Brioche perdue is French toast made properly, and this version puts the butter in the custard as well as the pan. Bordier Raspberry butter is melted into the milk, sugar and egg soak, so the fruit is inside the brioche rather than sitting on top of it. The slices are then fried in Bordier semi-salted butter, which browns and salts the crust. Fresh raspberries and roasted pistachios go on at the end. About twenty-five minutes, and it is the best possible use for brioche that is a day past its prime.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Easy
- Serves: 4
- Active time: About 25 minutes
- Cook: A few minutes per side in the pan. Bordier gives no total cook time.
- Key ingredient: 70 g Bordier Raspberry Butter, plus 10 g Bordier Semi-Salted Butter for the pan
Why this works
This recipe uses two Bordier butters, and each is doing a different job. The Raspberry butter, which Bordier developed in 2006 at the request of a pastry chef friend, is salted butter set against tangy raspberry. Melted into the custard, it distributes fruit and salt evenly through every slice instead of leaving a sweet spot where a spoonful of jam landed. The semi-salted butter, salted at 2.8% fine salt, is the frying fat. Its milk solids brown in the pan and give the crust the nutty note that makes French toast taste like more than sweetened bread.
Brioche is the right bread here because it is enriched with butter and egg already, so it absorbs custard without collapsing into mush. A few seconds a side is genuinely enough. Long soaking is what turns French toast into a wet interior with a burnt exterior, and it is the mistake almost everyone makes.
Ingredients
Serves 4, two slices each. Quantities are Bordier's own.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Bordier Raspberry Butter | 70 g | 2.5 oz, about 5 tbsp |
| Milk | 200 ml | 6.8 fl oz, about 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp |
| Sugar | 50 g | 1.8 oz, about 1/4 cup |
| Whole eggs | 2 | 2 |
| Brioche slices | 8 | 8 |
| Bordier Semi-Salted Butter | 10 g | 0.35 oz, about 2 tsp |
| Fresh raspberries | 100 g | 3.5 oz, about 3/4 cup |
| Roasted pistachios | 10 g | 0.35 oz, about 1 tbsp |
| Fresh violet flowers (optional) | A few | A few |
Two notes on the list. Bordier's total of 70 g of Raspberry butter covers the 50 g melted into the custard plus the dabs added at the end, which leaves roughly 20 g for the finish. And the method calls for a sprinkle of brown sugar in the pan that does not appear in the ingredient list, so keep a little to hand.
Method
Step 1: Soak and fry the brioche
Melt 50 g of the Bordier Raspberry butter, then mix the melted butter with the milk, sugar and eggs. Dip the slices of brioche into the mixture for a few seconds on each side. Brown the Bordier semi-salted butter in a frying pan and fry the slices of brioche. Towards the end of cooking, sprinkle on a little brown sugar so each side takes on a good colour.
Step 2: Plate and finish
Arrange two slices of brioche on each plate and set a small dab of Raspberry butter on each slice. Garnish with the fresh raspberries and the toasted pistachios. Scatter over a few fresh violets.
Tips from our kitchen
- Use day-old brioche, cut thick. Around 2 cm (3/4 inch). Fresh brioche is too soft and falls apart in the custard; slightly stale bread has the structure to hold the soak and still fry cleanly.
- A few seconds a side means a few seconds. Bordier is right about this. Dip, count to five, turn, count to five, lift. The custard should coat the surface and penetrate a millimetre or two, not soak to the centre.
- Keep the pan at medium, not high. Butter with milk solids and a custard with sugar both brown fast. Too hot and you get a dark crust over a raw, eggy interior. If the first slice colours in under a minute, turn the heat down.
- Add the brown sugar at the end, not the start. Sugar in a hot pan from the beginning will burn before the brioche is cooked through. Bordier's timing here is deliberate.
- Wipe the pan between batches. Burnt milk solids from the first round turn bitter and will darken the later slices unevenly. Wipe, add a fresh knob of butter, carry on.
- Put the raspberry butter on while the toast is hot. It should melt into the surface, not sit on it as a cold pat. Take the slices to the plate straight from the pan.
How to serve it
This is a weekend breakfast or an easy dessert after a light dinner, and it needs nothing beside it except coffee. If you want a version to serve later in the year when raspberries are out of season, our Madagascar Vanilla Butter Brioche uses the same bread and a different Bordier butter to similar effect. The violets are decorative, so skip them without regret if you have none.
Where to buy Bordier butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany. This recipe uses two of them.
- Churned Seasonal Raspberry Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): salted butter against tangy raspberry, melted into the custard and dabbed on at the end.
- Churned Salted Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): semi-salted at 2.8% fine salt, the frying butter that browns the crust.
For the rest of the range, browse the Maison Bordier collection.
Frequently asked questions
How much Bordier butter do I need for this recipe?
You need 70 g of Raspberry butter and 10 g of semi-salted. Bordier blocks are 4.4 oz (125 g), so one block of each covers it comfortably, with roughly half a block of raspberry and almost a full block of salted left over.
Can I use one butter instead of two?
Yes. Fry in the Raspberry butter as well if that is all you have, though watch the heat, since the fruit sugars catch more easily. You lose the salted, browned note in the crust.
What bread can I use if I cannot find brioche?
Challah is the closest match, and a soft white loaf cut thick will do. Avoid a hard-crusted country bread, which resists the custard and stays dry in the middle.
Can I prepare it ahead?
The custard can be mixed a few hours ahead and kept cold. The brioche should be soaked and fried to order, since fried French toast goes soft within minutes of leaving the pan.
How should I store the butter?
Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Keep it refrigerated in its wrapper. The raspberry butter is seasonal, so buy it while it is in stock.
Do I have to use violets?
No. Bordier marks them optional. If you do use them, make sure they are edible flowers sold for food rather than florist stock.
Related reading
- Madagascar Vanilla Butter Brioche
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- Paysan Breton: The Breton Butter Guide
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.