Dr Mobeus
Eggy Bread
Cafes charge £6 and up for French toast, the same dish wearing a hat. At home it is two eggs, a splash of milk and the last of the loaf, fried in butter, for about 28p a portion. It remains one of the great budget breakfasts precisely because it turns the two cheapest things in the kitchen, bread and eggs, into something that feels like a treat.
Eggy bread is also a rescue recipe. Slightly stale sliced bread is genuinely better here than fresh: it soaks up the custard without collapsing, and it is the whole point of the dish rather than a compromise. If your bread is very fresh, give it 10 minutes on the counter to dry out first.
The cinnamon sugar topping is the classic way to serve it, but eggy bread is just as good savoury. Skip the sugar, add a grind of black pepper, and serve with brown sauce or a rasher of bacon for a full English in miniature.
Eggy Bread
Ingredients
Method
- Beat the eggs, milk and salt together in a shallow dish wide enough to lay a slice of bread flat. Add the cinnamon now if you are using it.
- Lay a slice of bread in the dish and let it soak for about 20 seconds, then flip and soak the other side. Day-old bread drinks up the egg without falling apart, so go gently with fresh bread.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat until foaming but not browning.
- Fry two slices at a time for about 2 minutes per side until deep golden, turning the heat down if the butter browns too fast. Keep them warm on a plate while you cook the rest.
- Dust with the sugar and eat while hot, with the middle still a little custardy.
Tips and Variations
For a savoury version, drop the cinnamon and sugar and grate a little cheese over each slice in the last minute of frying so it melts. Thick sliced bread is worth buying for this: thin sandwich bread goes soggy before it browns. A knob of cream or a spoonful of jam are both old-school toppings worth reviving.
