French toast

How to make the best French toast, according to my American friend?

Before moving to the United States of America almost two years ago (I cannot believe how fast time flies! ), I have only had French toast once, at some fancy breakfast place, and I thought it tasted horrible. So, upon coming to the United States, I immediately noticed that Americans love French toast, and I could not understand that because of my bad experience with it back in Europe. But then, one of my friends convinced me to please give the French toast another chance, and, what a surprise, I loved it!

What is French toast? It is a pretty popular breakfast item in the United States of America, and sometimes, French toast is also made as dinner food, and they will refer to it as a ‘breakfast for dinner’. It is basically bread, dipped into a mix of milk, eggs and vanilla extract, fried and topped with whipped cream and strawberries.

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This is the way I like my French toast - full of toppings.

Some people also enjoy having their French toast more plain and simple, which tastes good as well.

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And there is a popular breakfast place in the United states of America, where you can get, drum roll, stuffed french toast! They take two slices of toast and fill the space between them with a cream of your choice. The cheesecake one is my favourite. And wait, there is more - everything is topped with fresh sliced strawberries and strawberry sauce!

Ingredients

This amount of ingredients will make four slices of French toast, which is ideal for two people.

• Four slices of bread (white bread will work the best)
• Two large eggs
• One teaspoon of vanilla extract
• One cup of milk (you can use skim milk)
• A pinch of cinnamon
• A pinch of salt
• Optional: powdered sugar, whipped cream, strawberries or blueberries

Preparation

Take a small bowl and combine eggs, milk, vanilla extract, cinnamon and salt. Just make sure that the bowl is big enough to be able to dip the slices of bread in it. Then, take a medium or large frying pan, coat it with butter or cooking spray, and heat it over low to medium heat.

Take one slice of bread at a time and soak it into the mixture on both sides. It will be drippy, so prepare to have to clean afterwards. Then, put the soaked slice in the frying pan and cook on one side for approximately two minutes, or until golden brown, then flip it over and do the same for the other side.

At the beginning, it is easier to do one slice of bread at a time, but eventually, you will be able to prepare all four of them in the same frying pan. Like they say, practice makes perfect.

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This is how your French toast slices will look like when they are ready. The brown spots that look burnt, are completely normal.

Place finished bread slices on a plate, add toppings and you are ready to enjoy the meal. And just a suggestion: I figured (through trial and error) that the thicker the bread slices are, the better the French toast will turn out.

Storage and serving suggestions

French toast (if it is made the right way, of course – I am referring to my bad experience with French toast in Europe here) tastes good even plain! But my favourite way of serving it is by putting two slices on a plate, sprinkling the top with powdered sugar, adding a generous dose of whipped cream on the side, along with some fresh strawberries or blueberries. Or a mix of both. And have a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice with it.

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You are more than welcome to get creative with your French toast.

French toast tastes the best when it is fresh, but in case you have to store it, you can put into a zip lock bag or an airtight container and keep it in the refrigerator for up to five days. You can simply reheat it in the microwave for twenty seconds, and then add the desired toppings. Needless to say, you can only store the bread itself, not the toppings, because everything would go bad.

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