Breakfast

Pain Perdu (French Toast)

Name: Pain Perdu (French Toast)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 4 eggs; 240 ml whole milk; 1 tbsp sugar; 1 tsp vanilla extract, or a splash of rum; pinch of salt; 8 thick brioche or baguette slices, a day old; 2 tbsp butter, for frying; sugar, for dusting; fresh fruit, optional

Day-old brioche soaked in a simple custard and pan-fried until golden.

Vegetarian

Stack of pain perdu slices dusted with powdered sugar and served with fresh strawberries — Serve the moment it comes off the pan, while the crust is still crisp.

Prep10 min

Cook15 min

Total25 min

Servings 4 servings

DifficultyEasy

"Lost bread" -- stale brioche or baguette rescued in an egg custard and fried in butter, French home-kitchen style: lighter on sugar and spice than the American diner version, dusted with sugar rather than drowned in syrup.

Ingredients

4 eggs
240 ml whole milk
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract, or a splash of rum
pinch of salt
8 thick brioche or baguette slices, a day old
2 tbsp butter, for frying

To finish

sugar, for dusting
fresh fruit, optional

Instructions

Whisk the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt together in a shallow dish.
This custard is deliberately plain -- no cinnamon, which is an American addition, not a French one. The vanilla and a good bread are meant to carry the whole flavor.
Soak each bread slice for 20-30 seconds per side, until saturated but not falling apart.
Stale brioche soaks up the custard without turning to mush -- fresh bread works too, just soak it more briefly.
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
Fry the soaked slices until golden on both sides. 6 min
Serve immediately, dusted with sugar and with fresh fruit if using.

Notes

A stale baguette or brioche loaf both work well here -- brioche gives the richer, more custardy result.
Keep finished slices warm in a low oven while frying the rest in batches.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving (2 slices) -- estimated, not lab-tested.
Nutrient	Amount
Calories	340 kcal
Total Fat	17 g
Saturated Fat	8 g
Carbohydrates	30 g
Fiber	1 g
Sugar	8 g
Protein	14 g
Sodium	420 mg
Cholesterol	240 mg
Values are estimates based on standard ingredient data, not laboratory analysis.

Photo: Ralph Daily from Birmingham, United States, CC BY 2.0. Cropped to 3:2 and re-encoded as WebP/JPEG for web delivery.