Thick brioche soaked in cinnamon-vanilla custard and griddled crisp outside, custardy inside, under a warm brown-sugar caramel thickened with Medjool dates.
Slightly stale brioche holds the custard without collapsing; leave fresh slices out uncovered for a few hours or dry them in a 275°F oven for 10 minutes. Challah works in place of brioche.
Keep finished slices warm on a rack in a 200°F oven while you cook the rest.
Ingredients
Scale
Measurement units
- 8 slices brioche loaf (about one 1-lb loaf)
- 8 Medjool dates
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream (divided)
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter (divided)
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- ¼ cup hot water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (divided)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp kosher salt (divided)
Ingredients
Scale
Measurement units
- 8 slices brioche loaf (about one 1-lb loaf)
- 8 Medjool dates
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream (divided)
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter (divided)
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- ¼ cup hot water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (divided)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp kosher salt (divided)
Instructions
Soften the dates
Cover Medjool dates with hot water (¼ cup) in a small bowl and let them soften for 10 minutes.
Make the date caramel
Melt unsalted butter (3 tbsp) with light brown sugar (½ cup) in the small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until bubbling, about 3 minutes.
Whisk in heavy cream (½ cup) and simmer, about 3 minutes.
Add the softened dates with their soaking water, mash with a fork, and simmer until thick, about 4 minutes.
Stir in vanilla extract (1 tsp) and kosher salt (¼ tsp) and keep warm over the lowest heat.
Equipment: small saucepan
Whisk the custard
Whisk large eggs, whole milk (1 cup), heavy cream (½ cup), granulated sugar (2 tbsp), ground cinnamon (1 tsp), vanilla extract (1 tsp) and kosher salt (¼ tsp) in the shallow baking dish, about 2 minutes.
Equipment: shallow baking dish
Soak the brioche
Lay brioche loaf (8 slices) in the custard a few at a time and soak briefly on each side until saturated but not falling apart, about 3 minutes.
Equipment: shallow baking dish
Griddle the French toast
Melt some of the unsalted butter (3 tbsp) on the griddle over medium-low heat, about 1 minute.
Cook the soaked slices in batches, adding more butter as needed, until deep golden on both sides and set in the center, about 12 minutes.
Equipment: griddle
Serve
Plate the French toast and spoon the warm date caramel over the top.
Tomorrow's Meal
Date Caramel Yogurt Parfaits with Brioche Croutons
Cut leftover French toast into cubes and crisp them in butter into sweet, crunchy croutons, then layer with Greek yogurt and rewarmed date caramel.
Quick overview:
- 1.Cube leftover French toast.
- 2.Toast the cubes in butter in a skillet over medium heat until crisp on all sides.
- 3.Rewarm leftover date caramel in a small saucepan.
- 4.Layer Greek yogurt, croutons and warm caramel in glasses.
Before you cook
Cook notes
- • Slightly stale brioche holds the custard without collapsing; leave fresh slices out uncovered for a few hours or dry them in a 275°F oven for 10 minutes.
- • Keep finished slices warm on a rack in a 200°F oven while you cook the rest.
- • The date caramel keeps refrigerated for 1 week; rewarm in a small saucepan with a splash of cream.
- • Challah works in place of brioche.
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