~~ Orangette Raisin Bread French Toast Recipe ~~

Favorite French Toast by Orangette

Hi there,

you like french bread too?

I found my favorite new french toast recipe yesterday...

I was reading Molly Wizenbergs book ( she is also the creator of the charming and fascinating to me to read Orangette food blog and has been voted No. 1 Food blog!).

In that book, she writes deliciously, by going into details, as for how she tried and tried to create her father's french toast, that had just THE perfect texture...



I read the story and went straight to my kitchen - BUT all I could find in my bread basket were rye bread (not the right choice for this recipe) and raisin challah bread...
well, you got to be creative when it comes to cooking... I used the raisin bread.... whipped up the dip for the french toast as Molly suggested.
And she was right  - to use lots of oil makes a huge difference, use her recipe you will be rewarded with the perfect french toast crisp but still soft crust and a creamlike cakey center... Serve with syrup of your choice, fresh fruit - have fun... it really works well with yeasty breads like brioche, soft sandwich bread, challah, day-old slices of bread are great

Thank you, Molly, for a very touching, well-written book and this recipe!!

Alissa

French Toast

adapted from Molly Wizenberg

1 cup milk (i used 1/2 milk 1/2 cream as I ran out of milk)
4 large eggs
1 Tbs sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla sugar (molly uses extract)
¼ tsp salt
Mild-tasting vegetable oil, such as canola
6 slices bread (a bias-cut country French loaf, or challah, preferably), about ¾ to 1 inch thick (this time I used raisin bread)
Pure maple syrup, for serving


Whisk together the first five ingredients in a wide, shallow bowl.

Place a large skillet, preferably cast-iron, over low to medium heat, and add enough oil to just cover the bottom of the skillet.

Two or three at a time, add the bread slices to the egg mixture in the bowl, allowing them to rest for a minute or two on each side. They should feel heavy and thoroughly saturated, but they should not be falling apart. When the oil is hot, place the slices in the skillet. They should sizzle a bit, and the oil should bubble lightly around the edges of the bread; take care, however, that the oil is not too hot, lest the egg mixture burn.
Cook until the underside of each slice is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Turn the bread, and cook until the second side is golden, another 2 minutes or so. Remove the bread from the skillet to a plate lined with a paper towel, allow to rest for 30 seconds or so, and serve immediately—with maple syrup, of course.

Yield: 6 slices, serving 2 or 3.