Pain Perdu: Classic French Toast vs Kirschmichel (Baked Cherry Pudding)

Both dishes soak bread in a sweet custard of eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla, but they take it in opposite directions. Pain Perdu gives thick brioche slices a brief soak, then pan-fries them in foaming butter until golden and lightly crisp, finished simply with powdered sugar and perhaps a drizzle of maple syrup. Kirschmichel lets stale bread cubes absorb a richer, cinnamon-spiced custard enriched with melted butter, layers them around tart sugared sour cherries and bakes everything until tender and set beneath a golden top. One is quick and buttery; the other is a fruity, warmly spiced bake.