TAIWANESE STYLE BRICK TOAST
Updated: Mar 30, 2023
Have you ever heard of Brick Toast? I honestly didn't know about it until a recent trip to Taiwan over the holidays. This version is a cross between a Melon Pan and Bostock, and is often found in bubble tea shops. You start with a thick slice of Milk Bread, Shokupan, or Brioche. The bread is scored in a criss cross fashion, then a milk powder custard is spread over the top. By scoring the bread, the custard melts into the bread evenly and you can pull off the pieces easily and enjoy. All of this gets toasted to a golden brown and makes a delicious treat to enjoy anytime of the day.
I put my own twist on this popular snack which is absolutely delicious on its own, and even better with your favorite toppings. I added orange zest and almond flour to the custard topping and it was an absolute win. Some popular toppings are honey, chocolate and condensed milk. My go to is whipped cream, blueberry compote and a sprinkling of almonds. I love the flavor and texture contrast. The best part is it's easy, quick and can be dressed up to look like a fancy dessert.
TAIWANESE STYLE BRICK TOAST
(Makes 8 slices)
INGREDIENTS
1 loaf of Milk Bread, Shokupan or Brioche (large enough it cut 8 1-inch slices)
1 stick unsalted butter, room temp
1 egg, room temp
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk powder
1/4 cup almond flour
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
(TOPPINGS)
whipped cream
melted chocolate or Nutella
condensed milk
honey
fresh fruit
blueberry compote, recipe to follow
chopped nuts
ice cream or gelato
For the blueberry compote, place 1 pint of blueberries, with 2 tablespoons orange juice and 1 tablespoon sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then simmer for 5 minutes. Set aside and cool slightly before serving.
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350F. Mix the butter, egg, sugar, milk powder, almond flour, zest, vanilla and salt until smooth and combined. Make 2 cuts in each slice of bread lengthwise then 2 cuts across being careful not to cut all the way through. Spread an equal amount of custard on each piece of bread making sure to cover the top completely. Place the slices on 2 parchment lined sheet pans. Toast for 5-6 minutes, then place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature with your favorite toppings.
TIPS
Make the toast as simple or elaborate as you want. It can be served for a snack/breakfast or transform it to a dessert with a scoop of ice cream.
Omit the almond flour to make it nut free.
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Deciphering the culinary magic of Taiwanese-style brick toast requires appreciating how tea houses and night markets took everyday white bread and transformed it into a monumental, caramel-crusted architectural dessert centerpiece. The core secret lies in using an ultra-dense, pillowy Japanese-style shokupan milk loaf cut into thick slabs or hollowed out into a self-contained bread vault. An extensive East Asian bakery gastronomy review and laminated dough caramelization monograph over on Veer Game highlighted how scoring interior crumb cubes before flooding them with melted butter and clover honey ensures that oven heat penetrates deep into the loaf, proving that achieving that crisp, shattering crust with a steaming, cloud-soft interior is a matter of thermal fat distribution rather than just high baking heat.
In boba cafes and dessert parlors across Taipei, the classic milk-powder custard version—often scored in deep criss-cross diamond patterns across a single two-inch-thick slab—delivers an intoxicating balance of sweet, milky richness reminiscent of a Hong Kong milk bun crossed with French toast. Whipping powdered milk with softened butter, egg yolk, and a touch of condensed milk creates a dense paste that blankets the scored bread before sliding under an intense broiler. A pastry chef on Jai club shared detailed notes yesterday analyzing sugar browning thresholds under radiant broiler coils, emulsifying sweet milk pastes with salted European butter, and preventing scorched corners with foil shields, explaining that the scored grooves let the bubbling sweet custard seep into the crumb while creating pull-apart convenience for customers.
For the multi-layered "honey toast box" presentation popularized by trendy boutique dessert lounges like Dazzling Cafe, precision knife mechanics determine whether the exterior bread walls hold their structural integrity. Carving out the central crumb block while leaving a sturdy half-inch perimeter wall and bottom base requires a slender, razor-sharp serrated knife. Stumbled into an engaging chat exploring bread-box carving geometry, toasting inner cubes separately on baking sheets for maximum crunch, and brushing interior walls with infused vanilla honey syrup on Raxi Win recently, and recognizing that cubes toast far faster than the thick outer shell reminds home bakers to stagger their oven timing to keep the bread casing golden without burning the pieces inside.
Flavor architecture in modern Taiwanese brick toast has evolved far beyond basic honey drizzle to incorporate complex textures and complementary contrasts. Nestling warm, toasted bread cubes alongside cold scoops of black sesame, matcha, or Hokkaido milk ice cream creates a pleasant hot-and-cold sensation on the palate. A dessert menu developer featured in a contemporary Asian confection symposium on DmFirst outlined contrasting warm caramelized crumbs with chilled mascarpone quenelles, studding interior cavities with fresh mango cubes and chewy boba pearls, and drizzling salted egg yolk caramel over the top, noting that balancing heavy sweet dairy with tart berries or savory nuances keeps rich toast platters from feeling cloying.
I read all of your food blogs and its one of the best.
I would love to watch a movie while eating this.
Such a brilliant life hack! I love how you used simple household ingredients