Honey Butter Toast Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes
Makes 4 slices of honey butter toast
Ingredients Needed
- 400g/14oz loaf of brioche, sliced into four 4cm/1.6inch thick slices
- 90g/3.2ozs butter
- 1/4 cup/55g/2ozs light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons/40g honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
For topping - 375g/13ozs full fat ricotta cheese - 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste - Salted caramel sauce
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 190C/374F conventional or 170C/338F fan forced. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat on low-medium heat until it becomes foamy and starts to smell nutty and the butter becomes a caramel colour. Strain. Then combine the melted browned butter, brown sugar, honey, vanilla and salt in a bowl and stir a little. It won't emulsify but stir for 10 seconds.
Step 2 - Place in the fridge for 10 minutes where the butter around the edge will start to firm up. Give the mixture a good stir and this will come together to form a soft, compound butter that is very spreadable. If you are using plain softened butter and not browned you can skip the step of refrigeration.
Step 3 - Meanwhile while the butter is chilling, cut the crusts off the brioche and place the bread on a sheet of parchment. Then butter all of the sides of the brioche with the compound butter including the sides using an angled spatula or knife.
Step 4 - Bake for 10 minutes, then using a turner gently flip the bread over - it will be very soft. Bake for another 8 minutes. Allow to cool for 15-20 minutes. Once it is cooled it will harden up to form a hard, caramelised crust.
Step 5 - While the toast is cooling, add the ricotta and vanilla to a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk on the highest speed until you get a whipped cream, pipeable consistency. Top the cooled toast with the whipped ricotta and make a divot in the cream. Pour in some caramel syrup.
Personal Note
I can't believe how quick and fun this is to make and it really tastes like you bought it from a bakery! People queue up for the honey butter toast and honestly it feels like you've managed a little win. I love those sorts of recipes.
Speaking of getting a little win, a friend of mine told me about how she gets little wins. She has this little trick every time she books a restaurant. She tells them that it's for a birthday. She mainly does this so that she can get a good table as she often brings people from overseas to this restaurant so she wants them to have a nice table but I have never really thought of doing that before.
But the last time she did it they not only gave her a good table but brought out cake and sparklers and sung "Happy Birthday". She was almost caught out as she looked around and wondered who was having the birthday before realising that it was her "birthday"!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever say that it is a birthday when you book a table at a restaurant? How do you get your little wins? Have you ever tried Honey Butter Toast?