By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- Time: 40 minutes, plus at least 4 hours’ soaking
- Rating
- 5(1,454)
- Notes
- Read community notes
With a crackling, caramelized brown sugar topping, these custardy slices of French toast resemble crème brûlée. Start them soaking the night before, then pop them in the oven in the morning for one of the most decadent brunches imaginable. Even better, you can bake a pan of bacon at the same time. Just keep your eye on it; depending upon its thickness, the bacon might be done a few minutes sooner than the French toast. Then serve the French toast with more of the pan syrup spooned on top. But skip the maple syrup, which would be overkill.
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 8 servings
- 5large eggs plus 2 yolks (or 6 whole eggs)
- 2¼cups whole milk
- ½cup heavy cream (or use more milk)
- 3tablespoons dark rum or orange juice
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ¼teaspoon kosher salt
- 1loaf challah bread, sliced 1 inch thick, preferably stale (about 1 pound)
- 1cup packed light brown sugar
- 8tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)
517 calories; 25 grams fat; 14 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 7 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 58 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 32 grams sugars; 11 grams protein; 357 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, cream, rum, vanilla, nutmeg and salt. Spread bread out in 1 layer on a large rimmed baking sheet (about 11 by 17 inches). Pour custard over bread, cover with plastic wrap, and let soak in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight. Flip bread slices over once while they soak. This can be halfway through the soaking, or about an hour before baking, whichever is more convenient.
Step
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Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar and butter. Pour mixture onto another large rimmed baking sheet, using a spatula if necessary to spread into an even layer.
Step
3
Transfer soaked bread to sugared baking sheet, placing slices on top of the brown sugar mixture. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and sugar is bubbling.
Step
4
Serve immediately while still hot, with the crunchy brown sugar side up, spooning more of pan syrup over the top.
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1,454
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Cooking Notes
asdf
People,
First, this is a custard base so it needs eggs and milk and it's soft and moist. Egg bread does not have egg available to the custard.
Second, it's "creme brulee" and that means it is sweet. It's caramelized sugar!
Third, cooking time varies on the thickness of the slices and temperature of the oven. Just look for it to brown on top. It's only French Toast.
Sheesh, just follow the recipe.
Lizy
Very decadent! Great for a special breakfast! But do line the baking sheet with parchment paper -- it'll be a life-saver when it comes to clean-up.
Rich
Wonderfully decadent. I'd definitely do this again. But, a couple things:
1) You can skip the whole milk and the cream and use fat-free milk.
2) Challah bread is already egg-based, so you don't really need 5 or 6 eggs. Just use 3 and add more milk if you so desire.
Luther
As a few others have said this is indeed decadent. A very big hit. Can't understand why people say you don't need certain ingredients in the recipe. Why bother fixing it? This is an amazing recipe that is actually very easy to fix. The suggestion of lining the pan with parchment paper before cooking is a life saver. Fixed as written and it was perfect.
LK
I agree, it drives me crazy when someone alters the original instructions and then complains about the results.
Beach Barb
This is a great recipe with some adaptation - used 1/2 the butter and sugar and that was plenty decadent for our crew! I've used skim milk when I didn't have half and half or whole milk on hand with good results as well....
Molly Gallucci
I made this recipe first using challah and following it to the letter and then later using a sturdier but less buttery/eggy bread I had laying around that was akin to a white peasant loaf. Frankly the peasant loaf batch was better. I cut the slices a bit thinner but not much and used pumpkin spice rather than the nutmeg and it was fantastic. It was slightly less sweet and held together well. Definitely a hit!
Brooke
Set oven to 350.
Bring bread to room temp.
Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes.
Flip about 25to 30 minutes
Zap under low broil 1 minute.
michelle
Wow, a very decadent meal. I substituted unsweetened, plain almond milk for the milk. Great meal for company.
So good!
Forgot to add that I toasted the challah first in a 300 degree oven as per Cooks Illustrated. I think it helped the bread not fall apart after soaking.
Suz pereira
Mixed some turbinado sugar into the brown sugar and butter for extra crunch.
Liv
I used Grand Marnier instead of rum or orange. Logically it kind of makes sense that it would work...I'll see how it goes.
Kathy
Three words....to die for. Enough said. Make it.
Mark
I had the same problem. I wonder if flipping them near the end would crisp them? New York Times culinary staff, can you help?
