French toast.

This recipe is an old classic, and I've found a couple ways to improve it over the years to make it taste better than what you might expect at a restaurant.

Here in this article I want to share photos of the French toast I made and also share how it was made.

Ingredients

The standard method is to whisk a few eggs with about a half of a cup of milk. Add a few dashes of spice and a teaspoon of vanilla. Choose a thick bread, such as Texas Toast.

Everything can be estimated, and no exact measurements are needed. Use more or less of any ingredient to suit your own tastes.

Stove Top Cooking

Coat the bread slices in the batter until they are fully covered. Let the excess drip off before putting the batter-coated bread slices onto a medium hot pan.

There needs to be a thin layer of oil on the pan to prevent the egg-coating on the bread from sticking to the pan and scalding. A few minutes on each side should make it golden brown.

Results

Using the standard recipe, the results always disappointed me. It would be soggy and thin in the center, yet thick and tender closer to the crust. Sometimes the center would not even be done yet, under-cooked, while the outsides near the crust was tender and good.

Recipe Improvements

Try changing one or of the two things I suggest below, and I guarantee this recipe will satisfy better.

• Use a 1 cup carton of liquid whipping cream, instead of regular milk.

Using a hand electric mixer on high speed in a clean metal bowl, whisk the whipping cream until it starts to thicken. Don't overdo it. Just enough to incorporate some air inside and make it fluffy. In a baking tray, I use the same electric hand mixer to beat the eggs with the vanilla and spice (I like Pumpkin Pie spice, or cinnamon). Use a spatula to gently fold in the whipped cream into the eggs until it is smoothly blended.

• Use a loaf of bakery fresh Challah bread.

Challah is a specialty bread, and not all bakeries make it. It is always made to resemble a giant bumpy braid. If you can find it, it really elevates the recipe because it has the light sweetness of honey, and a consistency that is more absorbent and able to retain its shape and texture when wet. The crust is also soft and egglike, which makes it more tender to chew. This bread also dries out very quickly in the air, so keep it wrapped in plastic until ready to use. It will also mold in a few days, so use it fresh.

Huge bread pieces take up too much space in the pan. The key is to make the bread slices to resemble large medallions. I use a long serrated knife to saw the bread slices 3 cm thick, and cut each slice in half. This makes them rounded on three sides, and flat on the fourth side. In this way, you should be able to fit four whole pieces into a skillet easily.

This bread will hold its shape well on the pan, and it won't stick. Most pans are hotter in the center. Use a spatula to spin/rotate the pieces half way around, so the other side can brown up, making a more even golden side throughout.

Best Toppings

French toast is meant to be fluffy and thick with a light egg and cream flavor and hints of vanilla and cinnamon spice.

Favorite toppings I have tried include rich melting butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, peanut butter, nutella, jam, fresh berries, sliced bananas, apple pie filling, fresh-squeezed lemon juice, and/or orange slices.

Good quality Maple syrup is still my all-time favorite, must-have topping.

The best thing about French Toast made in this way is it will be more airy and easier to digest. You can thank me later for helping you to keep your slim figure when you don't feel so heavy or full afterwards. Although don't be surprised if you find yourself and others returning for a second helping.

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Thank you for viewing my quick article to showcase my French Toast photos and cooking tips. This is primarily intended to showcase my achievement in cooking, but if I can teach others to replicate it, and help make more tummies happy in this world, then that's an exponential win for us all.

I'm not a food chef or professional food photographer. Let me know if you have any tips on how to make food look more appetizing on the plate for the camera I have. Staging food for photos is really hard for me without some handy props and good lighting. I've noticed the metal textures nearby somehow help reference the light reflections so the nearby food looks more balanced, but I'm not sure why.

Food for thought?

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