Recipe: Crème Brûlée Fancy French Toast Sticks

Crème Brûlée Fancy French Toast Sticks

Happy & Healthy Cooking,

Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills

• fry :

  to fry in a pan in a small amount of fat.

• measure :

  to calculate the specific amount of an ingredient required using a measuring tool (like measuring cups or spoons).

• slice :

  to cut into thin pieces using a sawing motion with your knife.

• whisk :

  to beat or stir ingredients vigorously with a fork or whisk to mix, blend, or incorporate air.

History of Custard!

• Custards baked in pastry were popular during the Middle Ages. The word "custard" comes from the late Middle English "custarde and "crustarde," indicating a pie with a sauce made from eggs and milk, from the Old French "cruste" (crust).
• Today, custard is a dessert, not necessarily with a crust, or it may be a sweet sauce. Custard is made with eggs, milk, and sugar, with varying consistencies. 
• When custard is a thin pouring sauce, it is called "crème anglaise." It is a base for or is poured over cake, fruit, or meringue (floating island). 
• Eggnog is a type of custard you can drink. It is served primarily during the Christmas season.
• It can also be a thick mixture called "crème pâtissière" or "pastry cream." It is often used in pastries made with "pâte à choux," a dough that puffs when baked and creates a hollow area in the center that can be filled with pastry cream. These include cream puffs and éclairs. Pastry cream is also used in cakes (Boston cream pie), doughnuts, fruit tarts, and a French puff pastry dessert called "mille-feuille." 
• Sweet custard can also become several similar desserts, including crème brûlée, crème caramel, and flan. Custard is also added to a particularly British dessert, the "trifle."
• Frozen custard is similar to ice cream except for one additional ingredient. Ice cream is generally made with milk, cream, and a sweetener, usually sugar. Frozen custard consists of those same ingredients and egg yolks, making it richer and thicker than ice cream.

Let's Learn About France!

• Bonjour (hello)! Bienvenue en (welcome to) France and the spectacular Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, and ancient Roman ruins in the Provence region.
• France is a European country, and its official name is the French Republic. The capital city is Paris, which also has the most people. 
• France's land area is 248,573 square miles. That is almost the size of the US state of Texas! The number of people in France is 67,874,000, about 43 percent more than in Texas.
• The official and national language is French, which is also the official language in 12 other countries, and a co-official language in 16 countries, including Canada. 
• France's government consists of a president, a prime minister, and a parliament and is divided into regions and departments rather than states and counties.
• The French have a well-known motto, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."
• In addition to the Eiffel Tower, France is known for the Louvre, the most visited art museum worldwide (the Mona Lisa resides there), the Notre-Dame Cathedral, and the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur) in southeastern France on the Mediterranean coast.
• France is famous for the "beaux-arts" (fine arts). Paris is still home to many artists and great painters, artisans, and sculptors. Great literature came from French authors, such as Victor Hugo's novels Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
• Paris has two popular nicknames. The most common is "The City of Light" (La Ville Lumière), which came about because Paris was the first European city to implement street lighting in 1860, lighting up the city with 56,000 gas street lamps. The second is "The City of Love," (La Ville de L'amour). This name is probably due to Paris being considered one of the most romantic cities in the world and the high number of marriage proposals at the Eiffel Tower!
• French cuisine is known for its freshness and high quality. Many of the world's greatest pastries originated in France, such as the croissant, eclair, and macaron!
• Other French foods are escargot (snails!), baguette (bread), ratatouille (roasted tomato, zucchini, and eggplant—remember the movie?!), and crepes (very thin pancakes).

What's It Like to Be a Kid in France?

• Most kids start school (preschool) at around age three. Depending on the area and the school, students go to school 4 to 5 days a week. They often get a 1½-hour lunch break, and some kids go home for lunch. 
• Dinner is served at 7:30 pm or later, so afternoon snacks are essential. "Le goûter" (goo-tay), or afternoon tea, often includes a "tartine," a slice of bread topped with something sweet or savory (like cheese, butter and jam, or Nutella). Other popular snacks are yogurt, fromage blanc (white cheese), and fruit. 
• Popular sports for kids are soccer, bicycling, and tennis.
• There are several parks in France, in and around Paris. Napoleon III even designed one of them, the Bois de Boulogne, where you can find beautiful gardens, lakes, a zoo, an amusement park, and two horse racing tracks. In addition, kids can go on pony rides, play mini-golf, and race remote control boats at many public parks.  
• Of course, kids can also go to the most popular theme park in Europe, Disneyland Paris, which opened in 1992. While there, kids can go on a ride unique to Disneyland Paris: Ratatouille: The Adventure!