Pain Perdu
Or ‘Eggy Bread’, Gypsy Toast, French Toast .. take your pick. There are so many names for eggy soaked bread which is then fried in butter. The French ‘Pain Perdu’ literally translates as ‘Lost Bread’ which has exactly the right feel for Brioche that’s been drowned in a milk/egg mix.
There are English recipes for this going back to the fifteenth century. It may have been conceived as a way of using up stale bread, but this isn’t what’s happening here. This was last night’s ‘sinful-and-entirely-unnecessary supper’ and I bought a Brioche Vendéenne deliberately. That’s the Brioche which has the protected geographical European status.
It began with a good deed. I decided to pick Liddy up from work and there they were …
Raspberries.
Reduced. Give-away reduced. It would have been criminal not to have picked them up. Then, I spent the money I’d saved on the raspberries I hadn’t intended to buy on the Brioche I wouldn’t have needed if I hadn’t bought the raspberries. There’s logic there somewhere.
Everything else I had.
There were five of us eating this, so I used 3 eggs and a 150ml/5fl oz of full-fat milk. Then a squirt of runny honey.
Whisk everything together.
Lay out slices of brioche in a dish. Fit them in snuggly. Then pour the eggy mix over the top.
Think ‘lost’. The brioche needs to be absolutely sodden. Slightly stale bread holds together better than fresh, but I persevered. Give everything a good prod. Let is soak up all that lovely eggy goodness.
Then it’s a knob of salted butter in a non-stick frying pan.
And fry over a medium heat. This is best straight from the frying pan ..
It’s less than 2 minutes a side. Have a peak. When the underside is golden brown flip it over with a spatula.
Meanwhile, lightly whisk some double cream. There’s no point holding back now.
It’s traditional to cut across the bias. If you want to eat together, this will keep warm in a low oven.
Then it’s onto a plate.
A few of those raspberries, a dollop of double cream and a dusting of icing sugar.
Eat.
Pain Perdu
Serves 5
- 3 eggs
- 150ml/5 fl oz full-fat milk
- 1 tablespoon of runny honey
- 5 x 1.5cm/½” slices of brioche
- 5 tablespoons of butter
- To Serve: Double Cream, Fresh Raspberries and Icing Sugar
Break 3 eggs into a bowl and add 150ml/5 fl oz full-fat milk. Then a squeeze of runny honey to sweeten. Whisk together.
Lay your brioche slices in a dish, fitting them together snugly. Pour over the eggy/milk mix. Flip and prod to ensure the brioche has sucked up every last drop and is entirely sodden.
Add a tablespoon of butter to a small non-stick frying pan. Once the butter is bubbling, add one of the soaked brioche slices. Fry until the underside is golden brown. This will take less than 2 minutes. Flip and repeat.
Serve that slice immediately – with fresh raspberries and a dollop of lightly whipped double cream. Or keep the Pain Perdu warm in a low oven until you have finished frying all the slices. A dusting of icing sugar makes everything perfect.
Eat.