Pain perdu with apple & cranberry compote

If you believe what you see in the movies, breakfast stateside invariably involves a piece of bread soaked in milk and eggs, and a swearing (male) divorcee first splashing batter all over the kitchen, then ending up with his breakfast catching fire in the pan, much to the bemusement of his sassy off-spring. It seems to be all they ever eat over there and it is therefore doubly confusing for this breakfast dish to be called "French Toast" - I've never come across it in the Hexagone! So shouldn't it be called Yankee Toast or something similar? Hardly politically correct, but "North-American Toast" is neither accurate nor catchy enough to be an appropriate substitute, I guess! This is why I prefer to call it "pain perdu" (lost bread), a name which apparently originates in New Orleans.
Leaving the name aside, this breakfast staple has now been adopted by many a British chef and is offered, in more or less sophisticated variations, on breakfast as well as dessert menus up and down the country. I had one such specimen on my recent visit to Tom's Kitchen and just had to make one at home over the Christmas Holidays. Like Tom Aikens, I prefer to use a slice of brioche instead of plain toast, it's much softer and tastier that way - and sprinkled with brown sugar in the pan, it also turns out wonderfully moist on the inside, but with a crunchy bite to the outside. There had to be fruit to accompany it, of course, so I used some crisp apples and a handful of fresh cranberries for a seasonal compote... a perfect partner for the sweet, caramelised brioche - and in an instant, a new Christmas brunch tradition was born!

Pain perdu (French toast) with apple & cranberry compote
(serves 8)

8 thick slices day-old brioche
3 eggs
250 ml milk
light brown sugar
butter for frying

For the compote:

50 g butter
4 medium apples (peeled, cored and cut into wedges)
150 g fresh cranberries
5 tbsp maple syrup

First, prepare the compote.
Melt the butter in a pan, add the apple wegdes and fry for 8 minutes. Add the maple syrup and cranberries, then cover with a lid and simmer over a low heat for another 5 minutes, until softened.
Set aside.

For the French toast, beat the eggs and milk with a fork in a soup bowl.
Melt some butter in a frying pan. Soak a brioche slice in the egg/milk mixture, quickly turning to cover both sides but taking care not to break it. Place the brioche in the pan, then sprinkle with brown sugar to taste. When the bottom side is turning a gold colour, turn the slice and fry on the other side until browned and caramelised. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the oven while you fry the other brioche slices.
Serve the French toasts warm, topped with some fruit compote.

Comments

[sarah]

I'm a big fan of making it with challah, although I'll make it with any bread around really. I always thought it was called french toast because it was traditionally made with baguette, which is so stale on the second day. Perhaps that was just the tradition in my house and an assumption in my mind though... :)

[Trig]

Probably the best food photo I've seen this year. Just makes you want to eat it plate and all.

[Kristen]

Oh wow...that looks incredible! Great photo!

[Pille]

That looks sooo delicious, Johanna! I wonder if I could get that for breakfast somewhere in London this April? Mmmm...

[Patricia Scarpin]

I've never had French toast - nor pain perdu, Johanna!

your dish looks so beautiful I feel like trying it next weekend!

[matt]

That Cranberry Apple sauce you have would probably be really great on the pork fillets you mentioned the day before as well...