Bishop - 101 French Toast Delights

For the perfect French toast, follow these tips: Don't have too much dairy. Too much dairy (or not enough egg) waters down the egg, resulting in soggy toast. Choose the right bread. The ideal size is 3/4" - 1". Too thin and it will be too soggy, and too thick and it won't cook in the middle. You want a bread that will soak up the mixture, but still be sturdy enough to hold it, breads such as Brioche, challah, French bread are ideal.

Soak the bread well. A quick dip and the mixture won't penetrate to the centre. Soaking for 15 to 20 minutes is ideal. Cook at the right temperature. Too quickly and the outside will burn before the centre cooks through, too low and the bread will dry out. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side over a medium heat, until the outside is a golden brown.

Preheat the pan. If the pan is not hot enough to seal the batter into the bread, it will seep out. Use butter AND oil to grease the skillet. Adding the oil will stop the butter from burning, and adding the butter gives the perfect flavor and crisp exterior. Make sure your bread is dry. Fresh bread is soft and, as a result, using it will make your French toast soggy and very well may fall apart.

You want the moisture taken out of the bread for perfect toast. There are two methods you can use for this. One is to use bread that is a day old and slightly stale. This means it is dry enough to soak in the custard and cook perfectly. However, stale bread loses its flavor, so in order to get the perfect toast and keep the flavor you can slice the bread and dry out in an oven - 8 minutes on each side at 300 F (150 C) should do the trick. Bring ingredients to room temperature.

This is a great rule for all baking. This makes the ingredients incorporate better, giving a better flavor. Take out your ingredients 20 to 30 minutes before cooking. Strain the batter. If you get a pool of custard at the bottom of your French toast, this is usually caused by unincorporated egg white. Straining the batter will remove the lumpy egg white leaving you with a smoother batter that will soak into the bread better.

Only use full dairy. Full dairy, half-and-half or heavy cream gives a fuller flavor and lighter texture. Add a little alcohol. Alcohol enhances the flavor in cooking and can give it a perfect twist. Use liqueurs like Grand Marnier, Amaretto, Kahlua and add to the batter before soaking. Use your oven for large batches.

If you are cooking for a large group of people, arrange all the soaked bread on a baking sheet and broil/grill till brown on both sides. Use flour for crunchy toast. A good ratio is 1 egg:3/4 cup milk:1/3 cup flour.