The Making of Lu Ann’s Crispy French Toast

Years ago, we taught cooking classes in the evening. They were held upstairs in the test kitchen. In those days, we had a store on the ground floor. The classes were free so they were very well attended, say 40 people.

After the class, people would go downstairs and shop in the store. The revenue from the store was far more than what we could have gained by charging admission.

And the classes were fun. I was the straight guy and Debbie, our daughter, was the jester. We should have charged admission; Debbie was the entertainer.  It was a laugh riot. My job was to show them how to bake.

We taught a French toast class and taught them how to make French toast, especially stuffed French toast. Of course, the audience had to eat whatever we made. So it was eat, laugh, hoot and holler.

This night, we made over dozen kinds of stuffed French toast including a peanut butter and jam French toast that we deep fried like donuts.  At the end of the class, we took a poll--which French toast they liked best. The deep-fried toast won in a lopsided vote.

That was before we found and hired Lu Ann. 

Lu Ann was a gem! She was wonderfully creative and amazed us with what she made.  She loved her deep-fried French toast. It was marvelous and more sophisticated than our early peanut butter and jam deep fried French toast.

 

Lu Ann’s Original Deep-Fried French Toast

Lou Ann is an expert in the kitchen. She is the only person we’ve ever known that would purchase a cookbook, start with the first recipe, and then bake her way through the book.

Her husband told me that if he could find a way to put her bed in the kitchen, she would be forever happy.

But she was more than a cook or a baker. She was an experimenter. We would give her a formula, a recipe to try and she would immediately start experimenting to improve it. Often her creations were amazing. We cherish her creations.

Her original recipe was deep fried. It was marvelous but over the years, I’ve done less and less deep frying.  And I started shortcutting her recipe until I was making “ordinary” French toast, frying it in the skillet.

When I stopped battering and frying, I lost the uniqueness of battered, crisp French toast. So let me give you the original recipe that is deep fried so you can use it if you want. I’ll also tell you how to make it the common way, fried in a skillet.

Then I’ll give you a hack, how to fry it and still have some crispness.

Lu Ann’s Original Recipe

Ingredients for the French Toast

6 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup cinnamon chips
10 slices good-quality bread
1 large egg
1 cup cold milk • 1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla • butter for frying

 

Ingredients for the batter

3 cups flour
1 ½ tablespoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs 
2 2/3 cup water
 
Oil for frying

 

Directions for making the batter and deep frying

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In another bowl, combine the eggs and water.
3. Pour the water mixture into the bowl of dry ingredient and stir until the batter is smooth.
4. Set aside and heat the oil in a deep pan for deep frying. The oil should be at least two inches deep. Heat the oil until it reaches 340 degrees.
5. Cut the sandwiches into halves or fourths. Dip each piece in the batter so that it is covered and then with tongs, immerse the battered French toast in the oil.
6. Cook the pieces, turning a couple times, until each is lightly browned, about four minutes.
7. Set the pieces on paper towels for absorbing oil..

 

 

How to Make Pan-Fried Stuffed French Toast

6 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup cinnamon chips
10 slices good-quality bread
1 large egg
1 cup cold milk
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
 
butter for frying
 

Directions

1. Whip the cream cheese with the sugar until it is soft and fluffy. Fold in the cinnamon chips.
2. Spread the cream cheese mixture on half the slices of bread and top with the other half to form sandwiches.
3. Whisk the egg, milk, and vanilla together. Gradually stir in the flour until you have a smooth thin batter, like gravy.
4. Heat a skillet with a couple of tablespoons of butter in it. When the skillet is hot, dip the sandwiches in the egg mixture, turning to cover both sides, and then place them in the hot skillet.
5. Cook one side of the sandwiches and then the other until the French toast is lightly browned. Serve immediately.

 

The Secret Hack

If you add starch to the egg wish, your French toast will be crisper.  Add no more than two tablespoons of all-purpose flour for each egg in your egg wash.  You will have a thin batter that will cook in the skillet.

We started doing this with our Monte Cristo Sandwiches.  Initially, we used tempura flour blend.  Instead of wheat flour, it's made with rich or potato starch.  It’s a stronger starch.

About the syrup

This French toast deserves a great syrup.  For me, maple syrup competes with the melted sweet cinnamon swirled in the cream cheese. Both the cream cheese and the cinnamon are light flavors complemented best by a sweet, mild syrup.

These are my choices, ranked: 

1. Vanilla Buttermilk Syrup
2. Vanilla Cream Syrup
3. Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Syrup
4. Peach Syrup
5. Coconut Buttermilk Syrup