A Tale Of Two Pain Perdu's

Pain Perdu, French for "lost bread' as it uses stale bread, is a glorious french toast that is a great addition to your Mother's Day brunch. Here, we share 2 versions: The first is an authentic version that uses a Bâtard, an overnight soak in cream and eggs with a dusting of flour and sugar to give it the crisp exterior without becoming soggy. The second, while less traditional, is equally delicious using a brioche with a quick dip in cream and eggs before cooking. Make both and see which you prefer!

Pain Perdu (French Toast)

Ingredients

For Custard:

1/2 C. heavy cream
1/2 C. whole milk
2 large eggs
3 T. granulated sugar
1 T. Armagnac
1 t. vanilla extract

For Pain Perdu

2 slices batard loaf (sliced 2-inches thick)
2 T. cultured unsalted butter
1 T. superfine sugar
1 T. all-purpose flour

Instructions:

Make the custard for the Pain Perdu but whisk together the milk, heavy cream, eggs, sugar, Armagnac, and vanilla extract until the mixture is completely homogeneous.
Place the bread in in a deep dish or tray that is just large enough to hold the bread in a single layer and cover with the custard. If your dish is too large the custard won't soak into the bread completely. If you don't have a suitable dish, you can use a sealable plastic bag and press out the excess air. Cover and refrigerate for a day, turning the bread over a few times in between.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 C). Remove the soaked Pain Perdu from the refrigerator and flip one more time.
Mix 1 tablespoon of sugar with 1 tablespoon of flour and sprinkle half the mixture onto the tops of the bread using a small sieve(such as a tea strainer) to ensure the flour gets sprinkled evenly.
Add the butter to a cast-iron skillet and heat over medium heat. When the butter has melted and the foaming subsides, add the bread with flour-sprinkled side down.
Dust the Pain Perdu with the remaining flour/sugar mixture and fry until it's well browned on one side (about 5 minutes). If your heat is up too high it will burn, so if it looks like it's browning too quickly, turn the heat down. Flip the bread over and put the pan in the oven.
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Keep a close eye on it as the sugar will burn easily. You want the surface of your Pain Perdu to be very dark, but not burnt.

Pain Perdu With Raspberries

Ingredients:

2/3 C. heavy cream
2 large eggs, plus 1 large egg yolk
2 T. sugar
8 medium slices brioche
1/4 C. unsalted butter
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
8 ounces raspberries
Crème fraîche, to serve

Instructions:

Whisk the cream, eggs, and sugar together. Either leave the brioche slices whole or cut them in half (a stack of four halves can look very good). Dunk the first two slices of brioche in the egg mix and leave for 5 minutes.
Melt a pat of the butter in a frying pan and cook the brioche slices, a couple at a time, adding more butter as you need to, until golden on each side. You need to dunk the next slices of brioche in the egg mixture as you go along. Put each slice on a paper towel as it is cooked.
Serve two slices of brioche per person, sift confectioners’ sugar over each serving, and add the raspberries and crème fraîche.