Best Creme Brûlée French Toast Ever

This is probably the best french toast I've ever made & had! One day I thought, why don't I try soaking old bread in Creme Brûlée cream and frying it?

Amazingly yummy, moist and perfect! I used Alton Brown's Creme Brûlée recipe, but instead of pouring the batter into ramekins I poured it into a large pan to cover a loaf of old (semi-hard) ciabatta bread, cut into slices. I let it soak over night in the fridge. The next day I melt butter and a little sugar (for the brulee part!) in a pan and fry each slice until golden. 

Ingredients

1 quart heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or a TBS of vanilla extract)
1 cup vanilla sugar, divided
6 large egg yolks

1 loaf stale bread, sliced

Directions

Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use. (if using vanilla extract, do not put it in yet)

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Let it cool, then add vanilla extract into the mixture. 

Line a large pan with bread slices. Pour egg mixture over bread and cover with plastic warp. Refrigerate. 

In a large frying pan melt butter and a sprinkling of sugar. Fry each slice of bread in butter & sugar mixture until golden brown. 

Top with maple syrup, or fresh fruit.

SO GOOD!