I never used to like French toast, but I think that’s because whenever we made it at camp, it was always far too eggy and not covered in enough cinnamon. By now, you know my feelings on cinnamon: there is never enough.

Brioche loaves are quite difficult to come by in Hong Kong, at least – in the sense that they are called brioche. We have a lot of milk bread, or milk bar buns – essentially exactly the same as brioche. Bread enriched with milk and eggs, and therefore ideal for French toast.

Making this dish the night before means that when you want breakfast (or dessert, because let’s be honest) you can simply assemble it and put it in the oven. Easy peasy.

Do you have any suggestions for what you’d like to see me make in 2020? Leave me a comment, and I’ll look into it.

Ingredients

1 loaf milk bar bread/brioche (approx 210 grams)
500 ml skimmed milk
6 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

Topping:
40 grams brown sugar
50 grams flour
75 grams unsalted butter
80 grams pecans, roughly chopped
40 grams rolled oats
2 tbsp cinnamon
pinch of sea salt

1. Grease a casserole dish. Tear bread into roughly 3cm pieces and place into casserole dish.
2. Whisk together the milk, eggs, vanilla extract, caster sugar and cinnamon. Pour over the bread, cover and place in the fridge.
3. Combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and rolled oats in a medium bowl.
4. Cut the cold butter into cubes, then add to the flour mixture, using your fingers or a pastry cutter. Add the pecans and mix well to evenly distribute. Cover and place in the fridge.
5. Allow both mixtures to chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
6. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
7. Remove from the fridge, uncover both he bread and the topping. Sprinkle the topping over the bread in the casserole dish.
8. Bake in the oven for 35 – 45 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and bread is warmed through.
9. Serve warm with maple syrup.