French Toast

Method

1. store5 min
   bread left out overnight, or dried 10 minutes in a 150°C oven
   bread staled. This is not about using up old bread — fresh crumb is already full of water and has no capacity for custard, so it either refuses to absorb or collapses trying. Dried bread has open, empty structure and takes up custard without losing integrity
2. whisk3 min
   eggs beaten thoroughly BEFORE dairy goes in, wide shallow dish
   eggs + sugar + salt whisked until completely uniform, then + milk + vanilla + cinnamon (+ cream, + nutmeg, + orange zest). Beat the eggs first: whisked into milk they never fully break up, and the streaks of unmixed white are what fry into rubbery patches on the finished slice
3. marinate5 min
   20-30 seconds a side for thick bread, less for thin, then lifted to a rack
   bread soaked briefly and turned once. Judge by feel — it should be saturated at the surface and still have structure at the centre, not sodden through. Then let it sit on a rack for a minute so the custard distributes evenly rather than pooling at the bottom face
4. saute8 min
   MEDIUM heat, butter foaming but not browning, 3-4 minutes a side
   slices cooked until deep gold and springy in the centre. Medium, not high: the custard inside has to reach about 70°C to set, and on high heat the surface is dark in ninety seconds while the middle is still liquid. If the butter browns and burns between batches, wipe the pan and start with fresh
5. rest4 min
   wire rack in a 90°C oven, never stacked
   finished slices held on a rack while the rest cook (+ syrup, + blueberries to serve). Stacked, they steam each other and the crust you just built goes soft within a minute. A rack in a low oven holds them for twenty minutes without loss