
Eggs are the cement that holds everything together.
And for us, the eggs are gonna hold our custard together.
You could use a whisk for this.
My only problem with the whisk is that
when you have dry spices like nutmeg,
it doesn't blend all that well
and the nutmeg tends to clump up.
And then you'll have a bite of French toast
that has a lot of nutmeg, and a bite that doesn't have any.
So, the immersion blender here works really well
at combining this.
Everything's incorporated really well.
We're ready for the bread.
[light guitar music]
So, here's our dried out bread.
Don't just go in there
and plop it in, plop it in, and then fry it.
You need a good 20 to 30-minute soak.
I'm only gonna put about three slices in here.
I don't wanna overcrowd this
because if they kind of rest on top each other,
they don't really soak up as much of the liquid.
Move it around.
Make sure that we get all sides coated.
If you don't let it soak long enough,
the middle is going to be dry.
So, right now, if I squeeze it,
it's still firm in the center.
That tells me that the custard
is not fully incorporated into the bread.
The French toast has been soaking for about 20 minutes.
Let's get the piece out here.
You can see that it's actually really soft, right?
You push your finger in, it's super soft.
Squeeze in.
If the liquid comes out like a sponge,
you're ready to go.
And with that, it is time to cook.
[light guitar music]
When you're cooking this French toast,
you want to go low and slow.
If you have high heat,
it's gonna be dark brown on the outside
and soggy in the center.
Take your time. Be patient.
I'm gonna turn my pan onto about a medium heat,
and then I'm gonna put copious amounts
of butter in here, right?
I am not shy about the butter
because I want my outside to get a little crispy.
I like salted butter.
I think the saltiness really accents the sweetness
in the French toast.
Now, I know my temperature is good
'cause my butter did not start to sizzle
when I put it in the pan.
I want the butter to melt slowly
and coat the bottom of the pan.
Our butter is melted.
It is not starting to sizzle yet.
But actually, you can see a little bit of sizzling there
and that's good.
What I'm gonna do with this
is I'm gonna drain it just a little,
and then we can lay them in our pan.
We don't wanna squeeze it out.
We just wanna get some of that surface moisture off.
Lay it in the pan.
If you see that it's bubbling really rapidly
around the French toast, lower your heat.
We want light little bubbles. Light bubbles, and we're okay.
You just want to make sure
that that center is nice and cooked.
French toast has been cooking for about four minutes
So, we're starting to get nice and golden brown.
So, it's time to turn.
So, let's turn these babies.
We got it nice and brown.
This is our presentation side.
It's beautiful.
Now, we just let it go for about another five
to seven minutes on low heat,
and that center cud will get nice and set and delicious.
If you have little pieces of batter on here,
you can always just peel them off.
Just get rid of 'em.
You can see there's lots of butter here.
I like to swirl things in my pan,
so they soak up some of that butter.
The French toast is done, and this is how I test it, right?
We have a lot of that custard in the middle.
If I can push down in the center
and I start seeing liquid squeeze out,
it is not cooked enough.
You have to let it go a little longer.
We're beautifully brown.
It smells good.
See how nice and soft and fluffy it is, but not soggy?
Am I the only one that wants to eat this
like right outta the pan?
[light guitar music]
When it comes to French toast, lots of syrup,
lots of butter, lots of love.
So, I always start out, and again, I use whipped butter.
I just think the salted whipped butter
is something that's just extra special.
Nestle that down.
Another knob of butter.
So, let's do this.
Little butter on top.
And then we have real maple syrup.
And my opinion, this is the only way to go.
And as if this wasn't sweet enough,
just a little bit of powdered sugar on top.
Make it extra special.
First person that tells me they wouldn't eat that,
I'm done with you.
And this is the best way to make French toast at home.
Let's give it a taste.
I'm gonna cut into this piece here.
Look soft and custard in the middle.
Delicious.
Slather a little butter on it.
Get a little syrup.
[groovy music]
You taste a little bit of brandy.
You taste a little bit of orange.
It's just like you get these little pops
of flavor as you eat it.
Everything kind of like goes so well together.
This is the most amazing French toast you'll ever make.
