As you can see from the picture, mine’s french toast. When I was a kid, I used to badger my mom into making french toast for me every weekend - to the point that my poor brother started refusing to eat it. Soft pillow-y bread, soaked in a milky egg wash, fried to crisp perfection and served piping hot with maple syrup (or kaya, as I’ve now learnt to get my fix in Ya Kun and Killiney) - what’s not to love? I’ve always had a gigantic sweet tooth, and to be honest my love for french toast probably stemmed from my love for maple syrup.

French toast, or pain perdu (literally “lost bread”) as it is known in France and Belgium, which apparently may not even be French in origin, originated as a way to save stale bread. Bread is sliced on a bias off the hardening loaf before being dipped into the eggy mixture to soften it. I personally love using brioche, but the version that really sends me flying back to my formative years is made with thick sliced white bread, particularly Milk Bread. And instead of waiting for bread to go stale, I’ve often made trips to the convenience store for the sole purpose of buying bread to satisfy my french toast craving.

What’s your favourite comfort food? Here’s my recipe for mine. :)

French Toast

5 slices milk bread (or any other thick sliced soft white loaf)
2 large eggs
100ml full cream milk
pinch of salt
1 tbsp cinnamon sugar (or vanilla sugar)
butter for frying
maple syrup, icing sugar, kaya or jam to serve

Lightly whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and cinnamon sugar with a fork and set aside. Slice the bread diagonally into halves or quarters (I like slicing them into quarters so that I don’t need to cut them anymore after they’re cooked, and there’s more surface area for the bread to soak into).

Melt a good knob of butter into a non-stick pan over medium heat. When the butter has melted and started to froth, dip a piece of bread into the egg mixture and fry gently until golden brown, before flipping over and cooking until the other side is golden brown and crispy as well. Transfer onto a waiting plate lined with kitchen paper to drain. Repeat with remaining slices of bread, adding more butter as needed.

Once all the bread is cooked, arrange them on a plate and serve with syrup or jam on the side. You can also dust it with icing sugar. I particularly love eating this with a glass of cold milk or iced milo.

Serves 2 for breakfast, or 3-4 for a light snack.