Tag: French Toast with Bread

Royal Toast aka French Toast

Saturday mornings and simple breakfasts just naturally seem to go together. Hands up – how many of you actually eat breakfast every morning? While most of us will whip up breakfast for our children, breakfast for us tends to be a quick cup of coffee and a bite or two of toast while rushing out the door.

The very first breakfast food that I taught myself to make (beyond maybe a scrambled egg) was French Toast. Since then, I have amassed a collection of French Toast recipes – some of these recipes have been plucked from old, obscure books on the subject.

Old cookbooks are a blast to read. Some are down right condescending toward women and their roles in the family. Others offer advice that is so out of the realm of life today. I have a cookbook that has an entire section dedicated to setting a proper table, everything from formal to casual to buffet dinners. This section includes the proper placement of cigarettes and ashtrays on the table! (My “jewelry” box on my nightstand is actually a cigarette box that once sat on the coffee table in our living room. It has a divider down the middle – filtered cigarettes were on one side, non-filtered on the other). I find old books that are a blend of recipes and “wifely” tips to be the most comical. We’ve come a long way, ladies. No longer is it a wife’s duty to fetch her husband’s slippers, among other things.

In 1887 The White House published a cookbook that contained recipes from their chef. Royal Toast is one of those recipes. It offers up two renditions of what we now call French Toast – one made with stale bread, the other with stale cake. I suppose it was a way of utilizing old breads and cakes. I don’t know about you, but generally speaking I don’t have a lot of old cakes just sitting about in my kitchen. If you were to read the original recipe from 1887, it would not contain a list of ingredients, only a brief set of instructions. (The instructions are intact; the ingredients I’ve written out for the sake of convenience). I’m not sure just when the White House first began publishing cookbooks or when that practice ended. I’ve tried googling that information but to no avail. I think the 1887 book might be the oldest, as it appears in most searches of White House cookbooks – or perhaps it is the most “famous”.

French Toast 100Royal Toast – Made with Bread
6 Slices of stale Sweet or white Bread
1 Cup Fresh Milk
2 eggs, well beaten
1 Stick Butter

Dip thin slices of bread into fresh milk; have ready two eggs well beaten; dip the slices in the egg and fry them in butter to a light brown; when fried, pour over them a syrup, any kind that you choose, and serve hot.

French Toast - CakeRoyal Toast – Made with Cake
1 Stale plain cake, sliced
1 Cup Cream
1 Stick Butter

Equally as good is to cut a stale cake into slices an inch and a half in thickness; pour over them a little good sweet cream; then fry lightly in fresh butter in a smooth frying pan; when done, place over each slice of cake a layer of preserves or you may make a rich sauce appropriate to the hour to be served with it.

Note for Cake Recipe: Since most of us do not have stale plain cake just sitting around, use a store-bought butter loaf, pound cake or even Angel Food Cake for this twist on French toast. Use preserves such as berries and serve with warm blueberry syrup. Some fruit on the side is always a nice touch with French Toast.

************

If you are interested in reading a few old recipes from the White House, here’s a link:

https://books.google.com/books/about/White_House_Cook_Book.html?id=FjgEAAAAYAAJ

Sourdough Nutmeg French Toast

Some days I cook to blog, others I cook just to be puttering about in the kitchen. This morning’s French Toast was just me, being hungry and wanting something to go with my fresh pressed morning cup of Joe. I ended up making the toast twice. The first time my camera was in the other room, broken down and packed away in my Cannon backpack. I wanted to whip up French Toast for breakfast. Nothing special – or so I thought until inspiration had other plans.

The inspiration began as I stood in front of my bread cupboard (yeah, a spot in the kitchen dedicated to all things bread-like such as sandwich breads, rolls, buns and tortillas). My plan was to make something very basic, very simple. I was hungry and I wanted it quick. I had planned Cinnamon French Toast, but all that changed when I spotted a loaf of Sourdough bread in the cupboard. Nutmeg French Toast – yeah, that sounded good. And maybe with a kiss or two of vanilla. Yeah, getting warmer. Oh, we’ve got a little heavy cream in the refrigerator. Heavy cream will make that custard mixture even more rich and sinfully delicious. Now we’re getting excited.

I whipped up my breakfast, plopped down at the breakfast bar and poured on the syrup. Oh my word, this was delicious. So delicious that I had to do some quick calculations, grab my camera and do it again to share.

So it’s lights, CAMERA, action . . .

Sourdough Nutmeg French Toast
8 Slices Sourdough Bread (see note)
3 Eggs
2/3 Cup Milk
2 Tablespoons Heavy Cream
1/4 Teaspoon Nutmeg
2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
1 Pinch Sugar
Butter
Maple Syrup

Note: When selecting bread, pick a Sourdough bread that is soft rather than hard and chewy. Pick a bread that is sliced in a long loaf rather than a round so that the slices are uniform in size. Bread that is several days old works best as it will stand up to the batter without becoming soggy and will toast up nice and golden.

Cut bread to create 16 triangles. Set aside until ready to fry.

Whip eggs in a shallow dish until yolks and whites are well blended. Add milk, cream, nutmeg and vanilla. Whip until smooth. Add sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved into the custard mixture.

Heat a large griddle to about 325 degrees. Oil griddle with margarine, just enough to lightly coat griddle.

Dip bread into custard mixture. Place dipped slices onto the griddle and cook until golden, about 3-5 minutes. Flip bread to “toast” other side. While the toast is still on the griddle, lightly butter each slice. This will allow the butter to melt quickly and the bread will soak in all that wonderful buttery flavor. If necessary, cook the toast in batches so as to not over-crowd the griddle.

Plate on individual plates, pour on the syrup and enjoy! This is wonderful with fresh fruit.

Thanks for stopping by. I’d love to hear your thoughts . . .