crème brûlée french toasts
Filed under the very large category of Things Pretty Much Every New Yorker Already Knew About But Was News To Me (don’t bother trying to hail a cab after noon on a Friday, filthy stoops are irresistible for the , etc.), the City Bakery on 18th Street has some astoundingly good French toast on Sunday mornings. It’s also astoundingly expensive, as things will go at a bakery with sweets like you can’t find anywhere else and an iron grip on its original recipes. Their version is a ridiculously thick wedge of battered bread with a caramelized lid that requires no syrup or other accompaniment — well, except maybe some crispy salty strips of bacon — to make it sing.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 9 of 11 ingredients — the other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 9 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| White Bread | 1 slice (30g) white | 79 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Brioche | not in our table | 0 |
| Bean | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf unsliced white bread, brioche or rich bread of your choice
- 1 1/3 cups whole milk
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 4 large eggs
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
- 1 teaspoon Grand Marnier or another orange liqueur or 1/4 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar