Project Pastry Queen – Creme Brulee French Toast

Last weekend I went on a Twitter hunt for people who wanted to bake their way through a cookbook with me. My number one choice was The Pastry Queen book and wouldn’t you know that later that night I actually found a group who had just started baking through it! Fate, my friends, fate.

So my first recipe with the Project Pastry Queen group was chosen by Shawnda of Confections of a Foodie Bride and she chose the Creme Brulee French Toast. It is a basic baked French toast recipe but at the end, it’s topped with sugar and put under the broiler (or torched) to achieve a creme brulee effect. As you can tell, the broiler and I are not friends. I hate using it but I don’t own a torch so it was my only option. I don’t want to say that my bread was burnt but it did get a little dark in places. I also had places where the sugar wasn’t even touched by the broiler. Holy frustrating.

It’s made with challah which I’m usually not a fan of but you guys, I found the best recipe. (I’ll share it soon!) Anyway, the challah was excellent in this and, dare I say, almost tasted like brioche in the custard. Despite the dark pieces up top, it was really good. I really enjoyed the contrast of the crunchy top pieces to the custard-y bread at the bottom.

It’s a large recipe that would be great for feeding a crowd but I quartered it and filled 2 ramekins. It was the perfect amount for us. It’s also a very easy recipe especially since most of the work happens the night before.

Creme Brulee French Toast
from The Pastry Queen

1 large loaf of challah bread
8 large egg yolks
4 cups heavy whipping cream or half-and-half
3/4 cup plus 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup vanilla extract
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Grease a 2 1/2-quart oven-safe casserole dish. Slice the challah into 1/2 inch slices, then into cubes. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cream, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, vanilla, and butter. Put a quarter of the bread cubes in the casserole dish. Pour in enough of the cream mixture toe cover the bread. Using a spoon, press the cream mixture into the bred so that it is thoroughly soaked. Continue layering in the same way until all the bread is soaked with the cream mixture. Cover the casserole tightly with aluminum foil and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 325F. Put the casserole in a larger baking pan and set it in the oven. Pour enough boiling water into the larger pan to reach halfway up the sides of the casserole Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the top is light brown and set.

Remove the casserole from the oven and sprinkle 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar over the top in an even layer. Use a broiler set on high (set the casserole just a few inches from the heat source) or a kitchen torch to cook the topping until the sugar becomes brown and liquefies. (It will harden as it cools.) serve warm or at room temperature.