Save A Dry Cake By Turning Slices Into Decadent Dessert French Toast

Despite our best baking efforts, sometimes the epically moist and fluffy cake we were dreaming of turns out Sahara dry instead. But rather than attempting to revive it with the tears of our disappointment or drowning it in simple syrup, there's another way to save that dry cake from its inevitable meeting with the dumpster: Turn it into a decadent dessert French toast. Not only is this clever hack great for sidestepping food waste when your baking recipe goes awry (not to mention recouping funds for ingredients), but it works just as well for salvaging stale cake that's a few days past its prime. 

We've all been there — it's been days since the party. Technically, the cake hasn't gone "bad," but it's so dry now that it certainly can't be considered "good," either. But serve it to someone after it's been French toast-i-fied, and they'll be none the wiser. This trick works especially well on cakes that have a higher tendency to dry out such as vanilla birthday cake, dark chocolate cake, or classic red velvet, transforming them into a supremely decadent dessert to be savored.

Making dessert French toast is almost as easy as making regular French toast. Since the cake is substituting for bread, you'll want to make sure it's cut into similar slices of roughly the same thickness (too slim and it will break, too wide, and your French toast-to-cake ratio will be off).

Of course, you'll still need to have your custardy mixture of eggs, milk, sugar, and spices for dipping, though you may want to adjust the amount of sugar or spices you typically use depending on the flavor and richness of the cake. The main difference comes with soaking the cake in the mixture. Even though it's stale, too much time in the batter will cause your cake to crumble into a gloppy mess. So a quick dip is best. Then just cook it in a buttered pan as usual or to avoid the flipping, bake it in the oven.

Finish with a dusting of powdered sugar, a drizzle of syrup, or a dollop of ice cream for a cool and creamy contrast. You'll never throw out a piece of stale cake again.