Jacques Pépin's Clever Trick for The Best French Toast You've Ever Had
French toast with butter and maple syrup
French toast is my preferred way to breathe new life into leftover bread and one of my favorite luxurious breakfast foods to make when I want to treat myself on a slow Saturday morning. The basic template for a mean plate of crispy-meets-fluffy, oh-so-custardy French toast is as follows: sliced bread, plus a sugar-sweetened combo of eggs and heavy cream for soaking, and some butter for frying.
But what if I told you there was a better, easier (and dare I say more delicious) way to make French toast—and that I learned the trick from legendary chef Jacques Pépin? All you have to do is open your freezer and grab some vanilla ice cream. Yes, ice cream. Here's what you need to know about this genius trick.
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The Secret Ingredient for Better French Toast? Melted Ice Cream.
This shortcut was uncovered out of necessity by legendary French chef, Jacques Pépin. Working as a young breakfast prep cook at H?tel Plaza Athénée in Paris meant that if there was a way to work more efficiently, Pepin would obviously use it to his benefit. He realized that ice cream had everything—sugar, eggs, and cream—you need to properly bathe bread before it hits the skillet to become French toast.
The trick was so effective that he still uses this method. As he demonstrates on YouTube, he scoops some vanilla ice cream on a plate, microwaves it until melted, then soaks both sides of a bread slice in the melted cream before the bread goes into a buttered skillet. The outside is beautifully browned and caramelized and the interior is soft and custardy. Plus, you didn't have to crack a single egg or measure any milk. Genius!
Related: The Secret Ingredient for Crispy, Crunchy, Perfectly Golden Grilled Cheese Every Time
The Best Types of Ice Cream To Use for French Toast
Pepin mentioned vanilla ice cream is and always has been the default flavor he uses to make French toast but anything goes. Chocolate ice cream is delightful, green tea is nice and earthy and strawberry would turn your toast a sweet shade of pink!
Related: 32 Best Ice Cream Flavors, Ranked
Melted Ice Cream Contains Multitudes
Pepin isn't the only one who believes in the magic of melted ice cream. Turns out, it's the ultimate dessert hack for many other pro chefs and home cooks.
According to Ina Garten, melted vanilla ice cream is a perfectly sensible stand-in for homemade crème anglaise sauce. And that makes sense when you know that the classic French custard is an emulsion of sugar, eggs and hot milk—or to put it another way, ice cream base. Garten drizzles the melted ice cream sauce on desserts like warm cake, fruit crumble and bread pudding.
Related: Ina Garten's Ice Cream Dessert Hack
While blueberry muffins are pretty easy to whip up, TikTok's darling Brunch With Babs spins it into an easy, breezy, three-ingredient process thanks to softened vanilla ice cream. We know ice cream to be fun, who knew it could be such a functional ingredient?
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