Oui Je Parle French toast

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, cream, sugar, salt, vanilla, and orange zest and whisk until smooth. Pour the batter into a leakproof container and freeze. (It will keep for two weeks, frozen.)
2. Shake or stir the batter to mix. In a deep dish, pan, bowl, or large resealable bag, combine the bread slices and batter and let soak for five minutes, carefully turning the pieces as needed so they’re uniformly wet.
3. In a medium or large pan over medium-low heat, melt ½ tablespoon of the butter (or more for larger pans), swirling the pan to coat.
4. Carefully transfer a few pieces of the battered bread to the hot pan. (The wet bread will be fragile.) Cook until the undersides are golden and lovely, about three minutes, then flip the pieces and cook until golden on the other side. The butter will burn a little; that’s-okay.
5. Wipe out the pan between batches as needed, add fresh butter, and repeat.
6. Serve the French toast, warm, with butter and maple syrup. Enjoy!  TIP: You could substitute the heavy cream with milk, this will still make some very delicious French toast.

Excerpted from Cook It Wild by Chris Nuttal-Smith. Copyright © 2023 Chris Nuttal-Smith. Photography by Maya Visnyei and illustrations by Claire McCracken. Published by Penguin, an imprint of Penguin Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.