This Crowd-Friendly Brunch Recipe Is Even Better than French Toast

I am not very adventurous when it comes to breakfast choices. A slice of toast with almond butter or a cup of yogurt is pretty much the extent of my culinary endeavors in the pre-8 a.m. hours. And brunch? Not much adventure there, either. Besides, fancy brunch options always take loads of time, and are not really realistic choices for everyday eats. Or are they?

Cut to me the other week, scrolling around Instagram while finishing yet another slice of boring ol’ toast. It was then that I came across a highly creative way to use my two favorite brekkie staples: store-bought yogurt (which gets turned into homemade custard) and toast (which gets baked with the yogurt custard)! The recipe was by the account @sweatspace, aka Mike Martin; if you know anything about this account, it’s filled with easy-yet-luxe-looking breakfast recipes. He’s also on TikTok with the same username, and has over 4.1M likes on his content.

Get the recipe: Mixed Berry Custard Yoast

In Martin’s yoast video, he uses a spoon to press a well into the center of a slice of bread. Then he combines a 4-ounce cup of Icelandic-style yogurt (Siggi’s Mixed Berries and Açaí) with a beaten egg and vanilla extract, and pours the mixture into the created well. After garnishing it with berries, he pops it into the air fryer on the “bake” setting. Ten minutes later, a golden-edged toast filled with smooth and silky custard is revealed. To finish, he drizzles the yoast with a spoonful of truffle honey. 

I was so curious about this method. In culinary school, the technique I learned for making custard definitely did not involve yogurt. But the more I got to thinking about it, the more I liked the idea. After all, custard is made from eggs, milk, cream, and sugar. And yogurt is primarily milk and sugar (Icelandic-style yogurt tends to be creamier and less tart than other types of strained yogurt).

Because I don’t have an air fryer, I was grateful that Martin also included instructions for a conventional oven (10 to 12 minutes at 350˚F). I grabbed a loaf of sourdough bread, which he noted in a comment is his favorite, and got to cooking. 

Make. This. Immediately. I was blown away by how delicious this combination of flavors turned out to be. And the texture? *Chef’s kiss.* I only strayed from Martin’s original recipe with the honey drizzle; I couldn’t find truffle honey, so I used regular honey. But other than that, I stayed true to the instructions and was rewarded with the best brunch I’ve had in ages.

That said, it wasn’t a perfect recipe. The custard mix yield was way too much for a single piece of bread. And a little bit of the custard dribbled out of the toast during baking, too.  

Some commenters on the video expressed frustration that their custard curdled while cooking. As Martin pointed out to the grumblers, this is a common issue with overcooked custard. On the IG post, another commenter suggested pre-toasting the bread, so you can get perfectly golden-brown edges without curdling the custard.

Overall, this was a stellar recipe, and one I will be making again. I especially love that it gives me an excuse to buy more Icelandic-style yogurt.

1. Plan on serving a crowd. Don’t stop at one piece of yoast. When I made this recipe, I found a cup of yogurt and one egg makes enough custard for up to four pieces of yoast. As I see it, this gives you an excuse to host brunch, or cook for your family. Hint: Use a quarter sheet tray for 1 to 2 servings, and a full-sized sheet pan for a crowd. 
2. Use a low-fat or full-fat flavor. The flavor that Martin uses for his yoast is Mixed Berries and Açaí, which is part of Siggi’s nonfat line. Custard generally performs better with fat (that’s why whole milk and cream are used in the traditional French recipes). I also tested out the recipe with the 4 percent fat Mixed Berries flavor, and found it to be creamier and richer. I didn’t try this with any other style of yogurt, like Greek, and I don’t see a reason to. My hunch is that the strained, thick texture of Icelandic-style yogurt is what works so well.
3. Pre-toast your bread if you don’t have an air fryer. If you’re lucky enough to own an air fryer, follow the recipe as written — that toast will be crunchy and delicious. But the more moderate heat of an oven at 350˚F means that the toast will still be a bit soft by the time the custard is perfectly cooked. If you like a darker, harder toast, pop it in your toast for a brief period before compressing the middle and adding the custard. Then follow the rest of the steps for your perfect yoast.