Roni Jordan
Bacon and fresh fruit.
froggs
Edited to add: followed recipe exactly, except for using rum extract in place of dark rum and baking it 5-10 min longer to ensure an even, golden brown crust to the bread. This is also key to having less-mushy bread. Wow, this was incredible! After baking, the brown sugar/butter base creates a mix of toffee-like crunchy bits and unctuous syrup.Definitely use parchment paper while baking; I can’t imagine trying to get the pan clean otherwise!
froggs
I substituted 1 tablespoon rum extract for the 3 tablespoons dark rum. It was plenty, and lent the finished product a delightful eggnoggy flavor. I also like the suggestion to harden the bread a bit further before soaking it, by putting it in a 300 degree oven. This would also be helpful if you don’t have time to let the bread get stale.
Maddy
Love the flavors. I substituted bourbon for the rum but otherwise made as directed. I couldn’t get the bottom crunchy; it stayed pretty custardy and floppy all the way through. Baked at 375F (non-convection) for exactly 25 minutes. Any suggestions?
Sue
My stale brioche is soaking in the rum custard as I write. Tomorrow morning I plan to flip the bread as the oven preheats. Because we're visiting our adult children who have limited kitchen supplies, I'll be skipping the brown sugar step - not enough pans. My only fear is that the French toast will stick since I didn't butter the cookie sheet. Fingers crossed 🤞
jc
very disappointing and not really brulée. i thought mine was undercooked, but with the pan juices, it was the same color as the picture so I don't think it was that sucre blonde in France is lighter than light brown sugar in the US. i did use an oven thermometer. None of us (husband, daughter & me) think it's even worth retrying and cooking it longer than the 30 minutes I did cook it.
Jill Hearne
Can you use EGGNOG?
Helene
This is very similar to the recipe from The Kosher Palate, but in theirs you put the sugar butter mixture in the bottom of a pan, layer the bread on top (if I don’t have challah on hand I use a loaf of Trader Joe’s brioche) and then put the custard on, leave it overnight to soak and then pop it into the oven in the morning. Easy and amazing. The recipe is very flexible… sometimes I use orange liquor and fresh orange zest. Other times I’ve put sliced bananas and pecans over the caramel. Enjoy!
Tara P.
Better than most recipes for overnight French toast - the sugared topping is great. Trust me, you don’t need any extra syrup.
Caitlin P.
I had a craving for french toast ASAP and used this recipe as a jumping off point. I cut 1 sub roll (all I had on hand) lengthwise and in half. Mixed 1 egg, 1/2 c. half&half, 1 t. vanilla extract, 1 t. dark rum, 2 t. fresh orange juice, shaved nutmeg, kosher salt. Soaked the sub roll in the mixture for 20 mins and then cooked on the griddle over medium heat in butter. Served with maple syrup and it was divine!!! ...also, I guess I made up a completely different recipe. LOL.
Kayandallie
We tried it with dairy, oat milk, and almond milk. That's the order of favor. None, though, was really our choice. It just wasn't anything special in taste and the mushiness wasn't to our liking. We were testing it for Christmas brunch but will do our normal blueberry pancakes instead.
K&J
Halved the recipe as I only had 6-7 slices of brioche. Used Grand Marnier instead of rum/juice; melted more than half the butter so had ample butter/sugar for bottom of pan. Lined the pan with parchment as wasn’t sure how about clean up. Used 9x13 pan, bread laid flat, baked ~23 minutes. Served immediately, the sugar coating slipped off in places but was able to put it back on top. It did harden slightly. Completely delicious, and decadently sweet. Clean up a breeze. Would make again.
Lowndes
YIELD ADAPTED TO 120 PPL:Ingredients80 large eggs (about 4 dozen)4 gallons whole milk1 gallon heavy cream (or more milk)2 cups dark rum or orange juice8 tablespoons vanilla extract1/2 cup grated nutmeg1 teaspoon kosher salt12 loaves challah bread, sliced 1 inch thick, preferably stale (about 12 pounds)10 pounds packed light brown sugar32 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Cindy
We used this recipe for a cooking class and really enjoyed it! We only had a few notes which were that it was a bit too sticky and sweet for our tastes. Maybe adding a few minutes to the baking time would help to make it more crispy and less sticky. But overall a great recipe!
Sophia's mom
My daughter made this for me for Mother's Day and it is absolutely the best French toast I have ever had!!
Kalyx
Fantastic dish! This was a hit for our Mother’s Day brunch. A few notes:-I toasted the 1” slices of challah on medium-light setting in my toaster oven before soaking in custard-I used fresh-squeezed orange juice instead of dark rum, and it was wonderful—a slight tang, but nothing at all “orangey”-Used freshly grated nutmeg after buying some whole nutmegs off of Amazon. Holy cow, I’ll be doing this for all my nutmeg needs in the future!!-Flipped back then broiled for 1 min at the end—amazing
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