Bell-less, Whistle-less, Damn Good French Toast

Author Notes

There are things in life that just ought to be simple, and to my taste buds, French toast is one of them. Mine has only three ingredients, depending on the quality of the bread to carry the dish, and the quality of the accompanying butter and syrup to finish the dish to perfection. It's critically important to use good-quality challah for French toast. I had no idea how important until I tried it the first time. I'll never go back. Fresh fruit is an acceptable add-on, but preserve me from cinnamon, powdered sugar, and the like. —Kayb

Test Kitchen Notes

There's nothing to making this French toast recipe. All you need is the bread, eggs, heavy cream, a little bit of butter, and some good-quality maple syrup, and breakfast is ready to go. But there is one thing that makes it exceptional: the cream. The developer of this recipe, KayB, cuts to the chase, forgoing spices and extracts, and focusing instead on just the basics. Once you give it a try, you'll see why you don't need that extra stuff. But it's really important to get the best ingredients you can, which will truly make a lot of difference. Hopefully you have a bakery where you can get good challah from. Or you can make it yourself if you're feeling fancy and enjoy baking bread. But as KayB says, you should always get a couple of the loaves that you love and be sure to stick one in the freezer. That way, you can have French toast whenever the craving strikes, which we are certain will be often after you make this recipe.

And this is how you make it: You whip together the eggs and cream, which form a custardy mixture, then dip the eggy bread into this custard. Make sure to gently squeeze the bread with your fingertips to draw the eggs and cream to the center—and fry them in butter. It'll be done and cooked in 15 minutes total, can't go wrong with that. Outside is a crisp crepe-like shell. Inside, pudding. Okay, seriously, what are you waiting for? —The Editors