Sourdough Can Seriously Upgrade Your French Toast
French toast is one of those dishes worth waking up for in the morning. Whether as the star of a bougie brunch or a classic diner staple, there are so many variations of this beloved dish. Flavors can be sweet or savory, fruity or nutty, creamy or caramelized. There are even different versions across the world, like "pain perdu" or "lost bread" in France and "eggy bread" in England (via Wonderopolis). With all these options, it may be easy to overlook an essential part of the dish — the bread. Without a great bread choice, the literal foundation of your French toast can crumble.
According to All Recipes, there are three bread selection factors to consider when creating the perfect French toast: sturdiness, staleness, and flavor. Staleness can be easily achieved with any bread, but the combination of both sturdiness and taste can be hard to come by. Enter sourdough bread. With great structure and a delightful tang, sourdough French toast will be your mimosa's new best friend.
The flavor and structure of sourdough are perfect for French toast
There are many types of sourdough bread, but they all have one thing in common. Instead of using yeast to rise, sourdough is leavened naturally with a starter. The starter also referred to as the mother, is made from fermenting together a combination of flour, water, a good bacteria called lactobacilli, and wild yeast from the surrounding environment (via King Arthur Baking). The flavor of the wild yeast and the delicate sour notes from the fermentation yield a complexity of flavor to the bread itself. That slight acidity helps balance the sweetness of the other French toast ingredients, like syrup, whipped cream, or powdered sugar.
According to The Clever Carrot, the resulting texture of a sourdough loaf is crisp on the outside and soft on the inside, with a pleasant chewiness. That structure allows the bread to soak up plenty of that custard mixture without disintegrating and maintain structural integrity during cooking and flipping, per All Recipes. Real Simple suggests half-inch to one-inch thick slices for maximum custard absorption and a more decadent texture in the final product.
The next time you're craving a show-stopping breakfast, picture a French toast that's toothsome, delicately creamy in the center, and has a unique depth of flavor. Top it to your heart's content, but start by reaching for sourdough.