Menu / 10:30

Custard French Toast: Stale Bread, 12 Seconds a Side, and No Syrup Needed

Name: Custard French Toast: Stale Bread, 12 Seconds a Side, and No Syrup Needed
Total time: 18 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: American brunch
Ingredients: 8 slices Day-old country loaf or brioche, cut 2.5 cm thick; 4 Large eggs; 240 ml Whole milk; 60 ml Double cream; 2 tbsp Caster sugar; 2 tsp Vanilla extract; 1/4 tsp Fine salt; 1 tsp Ground cinnamon; 30 g + 1 tbsp Butter and neutral oil for the griddle

French toast is a custard problem with a bread variable. The custard wants to be thin enough to soak in 20 seconds and rich enough to set into a layer you can see when you cut it. Day-old bread with an open crumb takes custard roughly four times faster than fresh sandwich bread, and that difference is why the same recipe gives soggy results one week and dry ones the next.

1 burner26 min4 servesLate morningGriddleholds: 10 minutes in a 90 °C oven, single layerPosted 2026-09-28By The Griddle Desk

Ingredient card

Item	Amount
Day-old country loaf or brioche, cut 2.5 cm thick	8 slices
Large eggs	4
Whole milk	240 ml
Double cream	60 ml
Caster sugar	2 tbsp
Vanilla extract	2 tsp
Fine salt	1/4 tsp
Ground cinnamon	1 tsp
Butter and neutral oil for the griddle	30 g + 1 tbsp

Scaling
for 2: Two slices, 2 eggs, 120 ml milk. A shallow dish just wide enough for one slice saves custard.
for 4: Eight slices, custard as written. Griddle in two rounds of four and hold the first round in the oven.
for 8: Double the custard but use two dishes. Sixteen slices in one dish means the later ones soak longer than the earlier ones and you get two different textures on one plate.

Time budget and burner map

Whisk eggs, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, salt, cinnamon0:00–0:03 · 3 min

Pour into a shallow dish wide enough for one slice0:03–0:04 · 1 min

Soak each slice 20 seconds a side, no longer0:04–0:10 · 6 min

Heat griddle to 170 °C with butter and oil0:10–0:13 · 3 min

Cook 3 minutes until the edges lace and brown0:13–0:16 · 3 min

Flip, 2 minutes, then hold in a 90 °C oven0:16–0:18 · 2 min

T+018 minT+18

Make ahead

Whisk the custard the night before and refrigerate. Cold custard soaks slower, which is an advantage — it gives you more control over 20 seconds.
Slice the bread and leave it uncovered on a rack overnight. This is the single biggest improvement you can make, larger than any change to the custard.
Pre-warm the oven to 90 °C and put a rack in it before you start cooking. Holding is not optional when you are making eight slices.

To the pass

Two slices fanned, not stacked. Stacked slices steam each other and lose the lace on the edges.
Icing sugar through a small sieve held 20 cm above, in one pass. Any closer and you get patches.
Serve with a small jug of maple syrup on the side. A good custard toast barely needs it, and the plate stays tidy.

Where it goes wrong

Soaking too long. Past about 40 seconds a side the crumb collapses and the middle never sets. If you see the bread going limp in your hand, it is already too far.
Fresh bread. Fresh bread has a tighter crumb and a wetter interior, so custard sits on the surface instead of going in. It also burns faster because of the surface moisture.
A dry griddle. Butter alone burns at 170 °C within two minutes. Butter plus a tablespoon of neutral oil raises the smoke point enough to finish the batch.

The method, in full

The 20-second soak, and how to tell it is right

Lay the slice flat, count twenty, flip, count twenty, lift it with your fingers and let it drip for two seconds. The slice should feel heavier but still hold its shape — if it bends under its own weight, it is over-soaked and you should reduce the count to fifteen for the rest of the batch.

Thick slices need a longer soak than thin ones at the same volume: a 2.5 cm slice has roughly twice the interior distance for the custard to travel, so 25 seconds a side is right at that thickness. A 1.5 cm slice should get 15.

Why 170 °C and not hotter

The custard needs about 90 seconds of gentle heat to set. Above 190 °C the outside browns before the middle sets and you get a slice with a burnt crust and a raw centre. Below 150 °C the butter soaks in, the bread fries rather than toasts, and the result is greasy.

The visual cue that the temperature is right: the edges of the slice should develop a lacy, frilled border as the custard sets and expands slightly. That lace is the sign of a kitchen running at the correct temperature.

Toppings ranked by how much they help

First, a pinch of flaky salt on the buttered top — it cuts the sugar and makes the vanilla read. Second, fresh berries, which add acidity. Third, a spoonful of thick yoghurt or creme fraiche, which adds a cool contrast. Bacon is fourth and, in a diner context, correct.

What does not help: syrup poured over the top before serving. It soaks the crust within a minute and turns a textured slice into a soft one. Serve it on the side and let people pour at the table.

Kitchen questions

Can I make French toast with frozen bread?

Yes, and it is close to ideal. Thaw the slices at room temperature for 30 minutes so the surface dries, then soak for 20 seconds a side as normal. Frozen-then-thawed bread behaves very much like day-old bread.

Why does my French toast taste eggy?

Too much egg relative to dairy, or a soak that was too short so the custard stayed on the surface. One egg to 60 ml of dairy is the ceiling; adding cream in place of some milk also reduces the eggy note.

Is it safe to leave the custard out during service?

Up to two hours at room temperature, no longer. Raw egg in a milk base is a good growth medium. Keep it in a bowl set over ice if the brunch runs long.