Orange Blossom Brioche French Toast

I'm making a bold statement today.

I just made the best.french.toast.ever. 

This orange blossom brioche may be good when served warm with honey or jam, but its purpose in life is to be drenched in milk, eggs, cinnamon, and vanilla and pan fried to crispy custardy french toast perfection. 

I love pancakes and waffles, but french toast is my favorite indulgent breakfast. I have fond memories of my grandma making it for me when I was little. 

I took Molly's recommendation and cooked this orange blossom brioche french toast in hot oil instead of butter, and I'm so glad I did. The brioche already has plenty of butter flavor, and cooking the french toast in hot oil allows the outside edges to get crispy and brown while the inside, according to Molly "melts to a near custard."

As you'll notice, I made this amazing french toast with the same small slices of brioche as last week.  I made the recipe a second time (including the twenty minutes of kneading by hand!) and it still didn't rise as much as I hoped.

BUT, I've decided that's ok, because the taste and texture of this bread is perfect, and I think the little french toast slices are cute. If you really want a larger loaf, just make one loaf instead of two.

I know I'm asking a lot here--first for you to make a difficult bread by hand and then, a few days, later, to make french toast with it.  However, as soon as you take a bite of this orange blossom brioche french toast, I think you will understand. This is the kind of thing you make when you have friends/relatives coming into town, or you're throwing a brunch party, or you just want to make a really special breakfast for someone you love.

So often my life seems to be about trying to do things as quickly and efficiently as possible, but sometimes it feels good to take the time to make something worth waiting for.

Orange Blossom Brioche French Toast

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6-8 slices orange blossom brioche

canola oil

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 200. Line a large plate with paper towels or kitchen cloths and place in the oven. 

In a large shallow dish, combine eggs, milk, cinnamon, salt and vanilla extract.

Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Add canola oil, just to cover the bottom of the pan.

Add bread to the egg mixture, a couple slices at a time. Let sit on each side for about a minute.  Add slices to the pan. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown.  When a slice is done, transfer it to  the paper towel lined plate waiting in the warm oven.

Serve the finished slices with sifted powdered sugar and maple syrup. 

Adapted from Orangette.