Time: 20 minutes

Whether you live near the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris or in the residence halls in Education City, French toast is always a winning dish. Its simplicity, quick preparation and exceptional taste make it a popular choice for breakfast. Countless restaurants ranging from fine dining to simple cafeterias try to elevate the classic recipe. Unfortunately, more often than not, they fail in topping the original flavor. When chefs try to experiment with complex ingredients, they often end up producing something far removed from the delicious exquisiteness of authentic French toast.

Fortunately, The Daily Q is here to teach you a new quick, and easy French toast recipe that not only will make your taste buds ask for more but also will give you the same classic experience of eating this marvelous creation. But first, let me tell you how I came up with this simple recipe.

On May 31, 2017, during Ramadan, I promised my friends on Snapchat that I would teach them a new cheesecake recipe using a lotus biscuit spread instead of the classic strawberry jam spread. However, I did not know how to make a thin lotus spread, especially since the ones that are sold in grocery stores have a very thick consistency, unlike the one made in cafes and restaurants.

So, I started to experiment in the kitchen and, to my immense joy, I discovered a simple combination of melted butter and lotus spread, which creates the thin sauce consistency I had been trying to achieve for so long. I used this new creation and everyone in my family had a large piece of my cake. “It is beyond delicious. You should definitely start a bakery business,” said my brother Ahmad. I told him that I had a long way to go. Indeed, I have many culinary techniques I have yet to learn.

Nevertheless, I have decided to use the same lotus biscuit sauce recipe that I developed for the cheesecake topping and apply it to French toast. Here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients

• A pinch of salt
• ½ teaspoon of white sugar
• ½ teaspoon of brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon of powdered milk (optional, but highly recommended)
• ¼ tea spoon of powdered sugar (optional)
• 1 ½ teaspoon of butter
• 75g of warm melted butter (unsalted)
• 4 pieces of sliced bread
• 2 small-sized eggs
• 1 medium-sized cup of full-fat milk
• 1 teaspoon of powdered vanilla
• 3 teaspoons of lotus biscuit spread

Preparation  

Step 1

In a shallow bowl large enough to fit the sliced bread, combine eggs, white sugar, brown sugar,  a pinch of salt, powdered vanilla, powdered milk, and milk, based on the measurements above. Whisk the ingredients until well-combined.

Step 2

Soak the bread into the wet mixture. Remove the bread as soon as it is fully soaked so it does not tear apart. Place them on a plate.

Step 3

Heat up a sauté pan on medium heat and add 1 ½ teaspoons of butter. Add the soaked bread and cook until the bread turns golden brown. This might take few minutes depending on the level of heat, but flip the bread one minute after adding it to the pan to make sure it does not burn. Remove the bread from the pan when it is ready.

Step 4

Now it’s time to make the lotus sauce to go with the bread! In a small shallow bowl, add your store-bought lotus biscuit spread, then add the warm melted butter and mix with a spoon until you get a thin consistency. The sauce is ready when it drips smoothly from the spoon. Add more warm butter if needed.

Step 5

Serve the bread with the lotus sauce that you made in step 4 and garnish it with powdered sugar.

How to cook it in oven

For students living in the dormitories who do not have a stove, do not despair, because this recipe can also be done in an oven. First, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Coat a baking dish large enough to fit the sliced bread with melted butter and then sparkle brown sugar and white sugar. Following the same recipe above, add the soaked bread, and then bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Students’ reaction

“I really like this French toast, it is smooth and soft, I give it 8 out of 10. The lotus sauce is very tasty and it adds good flavor to the French toast,” said Jize Ning, a computer science sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.

“Even though it is a little bit thick, I would still have it in the afternoons with a cup of coffee, or maybe as a snack between meals. This French toast is really good; it reminds me of a dessert that my aunt used to make,” said Zak Abi, an international politics junior at Georgetown University in Qatar. “I give it a rating of 8 out of 10,” he said.