This Creme Brulee French Toast is the perfect combination of two classic desserts that makes for a restaurant-level breakfast right in the comfort of your home. Soft brioche bread filled with silky smooth homemade custard, and a crunchy sugar top, it’s a breakfast you won’t forget! Learn how to make this fancy yet easy-to-make recipe perfect for your next breakfast or brunch!
Anybody who knows me knows that I am the biggest fan of breakfast foods. Pancakes? Yes. Waffles? Yes. French Toast? Absolutely yes. If I could, I would eat breakfast foods all day. They are just so good!
Are you a breakfast fanatic like me? You might like these recipes.
Now I am not encouraging anyone to eat extremely sugary desserts for breakfast every day, but time-to-time, maybe on the weekend or a special occasion, we all crave an epic breakfast, right? Something that is so good that it’ll keep you happy for days.
This Creme Brulee French Toast is made exactly for those occasions. Yes, it’s indulgent and over the top, but that’s the whole point. Cause you know what’s better than going to a restaurant for breakfast or lunch? Having a top-notch, restaurant-style late breakfast at home while chilling in your PJs and binge-watching your favorite comfort shows.
And as ‘sophisticated’ as it looks, this recipe is quite simple and easy to follow. It requires a little bit of prep work, but all-in-all, not more than 30 minutes. Perfect, right?
So let’s get into the details of the recipe and walk you through it so that you, too, can have your mind blown by this epic French toast recipe.
The Bread
Don’t worry, I am not going to ask you to make homemade bread. Storebought all the way! However, the type of bread you use is critical for this French Toast.
You have to use THICK BRIOCHE BREAD SLICES for this recipe, with no negotiations.
This is because the bread has to be filled with custard to get the creme brulee effect, and brioche works perfectly with the flavors as it’s soft and fluffy yet a little firm and easy to fill.
I use Luisine’s brioche bread because I think it’s the best in the market in Gulf, but you can choose any brand you like.
Remember – THICK SLICES.
How to prepare your bread for filling: Take a sharp bread knife and slowly make a slit through the center of the flat bottom of the slice. Make sure not to cut through the edges; you want to create a pocket in the center of the slice to add the custard without tearing the bread apart.
The Custard
The custard is the ‘hardest’ part of this recipe, but it’s not actually hard. If you haven’t made homemade custard before, it is the simplest thing to make at home. However, if you prefer to use pre-made mixes, feel free to do it.
But remember, homemade always tastes better.
The custard is filled inside the bread to give it the creme brulee effect (because creme brulee is basically brulee-d custard). As it has to be filled inside the bread, the custard should be smooth and thick, or it will ooze out of the bread while cooking.
It’s important to make the custard the night before or at least 2 hours before and let it set in the fridge so that it cools down and thickens before use.
Here’s how to make custard at home.
The first step to making the custard is boiling milk and vanilla in a saucepan. If you can, I recommend adding vanilla pods instead of essence to enhance the flavor of the custard. As the milk boils, whisk together the egg yolks with the corn flour and caster sugar until they’re pale and creamy.
After this, you have to ‘temper’ the eggs, which means introducing some heat into the eggs before cooking them over the stove so that they don’t scramble when cooked on high heat. To temper the eggs, pour half of the boiling milk mixture over the egg yolk mixture while whisking continuously. The eggs have been introduced to some heat at this step,
Now transfer the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the boiling milk, and start whisking continuously. The whisking stops the eggs from scrambling, so make sure you don’t stop until the custard is fully cooked.
As the custard cooks, it will start to thicken because of the corn flour. Cook until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3-5 minutes. Then take it off the stove, add the butter, and whisk until it’s fully combined. Now you must let the custard chill until it thickens properly, for about 1-2 hours. Make sure to cover the custard properly while chilling with the cling film placed directly on the surface of the custard; this will stop a milk film from forming on top of the custard.
The French Toast Base
There isn’t much to say about the French Toast base as it uses the same basic recipe that’s used all around the world.
Mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, sugar, cinnamon, and salt until fully combined, then dip the filled bread into the batter and cook.
Pro Tip: As brioche soaks liquid quickly, don’t dip the bread for more than 30-40 seconds on each side, or it will get too soggy and break down.
I like to cook French toast in ghee as they give the best result, but you can always use butter if you don’t have ghee on hand.
To cook the toast, add the ghee to a pre-heated pan; make sure the pan is not too hot. Place the soaked bread on the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown.
The Brulee Top
Now for the star of the show, the sugar brulee that creates that crispy, crackly crust.
To create the crust, top the cooked toast with a generous amount of sugar, then use a blow torch to gently cook the sugar until it caramelizes and hardens.
Hazard warning: Make sure you’re being careful with the blow torch and not using it near anything flammable!
PS: here is the blow torch I use.
If you like creme brulee, you might also like these Creme Brulee Cookies!
And now, your Creme Brulee French Toast is ready to serve. Top with a few berries of choice to add a nice tart touch, and serve immediately. The sugar softens very quickly, so make sure you serve right after bruleeing it.
PS: I always measure ingredients in grams, never in cups. Using a measuring scale is the only way to bake accurately. Cups are unreliable and can give different measurements, so I suggest you buy a measuring scale before you start baking! If you can’t get your hands on one, you can use the online tools for converting grams into cups; however, I do not guarantee their accuracy.
Creme Brulee French Toast
Equipment
- Hand whisk
- Pan of your choice
- Piping or ziplock bag
- Blow torch
Ingredients
Custard
- 30 gs egg yolks (around 2)
- 36 gs caster sugar
- 15 gs cornflour
- 150 ml full-fat milk
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 15 grams unsalted butter
French Toast
- 2 eggs
- 100 ml full-fat milk
- 50 gs granulated white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4th tsp salt
- 2 thick brioche slices
- 2 tbsp ghee or butter (for cooking)
- 30 gs granulated white sugar (for the brulee top)
Instructions
The Custard
- Bring the milk and vanilla to a boil in a saucepan on medium heat. While that boils, whisk the egg yolks, caster sugar, and corn flour in a separate bowl until they're pale and creamy.
- Once the milk starts boiling, temper the egg mixture by adding half of it to the egg yolk mix and whisking it continuously. This introduces eggs to some heat before they are transferred to the saucepan, reducing the chances of them scrambling over the heat.
- Transfer the egg yolk and milk mixture back to the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture on medium heat. Keep whisking continuously until the custard starts to thicken, about 2 minutes. Once the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, remove it from the heat, add the butter, and whisk until properly combined. Transfer the custard into a bowl and cover it with cling film, making sure that it directly touches the surface to avoid a milk film forming on top. Let it chill for at least 1 hour before topping it on the cookie.
French Toast
- Make the French toast batter: In a bowl, mix all the ingredients (except for the bread and butter) with a hand whisk until well combined – eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon powder, and salt.
- Prepare the Brioche slices for filling: Create a pocket in the middle of the thick brioche slice by cutting a slit in the center of the flat bottom side of the slice. Make sure not to cut all the way through the edges; you just want to create a space to fill the custard inside the bread.
- Fill the bread: Transfer the cooled custard to a piping or ziplock bag, cut an opening in the bag, place it inside the bread pocket, and pipe it in until it's filled properly. Make sure not to over-fill, or the custard will start oozing out while cooking.
- Dip the filled bread slices in the egg mixture, 30-40 seconds on each side. Don't over soak, or the bread will become too soggy and fall apart.
- Cook the French toast: Preheat your pan, then add 1 tablespoon of ghee or butter, and gently place the soaked brioche slices in the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown. Once cooked, transfer the toast to your serving plate.
- Create the brulee topping: Top each toast without about a tablespoon of sugar, then gently blow torch it until the sugar caramelizes and hardens. Serve immediately with fresh berries.
