Don Draper likes his french toast the way he likes himself - drenched in booze. An over-proofed brioche, a cabin in the woods, two accidental audio glitches, and a whole lot of dark rum are at the center of this week's revisiting of Madison Avenue's frequent clashes of food and alcohol. Enjoy with a Lucky Strike.

 

Ingredients

French toast

  • 1 packet yeast
  • ⅓ cup of warm whole milk
  • 3 ½ cups of flour
  • 1 egg
  • ⅓ cup of sugar
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 eggs lightly beaten
  • 1 ½ sticks of unsalted butter
  • 1 beaten egg
  • Powdered sugar
  • Canola oil
  • 1 Tbsp butter

Rum maple syrup

  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • ¼ cup dark rum
  • ¼ cup of heavy cream

 

Rum whipped cream

  • Heavy cream
  • Sugar
  • Vanilla
  • Rum

 

 

Custard

  • 3 eggs
  • ½ cup of heavy cream
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¼ tsp of nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp of cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp of vanilla
  • 3 Tbsp sugar
  • Splash of dark rum

 

Method

  1. Dissolve 1 packet of yeast in ⅓ cup of warm whole milk. Add 1 cup of flour and 1 egg. Use wooden spoon to mix until a shaggy dough forms, and then add another cup of flour.
  2. Let mixture rest at room temperature for 30-45 minutes before adding ⅓ cup of sugar, 2 tsp kosher salt, and 4 more lightly beaten eggs.
  3. Stir that until it just comes together. Add another cup of flour and continue stirring until a shaggy dough forms and the wooden spoon isn’t useful anymore, in which case, you have to use your hands to mix the dough.
  4. Add the final ½ cup of flour once the mixture becomes homogeneous and knead for 10 minutes straight until a smooth silky ball of dough forms.
  5. Turn dough out onto a work surface, cut in half, and set aside 1 half and flatten the other so we can fill it with 1 ½ sticks (12 Tbsp) of unsalted butter. Roll it around itself and knead it until it becomes an evenly incorporated but also sticky mess. Add the other half of the dough to the sticky mixture and knead for about 10 minutes until it stops sticking the the countertop.
  6. Butter a large bowl and place dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and store in a warm place for 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
  7. After the dough has risen, gently deflate it by pulling the edges of the dough in towards the center around the circumference of the dough. Cover again with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4-6 hours or overnight.
  8. Divide the dough into 18 evenly sized balls and place in a loaf pan that is buttered and lined in parchment paper. Make sure the pan is evenly filled and loosely wrap and place in a warm spot for 2-3 hours.
  9. Brush dough with a final beaten egg, and bake at 375° for 30-40 minutes until the internal temperature is 200°.
  10. Slice up the bread and place a few slices in the oven, on a baking sheet, for 30-40 minutes.
  11. Remove from oven and places slices in the custard mixture (recipe below). Make sure they are evenly coated and start cooking them in a skillet that is hot and lined with 1 Tbsp each butter and canola oil.
  12. Place maple syrup and rum whipped cream on top and enjoy!

For custard:

  1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and use that to coat the bread.

For rum whipped cream:

  1. Place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with a hand mixer until it becomes whipped cream.

For rum maple syrup:

  1. Add ½ cup maple syrup to a pot along with 1 tbsp of butter and ¼ cup of dark rum.
  2. Simmer until reduced and syrupy.