Eat Sweet

French Toast

If you are totally focused on and possibly a little stressed about your Thanksgiving feast, the last thing you want to think about is making breakfast for your house full of guests. Try tossing together a baked french toast. It can be made a day in advance and baked in the morning while you prep the bird. It could also be baked in the toaster oven. I like to use an oval ceramic dish to bake and serve my french toast. A 9" x 13" cake pan or Pyrex dish would work just as well.

Baked French Toast

• 350 degrees F
• 1 loaf challah* bread – sliced into 1" thick slices
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 6 eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 pinch salt
• 5 Tbsp softened butter
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 ¼ tsp cinnamon

1. Combine 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp granulated sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
2. Smear softened butter in the bottom of your baking dish.
3. Sprinkle cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly over butter. This will keep your french toast from sticking to the bottom of dish, and it will keep it from drying out as it bakes.
4. Whisk together cream, milk, eggs, yolks, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a shallow bowl.
5. Dip slices of bread into the custard and then arrange slices "standing up" in baking dish. Overlap slices slightly, staggering each row. Allow bread to soak up custard, but don’t leave it in the custard for too long as it may fall apart.
6. Continue layering slices in dish until it is full. If bread has any dry spots, pour remaining custard over slices.
7. Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.
8. In the morning, remove plastic wrap and place french toast in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes or until slices are still moist, but not soggy.
9. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with syrup and fresh fruit.

Treat your holiday guests to a warm and comforting breakfast. With a little bit of preparation, you can have a beautiful and delicious meal for them as you slave away on the feast that is to come. Don’t skip the buttery cinnamon sugar on the bottom of your pan. It adds tons of flavor and makes serving out of your baking dish a breeze. It’s the holidays! Diet in January.