Photos by L.G. Patterson

French toast is an amazing dish. You can go from start to finish in about 10 minutes and have a great sweet or savory meal. The French call it “pain perdu,” which translates to lost bread. Fresh bread is excellent, but if you have bread without any preservatives, you only have a few days before it becomes stale and needs to be used for croutons, breadcrumbs or French toast. While most people consider French toast to be sweet, you can also try the savory route.

Bread

Almost any kind of bread will work. Plain, sourdough, brioche, challah, ciabatta or other mild breads will make for a sweet French toast. Some modified bread-based products will also work great for sweet French toast, such as panettone, cinnamon rolls, fruit cake, bread pudding or anything with a sturdy crumb structure that could soak up and hold custard. If you are going to go for a savory French toast, rye, multi-grain, focaccia or pumpernickel might work well. It does not have to be stale bread, but if you use fresh bread, it might help to cut it a few hours beforehand and lay it on the counter to dry out a bit. This will allow the bread to absorb more custard when soaked.

Custard

This is a rough ratio — per two slices, two eggs, two ounces of milk and two tablespoons of sugar (or other sweetener.) If you choose to go savory, you can leave the sweetener out, but you might want to at least keep about a quarter of it for balance. You may need to tweak some to suit your taste.

If you like a stiff, firm toast, you may need less milk and more egg. If you want a moister toast, you may need more milk. Luckily, you have some flexibility. I recommend at least one “test toast.” Make your batch of custard, then cut a piece of bread into quarters or smaller. Soak it, then cook the “test toast.” If it is dry, add milk. If it is wet, add an egg or don’t soak it as long. If it is not sweet enough, add more sugar, honey, molasses or other sweetener. If it is too sweet, make another small batch of custard without sweetener and add it to the batch. With four small “test toasts,” you should be able to find the desired seasoning and finish.

Soak

Your cooking method will depend on how you soak the bread. A fresh slice of bread may only soak up an ounce of custard, while the same sized slice of dry bread could soak up three to four times as much custard. A longer soak will create a creamier custard inside, while a short soak makes a drier inside with more custard on the surfaces. That might be what you desire; a drier bread will also absorb more butter and syrup. It all depends on your desired outcome.

Cook

If you did a short soak, use a high-heat, quick cook. If you opted for a long soak, cook long on low-heat. Your result will be a creamy custard center with a nice, crispy outside. A long soak with a short, high-heat cook will yield a soggy, raw inside. If you have a short soak with a long, lowheat cook, the bread will run out of moisture and dry out. Try and find what works best for your preference.

Sweet Toppings

Most people are probably more familiar with sweet toppings, so you may not have to think as hard. The go-tos are butter, syrup and a dusting of powdered sugar. There is nothing wrong with that; sometimes you just need a simple breakfast that can come together in a few minutes. If you’re looking for more options, consider combining different toppings. Try out strawberries, bananas, peaches, candied pecans, Nutella, caramel, blueberries, sauteed apples, jam, whipped cream, roasted pears, honey or bacon.

Savory Toppings

The sky’s the limit here; you could cook a steak on top of a couple of pieces of French toast and it would be delicious. Mix and match your flavor combinations to create the perfect, savory toast. Hollandaise, over-easy eggs, country ham, mushrooms and asparagus tips are all great toppings. Crème fraîche, smoked salmon, chives, breakfast sausage, scrambled eggs, poached eggs or ricotta also work. You can also think about adding something savory to the custard such as garlic, parmesan, spices, truffle oil and more. Mix, match and find some flavor combinations that you love.