Brioche French Toast

Brioche French Toast is the perfect special occasion breakfast. Simply dredge buttery Brioche Bread slices in farm fresh eggs then cook them to golden perfection. Enjoy with a topping of creamy whipped Mascarpone Cheese and slices of fresh apricots. Don’t forget the syrup!

Our go-to weekend breakfast usually involves eggs in some form or another. Whether it’s a simple over easy fried egg in a Homemade Breakfast Sandwich or Eggs Benedict smothered in Easy Blender Hollandaise, our breakfasts with eggs are always something special.

Disclosure: This post is made possible by Egg Farmers of Alberta. All opinions and experiences are my own.

Brioche French Toast with Whipped Mascarpone

If you love a leisurely breakfast or brunch (but not a whole lot of standing over a stove) this Brioche French Toast recipe is for you. It’s decadent, delicious, and looks like it comes right off of a high-end restaurant brunch menu.

The buttery rich brioche in golden egg coating is a satisfying treat with just a sprinkle of powdered confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup. However, if you finish it with a few dollops of creamy vanilla scented sweet mascarpone cream, fresh fruit, and toasty almonds, you’ll have a restaurant quality dish in no time.

Friends, this isn’t your average French toast recipe. Sure, it involves bread soaked in farm fresh eggs…but it’s the rich thick sliced Brioche bread that really makes the difference in this recipe. You can make it with regular bread and use the toppings as suggested but I highly recommend sourcing (or baking!) the Brioche bread.

Ingredients for Brioche French Toast

For this breakfast recipe, I highly recommend you source a loaf of locally made Brioche bread. It doesn’t have to be fresh, in fact it can be a day or two old and still taste delicious.

• Brioche Bread
• Eggs
• Cream
• Mascarpone Cheese
• Confectioners’ Sugar
• Vanilla Extract
• Sliced Almonds
• Ghee or Butter
• Apricots
• Maple Syrup

Since brioche has such a light texture, it tends to soak up a lot of egg wash. For this reason, I highly recommend you start the recipe with a full dozen large eggs nearby. Generally, each piece of brioche will soak up slightly more than one egg (plus milk or cream).

Let’s be honest, if you’re making this recipe with Brioche, you also aren’t afraid of a little heavy cream. True decadence is adding cream to the egg wash. However, milk will work just fine. You do you.

Confectioners’ sugar, also known as powdered sugar or icing sugar, is what gives French toast that special ‘snowy’ or ‘lacy’ pattern. It’s not necessary, however it makes the dish just a little bit sweeter and prettier.

Nuts add a textural crunch to the final dish. Sliced almonds were my choice for this recipe but you can use your preferred nut or omit nuts altogether.

Why ghee? Truthfully, you can fry the French toast in butter. However, butter contains milk solids and tends to brown quickly. Ghee is clarified butter, which means the milk solids have been removed. It has a higher smoke point and allows the bread to cook to a nice golden brown without burning or smoking.

For this recipe, please use fruit that is in season. Stone fruit such as peaches, plums, and cherries would be delicious. Alternatively, seasonal berries would be sensational. I’m thinking strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries.

The French toast, along with confectioners’ sugar and mascarpone cream is sweet enough on its own. However, I highly recommend adding a pour of maple syrup to the extravagance!

What is Brioche?

At this point you may be asking, ‘What is so special about Brioche bread?’. To save you the Googling, I have done it for you. Brioche is a bread of French origin whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb. The rich bread can be plain, or as the basis of a dessert with many local variations in added ingredients, fillings, or toppings.

Brioche is either baked in a round tin or as a loaf in a rectangular pan. Both styles require the dough to be shaped into several boules which fuse together during proofing and form an attractive pattern after they are baked.

Another distinguishing feature of Brioche is the shiny golden outer crust which is due to the application of an egg wash between the proofing and baking stages.

In the world of French baking, brioche walks a fine line between bread and pastry. This rich buttery bread is categorized as a leavened subgroup of Viennoiserie, along with such decadent favourites as pain au lait and pain aux raisins.

How to Whip Mascarpone Cheese

Let’s start with whipping the mascarpone cheese with a little whipping cream, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla extract. This method makes the cream more stable, allowing it to be piped onto the plate. You can use regular whipped cream (and omit the mascarpone cheese) if you prefer.

To begin, scoop the mascarpone cheese into the bowl of a stand mixer then add the whipping cream. Whip them together until they reach the soft peak stage. Add the confectioner’s sugar to the mixture and continue beating further until it reaches stiff peaks.

Next, beat the vanilla into the mixture on low speed. Place the whipped mascarpone cream in a piping bag (if using) and refrigerate until you are ready to serve the French toast.

How to Make Brioche French Toast

A shallow baking dish or pie plate works best for the egg wash. Crack 5 eggs into a shallow dish then add 2 Tablespoons milk or cream. Whisk the mixture until it becomes frothy.

Heat a heavy bottomed frying pan to medium low heat. Add the sliced almonds and toast them, tossing them until they become golden brown. Remove the almonds and set aside.

Next, add 1/2 Tablespoon ghee or butter to the hot pan and let it melt.

Dip a slice of brioche bread in the egg mixture, then flip it over to coat the other side. Allow the excess mixture to drain before placing it in the hot pan. Cook the French toast for 1-2 minutes on each side, until the egg becomes a golden colour, then remove to a platter.

Repeat the process to finish the remaining bread slices and eggs, adding more ghee as needed. If you run out of egg mixture, make a second batch. You can scale it down as you see fit to prevent wasting eggs. Each piece of brioche may require just over one egg (plus milk or cream) to become fully coated in egg wash.

How to Serve Brioche French Toast

Place 1-2 pieces of French toast on each plate. This recipe will serve two pieces for four people with hungry appetites one piece to eight people with small appetites.

To start, dust each piece of Brioche French toast with confectioners’ sugar (or sugar cinnamon) then pipe on the mascarpone cream. Next, garnish each plate with slices of fresh apricot and roasted almonds. Pour maple syrup over it all, if using.

Make Ahead and Storage Information

This is a quick breakfast recipe and it’s most delicious when eaten fresh off the frying pan. However, one make-ahead suggestion is to prepare the mascarpone cream a day ahead of time. The rest of the recipe is straightforward and takes very little time. You can also make the French toast ahead of time and freeze it for later.

To batch freeze Brioche French Toast: Allow them to cool completely, then place a sheet of parchment paper in between each toast. Wrap them in Aluminium foil and place in a freezer bag. Freeze for up to three months.

The easiest way to reheat one French toast is to use a toaster. Thaw a slice in the fridge overnight, then toast it in the morning. To reheat the whole batch, preheat the oven to 375 F and place frozen toasts on a single layer on a baking sheet. Cover loosely with Aluminium foil and reheat for 8-10 minutes.

Store Brioche French Toast leftovers in the fridge for 4-5 days.

Did you love this Brioche French Toast recipe? Please be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe, please tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see what you guys are making! Thank you so much for reading my blog.