Baked French Toast-- Breakfast for Dinner

One of my most favorite things to have for supper is breakfast. I’m not really a morning person AT ALL. We have a rule at my house about how far down Mommy’s coffee has to get before you’re allowed to ask her any questions. So if you’re coming to my house expecting some really great country breakfast, don’t say you haven’t been warned—‘cause it ain’t happening. Or, you might try talking to DandeDave. He loves breakfast at any time of the day, and you might convince him to make you some. The other thing about breakfast in the morning is that even if someone else, aka DandeDave, makes it, I’m really too disagreeable to appreciate it before about 10 AM. Breakfast for supper is the perfect solution for me, because I’m awake enough to appreciate it, I don’t mind fussing over fixing it, and for some reason, in my mind it’s the ultimate comfort food.

I had the most wonderful “baked” French toast at a place called “The Corner Bakery” in Washington, DC a couple of weeks ago. The recipe that follows is my recreation—basically it’s a bread pudding with French toast flavors. The beauty of this is that you can assemble it ahead the night before and keep it in the refrigerator overnight to bake the next morning for breakfast. Also, you don’t have to stand and fry 1,000 slices of bread. We always have a couple of slices leftover, and it’s just as good reheated in the microwave. I served it with scrambled eggs, bacon, berries, and a dollop of Greek yogurt. It was so easy I might even be persuaded to actually make it for you for breakfast should you ever visit Casa Dandelion as an overnight guest…

Baked French Toast

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf of slightly stale French, Sweet Italian Bread or Brioche, cut into large cubes (about 1.5 inches)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon, divided
• 3 eggs
• 4 cups of milk or 3 cups of milk plus 1 cup of half and half (results in a richer custard)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• ¼ cup sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a spring-form pan or large round casserole.
2. Whisk the eggs in a medium bowl until lightly beaten. Add the milk, vanilla, and sugar. Whisk until well combined.
3. Line the bottom of the spring-form or casserole with about half of the bread cubes. Don’t be shy about really smooshing them in there to fill in all the spaces. Sprinkle 1 tsp. of cinnamon evenly over the bread. Put the remaining bread on top of the first layer and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp. of cinnamon.
4. Pour the custard mixture over the bread. Press down lightly on the bread on the top layer to make sure all of the bread gets soaked in the custard. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight to allow the bread to absorb as much of the custard as possible.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 35-45 minutes, until the bread puffs up in the pan and a knife or toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. The top layer of bread should be lightly browned. Serve hot with maple syrup and fruit.

Tip: the more dried out the bread you use, the better it will absorb the custard. I usually cut the bread into cubes and leave it sitting out on the counter for a couple of hours to dry out before I mix up the custard.