Name: Custard French Toast with Strawberry Lemon Glaze
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Modern
Ingredients: 1 loaf challah bread, sliced into 1 inch thick slices, about 8 slices per loaf; 2 cups strawberries, remove ends, slice lengthwise; 1/2 cup powdered sugar, plus more for dusting; 2 tablespoons lemon juice; 6 eggs; 2 egg yolks; 1/2 cup whole milk or heavy cream; 1/2 stick of butter, sliced into pats of butter equal to how many slices of bread you have.

Custard French Toast pairs perfectly with the sweet and tangy strawberry lemon glaze. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or even dinner!

Custard French Toast with Strawberry Lemon Glaze

There’s no such thing as bad French toast. But there is such a thing as amazing French toast, and this version is amazing. It starts with rich and flaky challah bread and moves to mixing together sugar and cream to create a custard to dip the bread in, finishing with a bright strawberry lemon glaze. This is the BEST strawberry topping for French toast. And even better, it comes together quickly and easily.

Techniques for perfect Custard French Toast

Challah Bread: Rich and flaky challah bread is perfect for French toast. If you can’t find Challah bread, brioche bread works wonderfully as well. I like to slice the bread about 1 inch thick, so if you can find unsliced bread, that works best.
Strawberries: Strawberries are a key ingredient for the glaze. Strawberries add sweetness and some tartness, and make the glaze a beautiful shade of pink.
Lemons: Fresh squeezed lemon juice balances out the sweetness of the glaze and helps keep this decadent dish from feeling heavy.
Powdered Sugar: Powdered sugar disolves quickly in the strawberry and lemon juice. That means no need to heat this glaze, keeping this a super easy strawberry French toast recipe.
Eggs: My secret here is adding a couple extra egg yolks to the egg mixture to make the custard extra creamy and tasty.
Whole Milk or Heavy Cream: I don’t use heavy cream very often, so I rarely have it on hand. Just use what you have available, no need to buy a special ingredient.
Butter: Frying the custard dipped french toast in butter helps it get brown and perfectly crispy on the outside while staying rich and creamy inside.

How to make Custard French Toast

Strawberry Lemon Glaze Topping: In a medium bowl stir together the sliced strawberries, powdered sugar, and lemon juice. Let the strawberry topping for the French toast sit while you prepare the custard french toast, the strawberries will release some liquid to create the glaze.
Make the Dipping Custard: In a large bowl, whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolks, heavy cream or milk, powdered sugar.
Brown the Custard French Toast: Heat a nonstick pan or griddle over medium-low heat. Submerge a slice of bread into the custard mix. Let the bread soak up the mix for about 10 seconds. Make sure to flip the bread so that both sides are coated. If the bread does not seem to be absorbing the custard, you can gently squeeze the bread in the custard to help it absorb. Scrape the excess custard mix off of the sides of the bread (I usually just drag it along the side of the bowl). Place a pat of butter in the pan and lay the toast over it to fry. Cook the custard french toast until it is golden brown on one side and then flip and cook to golden brown on the other side, about 2 to 4 minutes per side.
To serve: Stack the custard French toast on a plate. Top with the strawberry topping from the glaze. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the custard French toast. Dust the stack of custard French toast with strawberry topping with the remaining powdered sugar.

Southern & Modern Brunch Recipes

Yield: 4 Servings