Baked Berry French Toast

 

Bring on the breakfast carbs!

I haven’t posted too many sweet breakfast dishes-well, because I think I have told you before that I always go for the savory.  But, I’m dabbling into dangerous territory.  This is a world that I am hesitant to enter (just like the pasta world)….for fear that I may never come back to sanity.   But, these dishes always look so fantastic and welcoming….just daring me to cross over to the “sweet” side-this time, I dove head-first, carelessly and spontaneously, into the world of all things delicious: Baked French Toast.

Ok.  So I am exaggerating now.  Breakfast sweets are not that bad.  They are wonderful.  I met my girlfriends out for brunch a few weekends ago, and one of them got a nice spread of waffles.  Since then, I had visions of glazed pecans and sweet fruit on bread dancing in my mind.  This recipe satisfied all cravings and has since eradicated all neurotic visions of dancing bread.  🙂

So let me tell you about this recipe.  Buttery sweet glazed pecans.  Ripe, juicy, warm blueberries and raspberries under a sprinkling of sifted powdered sugar.  Thick bread with a sweetened vanilla sauce. Absolutely no need for syrup.

Bring it.

Baked Berry French Toast

Servings: 6

Ingredients

One large baguette (I used a Vienna-style baguette from my local grocery store), and I only used about half, sliced

6 large eggs

3 cups whole milk

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup pecans

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup blueberries

1 cup raspberries

 

 

Instructions

1. Lightly butter a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.

2. Place the bread slices evenly in one layer on the bottom of the dish.

3. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, nutmeg, vanilla, and 3/4 cups of the brown sugar.

4. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread, making sure to completely coat the surfaces.

5. Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and chill for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

7. Place the pecans on a baking sheet and toast until golden brown and toasted, about 8 minutes.

8.  Remove the pecans from the oven, and add 1 teaspoon of butter and the salt to the pan.  Using a spatula, toss to coat the pecans.

9. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.

10. Sprinkle the pecans and blueberries/raspberries evenly over the bread.

11. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the remaining 1/4-cup of brown sugar and 1/2 stick of butter until the butter is melted.

12.  Drizzle the butter/brown sugar mixture over the bread.

13.  Bake the bread mixture for 20 minutes, until liquid is bubbling and the bread is lightly golden.

Source: Adapted from Gourmet, June 1999 via Epicurious.

March 18, 2011 - 11:50 am

Lauren at Keep It Sweet - I am all for the sweeter breakfasts so I love this!

March 18, 2011 - 12:55 pm

Josie - Oh YUM! I think I need this this weekend!

March 18, 2011 - 1:06 pm

sucre en poudre - looks delicious!
iza:)

March 18, 2011 - 7:29 pm

sally - Yum! Now I’m ready to bring on the breakfast carbs in my house too!

March 18, 2011 - 8:35 pm

Happy When Not Hungry - This looks amazing! Love the fresh fruit and the carbs of course 🙂

March 18, 2011 - 10:26 pm

Annie - Yummy! This looks beautiful and so delicious. And Andrew would love it!

March 18, 2011 - 10:51 pm

Christina @ This Woman Cooks! - So pretty and delicious! I love sweet breakfasts!

March 19, 2011 - 12:21 am

Jenn (Cookies Cupcakes Cardio) - Yum! I can’t wait to make this. I adore french toast..especially baked! There’s something about the soaked bread 🙂

March 20, 2011 - 2:59 pm

kateiscooking - WOW – that looks incredible, Shanon!!!

March 20, 2011 - 7:34 pm

Muppy - I love the idea of baking French toast, I am definitely on the sweet side and this looks like a perfect breakfast 🙂

March 21, 2011 - 12:09 am

Julie - The berries add a punch of antioxidants! Perfect for Sunday Brunch!

March 22, 2011 - 11:36 am

Rachel - My family makes this for holiday brunches with the addition of dollops of cream cheese on top before baking! We’ve never used a baguette before though; I’m sure that would amplify the texture wonderfully

March 22, 2011 - 7:42 pm

Food Frenzy - Mmm…these look wonderful. I like berries and nuts over chocolate.

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March 23, 2011 - 9:32 am

Katie - This looks so delicious! One question though…Your recipe says that it serves 6…how many slices are a serving? I am asking because I just lined my dish with 6 slices of bread but the egg and milk mixture looks like wayyyy too much for 6 slices.

March 23, 2011 - 12:19 pm

srlacy - Hi Katie- I ended up with six servings, but I used larger slices of bread-one slice for each person. If you use a small baguette, it would probably be about 2 slices per person. I ended up using all of my egg mixture (it looked like a lot to me, too), and it soaked up just fine. Use your judgement here-maybe our pans vary in depth and slightly in size.

April 17, 2011 - 10:54 am

Natasha - luv the idea ….gonna try it. I made baked FRENCH TOAST once with dried apricots and dried figs without the sauce try that too