Red Velvet French Toast

You’ve had the cake, but why not Red Velvet French Toast? Enjoy your favorite dessert as a vibrant breakfast! Made with buttery slices of brioche and drizzled with cream cheese icing instead of syrup, French toast has never been so decadent.

I was wracking my mind for a unique red velvet variation that I could whip up for Valentine’s Day this year. There are a million amazing red velvet cake renditions out there to choose from! While you know I’ll be making one for the blog eventually, I wanted to do something completely different this year.

French toast has a very near and dear place in our hearts. For Christmas morning breakfast, we’ve made it a tradition to turn an entire Panettone into a platter of French toast. So, why not celebrate Valentine’s Day our favorite way?

Ingredients

Click “Jump to the Recipe” at the top of the page or keep on scrolling down to the recipe card for ingredient amounts and full recipe instructions. Below you’ll find helpful tips, tricks, and answers to any questions you may have.

• Brioche – Buy from your local bakery or make your own! You can use regular white bread instead if you can’t find any brioche.
• Eggs – I used large eggs.
• Cream – Half and half (half milk, half heavy cream, 10%MF) for the French toast, and heavy whipping cream for the icing. For the french toast, you can use anything from 0% milk to 18% coffee cream.
• Sugar – Granulated sugar and icing sugar, also known as powdered sugar or confectioner’s sugar.
• Vanilla – Extract, paste, or even fresh vanilla bean if you can get your hands on it.
• Cocoa – Use more or less depending on your preference.
• Food coloring – Make sure to get a good quality red! Cheaper red food dyes can end up looking fuschia mixed with the cream. If you can find a red velvet specific food dye, that will work best.
• Salt – Season to taste.
• Butter – Salted, unsalted; whatever you have. This is for frying so you can also use margarine, lard, or shortening.
• Cream cheese – Is it really red velvet without cream cheese icing? If you’re not a fan, leave the cream cheese out and just whip up the icing ingredients to give you a beautiful, fluffy homemade whipped cream.

How to make red velvet French toast

Cream cheese icing

1. Beat the cream cheese and icing sugar together until smooth. Add the whipping cream, vanilla, and salt. Continue to beat for another 2-3 minutes, until thickened. Transfer the bowl to the fridge and let it set for at least 20 minutes.

Red velvet French toast

2. Preheat the oven to 250F. Place the slices of brioche on a sheet pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they dry out slightly. Cool the slices completely. Whisk the eggs, cream, sugar, vanilla, cocoa powder, food coloring, and salt together.
3. Pour the egg mixture over the slices (still on the sheet pan). Turn the slices every few minutes and spoon the mixture over them until almost everything has been absorbed. About 10 minutes.
4. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the butter, then place the slices into the skillet. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side, or until browned.

Tips for making the best red velvet French toast

• Sick of French toast that always ends up mushy in the middle? It’s not over-cooked! Drying the bread out slightly in the oven will completely negate this issue and give you the perfect texture.
• The longer the slices get to sit in the cream mixture before frying, the better. You want to make sure each slice is completely saturated to ensure they will be completely red all the way through.
• Use medium heat when cooking the French toast. It cooks up very fast! You want enough time for the heat to get all the way through the bread without burning the surface.
• If you just want to have two servings instead of four, it’s up to you whether you want to cut the recipe to one egg or two. It will be delicious either way! Just depends on your preferred French toast texture.

How to store leftover French toast

Keep the red velvet French toast and cream cheese icing separate. Transfer leftovers to airtight containers and store them in the fridge. The French toast will last 5-7 days, and the cream cheese icing will last 3 days. You can freeze the French toast for up to 2 months. I don’t recommend freezing the icing. It’s best fresh!

How to reheat French toast

The easiest way to reheat leftover slices is to just pop them into the toaster and heat until warmed through. Voila! It’s so easy.

You can also reheat in the oven. Preheat the oven to 400F and place your slices on a baking sheet. Bake for 3-5 minutes, or until toasty and warmed through.

Who else loves breakfast? Give these recipes a try:

• Sweet Potato Breakfast Hash
• Ham and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
• Morning Glory Muffins
• The Best Banana Bread
• No Bake Oatmeal Energy Balls

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