HFF 4.3: The Tiffany Problem

The Challenge: Make a dish that's older than you expected. 

After considering several dishes that have surprised me over the years with their antiquity (fondue and macaroni foremost), I decided to try a very familiar dish straight out of 1720s cookbook: French Toast.

[Yes, I know from a friend that this dish goes back at least to the middle ages, but I hadn't seen a recipe for it before the mid-19th century, and wanted to try this one.]

The Recipe: Cream Toast or Pain Perdu from The Cook's and Confectioner's Dictionary: Or, the Accomplish'd Housewife's Companion (for full effect, imagine those s's are long)

The Date/Year and Region: 1723, London

How Did You Make It: I set 2 Tbsp unsalted butter to melt in a frying pan on medium heat, then mixed together 1/2 cup cream and 1/4 cup milk in a deep bowl, beat two eggs together in another bowl, and sliced about 1/3 of a loaf of French bread into 3/8" wide slices. I soaked the bread in the milk, sprinkled it with ground cinnamon and granulated sugar, dipped each slice in the egg, and set them to fry. When browned, I removed the toast from heat and sprinkled with more sugar.     

Time to Complete: 25 minutes (10 to prepare while heating the pan, about 15 to cook 9 slices of bread) 

Total Cost: $4

How Successful Was It?:  This is some very tasty French toast. I wwas wondring if it would be bland without the syrup, etc., used today, but the cinnamon and sugar were just right, and the milk/cream/egg/butter combination was pleasantly rich without being too greasy. I was using fresh bread (quelle horror!) so there was little utility in soaking the bread so long, but I can see where it would be useful if using older bread.

How Accurate Is It?: Cooked on a modern stove, but I didn't effect any intentional changes to the instructions or ingredients. If I found myself hearth-cooking, I would be tempted to use this receipt, as it went together easily and pan-frying is a technique I'd be comfortable attempting in such a set-up.

Yes, this is my Faire kit.
The recipe pre-dates all my transerware!