Pain Perdu

The best part about finally being on vacation is being able to have a lazy morning. I woke up on Saturday, without the assistance of an alarm clock, at the ripe, old time of 09:00. It was glorious. No stressing over deadlines, or studying. Yes, I have vac work, but it's not strenuous at all. There's no rush, none of the mindless panic that is usually associated with term time. Most importantly, however, is the fact that I do not have to rush breakfast. No more stingy piece of toast slathered with peanut butter clamped between my teeth as I rush out of the house. No more hastily gulped down cereal with scaldingly hot milk dribbling down my chin (that's not exactly true, but the imagery is fantastic and it's close enough to the truth). I sauntered into the kitchen and took stock of what was there. Two mini loaves of slightly stale brioche. About 6 limes. Strawberries. Inspiration strikes. Do we have eggs? Yes. Enough milk. Yes, again. Looks like I'm making Pain Perdu.

Ever since I saw Heston Blumenthal's Christmas Special, I've wanted to recreate that magic. If you've even so much as heard of the man, you will know that this is no simple task. Baby steps, I think, is the solution to this particular problem. The dessert he made for the meal was Pain Perdu with nitro-scrambled, reindeer milk ice-cream. I decided to stick with just the Pain Perdu. Liquid nitrogen and reindeer milk were sold out at the Woolworths. He had an excellent technique for creating an added crispiness to the toast. Dredging the cooked slices in bubbling hot, molten sugar. I will never again make it in any other way. The ice-cream that I used is shop bought, as is the brioche itself. The meal, after all, was impromptu. There will always be a next time for a leisurely breakfast, where I can make my own ice-cream and brioche.

Pain Perdu
140g milk
2 eggs
17g caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
zest of one lime
Two brioche mini loaves, sliced into 1cm slices
1 tbsp clarified butter
Extra caster sugar
Vanilla ice-cream
Strawberries or any other fresh fruit

Whisk the milk, eggs, sugar, extract and zest together until homogeneous. Put the brioche in a plastic freezer bag and add the mixture. Wiggle the slices around to get the mixture in all the nooks and crannies. Remove as much of the air from the bag as possible using a vacuum sealer. Open the bag. Gently remove the soaked slices of brioche and lay them on a rack for a few minutes to allow the excess mixture to drip off.

Melt the butter in a non-stick pan until gently bubbling. Fry the slices of brioche until golden on both sides. Drain them on some paper towels. Wipe your pan clean. Pour enough of the extra caster sugar into the pan, so that the bottom is covered. Allow the sugar to melt and then put the brioche back in the pan. Sprinkle some more caster sugar onto the exposed side of the slices. Flip them over and allow that side to caramelise. Remove from the pan and place the slices on a silicone mat to allow the caramel to harden and no longer be molten lava hot. Sprinkle with some icing sugar and enjoy with good vanilla ice-cream and some sort of tangy fruit. Syrup is not strictly necessary on account of the crunchy sugar glaze coating the bread. There's enough for two people. I shared it with my brother and there was one slice left over.