Ingredients

French toast

• 8 thick slices brioche (about 320 g)a day or two old, or dried in a low oven, so it soaks without collapsing
• 3 large eggs
• 180 ml whole milk
• 60 ml double cream
• 25 g light brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 25 g unsalted butter

Caramelised apples

• 3 crisp eating apples (about 450 g before peeling and coring)Braeburn, Gala or Pink Lady; a Bramley turns to sauce
• 35 g unsalted butter
• 45 g dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Maple-brown butter sauce

• 40 g unsalted butter
• 80 ml pure maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp flaky sea salt

Method

1. 01

   Prepare the apples

   Peel and core the apples and cut them into wedges about 8 mm thick. Peeled is what you want here. The skin stays chewy against soft, just-set brioche, and the wedges go glossier without it. Keep them thick: thin slices collapse into sauce before they caramelise.

   3 crisp eating apples (about 450 g before peeling and coring)

   Do not crowd the apple panOverlapping wedges release water and stew instead of caramelising. Widest pan, or two batches.

2. 02

   Caramelise them slowly

   Melt the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat until it foams. Add the apples in a single layer and leave them for 3-4 minutes without stirring, until the undersides are golden. Add the dark brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and the pinch of salt, and cook for a further 5-7 minutes, turning gently only twice, until the syrup is glossy and clings to the fruit and a knife tip meets slight resistance. Take off the heat and stir in the lemon juice.

   35 g unsalted butter · 45 g dark brown sugar · 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon · 1/8 tsp nutmeg · 1 tsp lemon juice

   Moderate heat, alwaysDark at two minutes means the pan is too hot and the middle will be wet.

3. 03

   Make the maple brown butter

   Use a clean small saucepan for this. The caramelised sugar left in the apple pan would scorch. Melt the butter over medium heat, swirling, for 3-5 minutes: it will foam, quieten, and the milk solids on the base will turn hazelnut brown and smell nutty. Take it off the heat immediately and stir in the maple syrup and the pinch of sea salt. It thickens as it stands, so warm it through briefly before serving.

   40 g unsalted butter · 80 ml pure maple syrup

   Warm the sauce, never boilThirty seconds is enough. Boiled maple turns grainy.

4. 04

   Mix the egg mixture

   In a wide shallow dish, whisk the eggs, milk, cream, light brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt until completely smooth, with no streaks of egg white left.

   3 large eggs · 180 ml whole milk · 60 ml double cream · 25 g light brown sugar · 1 tsp vanilla · 1 tsp cinnamon · 1/4 tsp fine salt

5. 05

   Soak the brioche briefly

   Dip each of the 8 brioche slices for 15-20 seconds a side. Long enough to soak through the crumb but not so long that the slice sags when you lift it. Brioche is already rich and absorbs fast.

   8 thick slices brioche (about 320 g)

6. 06

   Fry until deeply golden

   Melt a knob of the 25 g butter in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat and cook the slices in batches, about 3 minutes a side, until deeply golden and firm in the centre when pressed. Keep cooked slices on a rack in a low oven rather than stacked on a plate, which traps steam and softens the crust.

   25 g unsalted butter

7. 07

   Serve

   Plate the French toast, spoon the warm apples and their syrup over the top and pour the maple brown butter over at the table while it is still warm and pourable.