Japanese Shokupan Milk Bread French Toast with Honey Drizzle

Yeah i know Japan this, Japan that, but well doesnt change the fact that this is actually the classic French toast recipe, nothing fancy or exotic about the technique itself. I’m calling it “Japanese” simply because I made it with Japanese style bread, shokupan, that fluffy, pillowy loaf you find in basically every convenience store and bakery over there. I was in Japan, so lets use japanese bread! And it turned out to be one of the best versions of this recipe I’ve ever made 😛

The secret, as always with French toast, is using bread that’s a couple of days old rather than fresh. Fresh bread just falls apart in the custard, it can’t hold its shape once it hits the milk. A slightly stale, dense loaf soaks up all that cinnamon and lemon scented milk without turning to mush, and that’s exactly what gives you that dreamy contrast, creamy and custardy on the inside, with a delicate crispy edge on the outside once it hits the hot oil. Lets check the recipe!

Japanese Shokupan Milk Bread French Toast with Honey Drizzle

Servings: 3
Time: 35mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Like any french toast this is endlessly customisable, you just need old bread, and some pantry staples and you can whip some French toast in a jiffy hehehe, perfect for Sunday breakfast! ;D

Ingredients

Milk Bread – 1 (+/- 6 Slices)
Milk – 600ml
Lemon – 1 Peel
Cinnamon – 1 Stick
Eggs – 3
Oil – For Frying
Sugar – To Taste
Honey – To Taste
Chocolate Sprinkles – To Taste
Jam – To Taste

Directions

The recipe works best with stale bread. it will absorb the liquid better and be more stable. If you use fresh bread, it will dissolve in the liquid, so dense bread that is 2 or even 3 days old is ideal for this recipe.
Bring the milk with the lemon peel and cinnamon stick to a boil, then remove from the heat (alternatively, you can also do this in the microwave). To allow the milk to absorb the lemon and cinnamon flavor, set it aside on a wide plate.
In another plate, add the whisked eggs and cut the bread into slices approximately 2 fingers thick.
Now prepare a frying pan with the bottom covered in oil (you don’t need much, unless you’ve made the slices very thick) and place it over medium/high heat.

When the oil is hot, dip the bread in the milk, let it soak, then dip it in the egg and place it in the frying pan. Repeat until the pan is full. Fry until golden brown, turn, and fry the other side.

Remove to kitchen paper. At this point, if you want sweet golden slices, just sprinkle with sugar or sugar and cinnamon, but since we’re going to add other toppings, we’ll leave it simple.
Repeat until you have no more bread. Finally, serve and cover with sugar, honey, jam, chocolate sprinkles to your liking. Enjoy!

Notes & Tips: Shokupan (Japanese milk bread) has a softer, slightly sweeter crumb than a French baguette, so it browns a little faster, keep an eye on your heat so it doesn’t scorch before the inside sets.

If your bread is completely fresh, you can dry it out on purpose, leave slices uncovered at room temperature for a few hours, or toast them lightly in a low oven before soaking.

Don’t skip draining on kitchen paper after frying, it keeps the crust crisp instead of greasy.

Fry in batches and keep finished slices warm in a low oven (around 90°C, 194°F) while you cook the rest, so everyone gets to eat them hot at the same time.

If you want a deeper custard flavor, let the bread sit in the milk mixture for a bit more per side rather than a quick dip, just don’t oversoak or it’ll fall apart when you try to fry it.

Leftovers reheat surprisingly well in a toaster oven or air fryer for a couple of minutes, this brings the crispy edges back without drying out the inside.

For a lighter version, you can bake the soaked slices instead of frying, at around 200°C (392°F) for 12 to 15 minutes, flipping halfway.

Do note that i normally fry French toast with butter, but that time i didnt have, so you can of course fry with a bit of oil as well, its just not as flavourful as with Hokkaido butter hehehehehe.

This recipe for Japanese Shokupan Milk Bread French Toast with Honey Drizzle was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Fatias Douradas Cremosas foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.