The real subject of this dessert is the caramel sauce, and it is made with raspberry butter instead of plain. Sugar is cooked dry to a light amber, Bordier raspberry butter is folded in a piece at a time, and warm cream loosens the whole thing into a sauce that is tart, salty and deeply caramelized at once. It is spooned onto the plate first. Brioche French toast goes on top, then vanilla ice cream, more raspberry butter shaved over, fresh raspberries and mint. About 20 minutes of preparation for four people.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Serves: 4
- Active time: 20 minutes
- Cook: Bordier states no cooking time. In our kitchen the caramel takes about 8 minutes and the French toast about 3 minutes a side.
- Key ingredient: Bordier Raspberry Butter
Why this works
Bordier's raspberry butter came out of a conversation with a pastry chef friend in 2006: salted butter set against tangy raspberry, which sounds like a dessert butter and behaves like a savory one. Dropped into hot caramel it does three jobs at once. The fat stops the sugar cooking further and takes it off the edge of burning, the salt sharpens the caramel the way fleur de sel does in a classic caramel au beurre salé, and the raspberry cuts the sweetness with acid rather than more sugar. A caramel made this way tastes finished in a way that a plain butter caramel with fruit stirred in afterward does not.
The rest of the plate is built for contrast. Stale brioche is the right bread because it drinks the custard without falling apart, and clarified butter in the pan means you can brown it hard without the milk solids scorching. Then the temperature swings: warm caramel underneath, hot French toast, cold ice cream, raw berries. Serving the sauce under the toast instead of over it keeps the crust crisp for the first several bites, which is the point of frying it that carefully in the first place.
Ingredients
Bordier's quantities for four, with metric alongside. The raspberry butter is listed as two separate quantities in the original; our reading of where each one goes is in the tips below.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Granulated or caster sugar | 125 g | ½ cup |
| Bordier raspberry butter, in two quantities | 50 g and 100 g | 3½ tbsp and 3½ oz |
| Heavy or double cream, at least 35% fat | 60 g, plus 0.60 cl for the batter | ¼ cup, plus 1¼ tsp |
| Stale mousseline brioche, cylindrical | 250 g | ½ lb |
| Whole milk | 0.60 cl | 1¼ tsp |
| Egg | 1 | 1 |
| Light brown sugar | 20 g | 4 tsp |
| Vanilla bean | ½ | ½ |
| Fresh raspberries | 125 g | ½ cup |
| Fresh mint leaves | A few | A few |
| Vanilla ice cream | ½ liter tub | ½ quart tub |
Method
Step 1: Make the raspberry butter caramel
Cook the granulated sugar in a dry pan until it turns a light caramel color. Watch it closely, then fold in the raspberry butter a little at a time. Warm the cream and add it slowly to the raspberry caramel.
Step 2: Cut the brioche and fry the French toast
Slice the whole mousseline brioche into 2 cm / ¾ inch slices and cut the heart out of each slice with a 70 mm round cutter. Melt the butter over a double boiler, let it settle, then strain it through a fine chinois so you are left with clean fat and no milk solids. That is clarified butter, and it is what stops the pan burning while the French toast fries. Whisk the cream, milk, egg, brown sugar and the half vanilla bean into a batter. Put the clarified butter into a hot frying pan, then the brioche and the batter, and brown the brioche until golden.
Step 3: Plate it
Spoon a little of the raspberry caramel onto each plate. Set the French toast on the caramel and top it with shavings of raspberry butter and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Finish with fresh raspberries and mint leaves.
Tips from our kitchen
- Divide the raspberry butter 50 and 100. The original lists both quantities on one line without saying where each goes. We use the 50 g in the caramel and the 100 g for clarifying and for the shavings on top. That split is our guidance, not Bordier's instruction, so weigh it into two portions before you light the burner.
- The cutter measurement contradicts itself. Bordier writes "¼ inch (70mm)", and those are not the same thing. Go by the 70 mm, which is about 2¾ inches and matches the diameter of a slice of mousseline brioche. A quarter-inch cutter would give you crumbs.
- Expect the batter to be very thin. The listed milk and second cream quantity are tiny for one egg. Bordier has you pour the batter into the pan around the brioche rather than soak the slices in advance, so it works, but if you prefer to soak, add milk a spoonful at a time until the slices take up liquid without collapsing. Note that as our change, not the original.
- Clarifying strips out the raspberry. Straining raspberry butter leaves most of its fruit and salt behind in the solids. That is the trade for a pan that will not burn. Keep some butter unclarified for the shavings at the end, where the flavor is the whole point.
- Take the caramel off the heat before the butter goes in. A dry caramel carries a lot of residual heat and butter added over a live flame will split. Off the burner, folded in piece by piece, it emulsifies smoothly.
- Warm the cream first. Cold cream hitting hot sugar seizes it into a solid lump and spits dangerously. Thirty seconds in the microwave is enough.
- Use brioche that is genuinely stale. A day or two on the counter, uncovered. Fresh brioche turns to paste in the pan.
How to serve it
Plate it one serving at a time and carry each plate out as it is finished, because the ice cream starts running into the caramel within a minute or two and the crust softens. If you would rather make the brioche yourself instead of buying it, our Madagascar vanilla butter brioche bakes into exactly the kind of loaf this dish wants, and a day-old slice of it is better than anything you will find at the store.
Where to buy Bordier Raspberry Butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.
- Churned Seasonal Raspberry Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): salted butter set against tangy raspberry, made since 2006 at the suggestion of a pastry chef friend of the house.
It is a seasonal butter, so if it is out of stock, browse the Maison Bordier collection for what is churning now.
Frequently asked questions
How much Bordier butter do I need to buy?
Our blocks are 4.4 oz / 125 g. This recipe uses 150 g in total, 50 g in the caramel and 100 g for the pan and the shavings, so buy two blocks.
Can I use a different Bordier butter?
Salted butter makes the classic caramel au beurre salé and is the safest substitute. Madagascar vanilla butter gives a rounder, sweeter sauce that echoes the ice cream. Yuzu butter keeps the acidity if raspberry is out of season, though the caramel will read as citrus rather than berry.
My caramel seized when I added the cream. Can I save it?
Usually, yes. Put it back on low heat and stir until the hardened sugar dissolves into the cream again. Warming the cream before adding it prevents the problem in the first place.
How should I store the butter?
Wrapped, in the refrigerator, used within about two weeks of opening. It freezes well for a few months if tightly wrapped. Keep it away from strong-smelling foods, because butter absorbs odors fast.
Does Bordier butter need refrigeration?
Yes. Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Refrigerate it the moment it arrives. For the shavings at the end you actually want it cold and firm, straight from the refrigerator.
Can I make the caramel ahead?
Yes. It keeps three or four days in a sealed jar in the refrigerator and reheats gently in a saucepan or in short bursts in the microwave. Fry the French toast to order.
Related reading
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
- Alain Milliat Jams
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.