In the UK they call it ‘Eggy Bread’ and eat it for supper with cheese on top. In France they call it ‘Pain Perdu’ (Lost Bread) and it is a dessert. In the USA it is called ‘French Toast’ and people eat it for breakfast. In Germany it is called “Armer Ritter” (Poor Soldier) and I am not quite sure how the Germans consume it! And yet, it is the same dish: Stale bread dipped in eggs and milk and then fried in butter. Delicious!
I have to say I love the American version of eating French Toast (in this case) for breakfast. In my family we love having a big, long, late breakfast on weekends, it is such a nice way to ease into the day. We are big consumers of pancakes and muffins, but it is nice to break the routine, so a round of French Toast has been a welcomed change, especially as it is so easy to make.
My recipe is a bit of a mixture from several I found on the internet. I tried and tested different versions and I think I managed to find a good ratio between egg and milk, so it isn’t too rich and not too watery. I use brioche bread which is slightly cheeky as you are supposed to use your old stale pieces of left-over bread, but it tastes so good, I think it is okay…
French Toast (for 6 slices)
– one loaf of brioche (a day old is better as the bread won’t fall into pieces after it has been dipped)
– 2 eggs
– 100 ml of milk
– 50 g of sugar
Mix together milk, eggs and sugar. Cut brioche in slices and dip into the mixture. Turn it around a couple of times to make sure it has been soaked through. Meanwhile heat up a knob of butter in a pan. Lift the slice out of the batter and let the excess batter drip off a little bit. Put the slice in the pan and let it fry on both sides gently. Repeat with the other slices.
We eat it with maple syrup and bananas or with jam and greek yogurt. Any combination you fancy works!
To download the recipe click here.
-Emilie
Comments (7)
And in Norway, the same as the German meaning, only in Norwegian: “Arme riddere”. It’s a dessert here 🙂
In Germany we eat it with cinnamon&sugar 🙂
In Argentina with cheese and jam!
I love French Toast. And I think the key is the bread… sometimes it’s even fun to use a cinnamon/sugar bread. And I like nice, thick slices. Yummm… maybe we’ll do this for breakfast this weekend!
In Dutch it’s called ‘wentelteefjes’. It’s the first dish I learned to cook as a child! We eat them sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, like in Germany… x
In Belgium we call them “verloren brood” (which means lost bread) or “gewonnen brood” (which means the opposite but kinda makes more sense). We eat it as breakfast with sugar just like pancakes .
At my favorite cafe here in the US, they use cinnamon raisin bread, in really thick slices. they we top it off with apple/cinnamon butter, whipped cream, and maple syrup. YUM. best thing i ever ate.