Arme Ritter (Austrian French Toast)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide heavy-bottomed pan or skillet (28cm)
• •Wide shallow dish for soaking (pie dish works well)
• •Wide shallow bowl for cinnamon sugar

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the cinnamon sugar

   Mix the 80g of granulated sugar with the cinnamon in a wide, shallow bowl. Set it next to the stove where you can reach it easily. The Ritter need to go into this mixture the moment they leave the pan, while they're still hot enough that the sugar half-melts against the surface and forms a thin, crackly crust. If you wait even two minutes, the sugar just sits there like sand.

2. 2

   Make the egg custard

   Whisk together the eggs, milk, granulated sugar, Vanillezucker, salt, and lemon zest in a wide, shallow dish. A pie dish or a deep plate works well. You want something broad enough to lay the bread flat. Whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth and uniform. The lemon zest is subtle but it lifts the whole dish. Without it, Arme Ritter can taste flat.

   Use real Vanillezucker, not vanilla extract. Austrian baking depends on it. You can make your own by burying a split vanilla pod in a jar of caster sugar for a week. It lasts for months and you'll reach for it constantly.
3. 3

   Soak the bread

   Lay the bread slices in the egg mixture, two or three at a time. Let them soak for about thirty seconds on each side. You want the custard to penetrate halfway through, not all the way. The bread should feel heavy and saturated on the outside but still have a slightly firm center. If it goes completely soft and starts to break apart, you've soaked too long or your bread was too fresh. Lift each slice out gently with a fork, letting the excess drip back into the dish.

   If your bread is very stale and hard, give it a full minute per side. Drier bread needs more time to absorb. If it's only a day old, thirty seconds is plenty. You'll learn the feel quickly.
4. 4

   Fry in butter

   Melt a generous knob of butter in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat. Wait until it foams and the foam begins to subside. That's when the water has cooked out and the butter is hot enough to give you a proper crust. Lay the soaked bread in the pan without crowding. Two or three slices at a time, depending on your pan. Fry until the underside turns deep golden brown, about two to three minutes. The kitchen will smell extraordinary. Flip once and cook the second side until equally golden. Don't press down on the bread. You'll squeeze out all the custard you just spent time soaking in.

   Add fresh butter between batches. Each round deserves its own butter. This is not the place to economize. The butter is doing two jobs: crisping the outside and flavoring the crust.
5. 5

   Roll in cinnamon sugar

   Transfer each Ritter straight from the pan into the cinnamon sugar. Turn it over with a fork, pressing gently so the sugar clings to every surface. The heat from the bread will melt the sugar just enough to form a thin, glittering crust. Work quickly. Once the bread cools, the sugar won't stick the same way. Set the finished pieces on a warm plate while you fry the rest.

6. 6

   Serve with Apfelkompott

   Arrange the Arme Ritter on warm plates, two or three per person. Dust lightly with powdered sugar. Spoon warm Apfelkompott alongside, not over the top. You want to dip into it, not drown the crust you just built. Serve immediately. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •The bread is everything. A good Semmel from a proper bakery, left out overnight, gives you the best texture. Supermarket sliced bread works in a pinch, but cut it thick, at least two centimeters. Thin slices go soggy in the custard and you lose the contrast between crisp outside and soft inside that makes this dish worth eating.
• •For the Apfelkompott, peel and quarter tart apples (Boskop or Bramley are good), cook them with a splash of water, a spoonful of sugar, a strip of lemon peel, and a pinch of cinnamon until they collapse into rough chunks. Ten minutes, maybe fifteen. You don't want applesauce. You want pieces that still have shape and a little bite.
• •Gretel always said Arme Ritter should be a proper meal, not a snack. In Austria, this is served as a main course, especially on Fridays when the older generation still kept to meatless cooking. Set the table properly. A plate, a fork, a knife, the compote in its own bowl. Treat it with respect.
• •If you have leftover Brioche or Striezel, use it. Enriched breads with egg and butter soak up the custard beautifully and fry even more golden than plain white bread. Some of the best Arme Ritter I've ever made used two-day-old Striezel from the Sunday before.

Advance Preparation

• •Slice your bread the night before and leave it uncovered on a wire rack. By morning it will be perfectly stale and ready to soak without falling apart.
• •Apfelkompott can be made up to three days ahead and refrigerated. Reheat gently on the stove before serving. It's actually better the next day once the flavors have settled.
• •The egg custard mixture can be whisked together up to an hour ahead and refrigerated. Give it a quick stir before soaking the bread.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 270g)