Pain Perdu: Classic French Toast vs Battenberg Cake

Both desserts lean on butter, eggs, milk and sugar, but they put them to very different work. In Pain Perdu, eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla become a custard soaked into stale brioche, which is then pan-fried in foaming butter until golden and lightly crisp outside and tender within, finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. Battenberg Cake creams butter and sugar into a golden, springy sponge, with only a splash of milk, then layers pink and plain strips with apricot jam and wraps them in sweet marzipan.