Gordon Ramsay’s french toast is made with day-old croissants stuffed with cold custard, soaked in egg and milk, then fried until golden. Topped with butterscotch apples, sesame snaps, and a dusting of cinnamon sugar. Ready in 10 minutes from his Ramsay in 10 cookbook.
The recipe is from Ramsay in 10, where he says “it is even better with slightly stale croissants, so leave yours and make this the following day.” In the video, he calls it “a fast track take on eggy bread with the sweetness of the custard.”
The key technique is stuffing cold custard into the croissants before soaking them. Ramsay slits each one with a knife and squeezes custard in until they feel heavier. When you cut into the fried croissant, you hit a warm custard centre that no regular french toast gives you.
Gordon Ramsay’s French Toast
Course: BreakfastCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Medium4
servings5
minutes10
minutes554
kcal15
minutesCroissant french toast from Ramsay in 10. Day-old croissants filled with custard, fried in egg and milk, served with butterscotch apples and sesame brittle. Around 554 kcal per serving and roughly 85p each at current prices.
Ingredients
- For the french toast:
4 croissants (ideally 24 hours old)
120ml (½ cup) cold custard
2 eggs
100ml (scant ½ cup) whole milk
4 tbsp demerara sugar
Vegetable oil, for frying
- For the butterscotch apples:
1 large apple (Granny Smith)
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp butter
- To serve:
2 Sesame Snaps
Icing sugar, for dusting
Clotted or whipped double cream
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Directions
- Stuff the croissants: Using a knife, make a lengthways slit in each croissant without cutting right through. Spoon or pipe the custard into the slits, then gently press the edges together to seal.
- Soak in egg: Crack the eggs into a wide bowl and mix with the milk. Submerge the croissants in the mixture, turning to ensure they are completely soaked.
- Start the caramel: Place a small non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and sprinkle in 2 tablespoons of the demerara sugar. Wait for it to caramelise.
- Caramelise the apples: Slice the apple into thin rings about 1cm thick and place in the pan. Allow to bubble until golden brown, then add the honey and butter and stir as they melt. Keep warm over the lowest heat.
- Fry the croissants: Place a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and drizzle in a little oil. Cook the croissants for 2 minutes on each side until crisp and golden. Sprinkle with the remaining demerara sugar, flip, and cook until the sugar has melted and caramelised.
- Loosen the sauce: Add 2 tablespoons of water to the apples to loosen the sauce, then remove from the heat.
- Plate: Place the croissants on plates and arrange the apples on top. Drizzle with the sauce, sprinkle over the broken sesame snaps and a dusting of icing sugar. Serve with clotted or whipped cream dusted with cinnamon.
FAQs
Why does Ramsay use croissants instead of regular bread?
The croissant layers have air pockets inside that hold the custard stuffing, which regular bread can’t do. In the video, Ramsay says to use ones that are “24 hours old, a little bit firmer” because fresh croissants absorb too much egg and go soggy before you can fry them.
His eggy bread from Ultimate Home Cooking uses regular sliced bread with the same egg soak, which gives you a flatter, crispier result. The croissant version is richer because of the built-in butter layers and that custard centre.
Why stuff custard inside before soaking?
This is the step that separates it from every other french toast recipe. Ramsay slits each croissant and squeezes cold custard inside using a bottle. In the video he says to “turn left, turn right” as you fill all the air pockets, then count to three and pull out.
When you fry the croissant, the outside goes crisp from the egg while the custard stays creamy inside. His bread and butter pudding uses the same idea: soaking pain au chocolat in custard and baking it. Same principle, different delivery.
What is the difference between french toast and eggy bread?
Ramsay answers this himself across two videos. In the Ramsay in 10 video he says this is “a fast track take on eggy bread” and in the Ultimate Home Cooking video he explains “in France they call it pain perdu, the lost loaf.” Same family, different branches.
The practical difference is texture. Eggy bread is thin bread dipped in egg and fried flat. This french toast uses fat croissants stuffed with custard, fried in egg and milk, topped with butterscotch apples. If you want another French sweet with the same dark caramel technique, his crepe suzette uses orange instead of apple.
How do you get the butterscotch apples right?
Sugar goes into a dry pan first. Wait for it to caramelise before adding the apple, because adding them too early releases moisture and kills the toffee. Ramsay says in the video “don’t throw the apples in there yet” while watching the sugar turn golden.
Once the apples are in, add butter for what he calls “that nice toffee apple flavour,” then cinnamon, a pinch of salt, and honey for sweetness. His apple tarte tatin uses the same caramelise-first method with puff pastry instead of croissants.
Does french toast store well?
No. Eat it the moment it’s plated. The croissant goes soft within 30 minutes and the custard inside turns the whole thing soggy if it sits. Ramsay designed this as a 10-minute recipe for a reason.
The butterscotch apples keep for a day in the fridge though. Ramsay says in the video “sometimes you can make the apples the day before so they stew overnight.” Reheat them and fry the croissants fresh, or spoon leftover apples over his apple crumble instead.
