Stuffed French Toast

Serves 8-10

For the French Toast

  • 6 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups half and half
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, cold
  • 2 cups fruit preserve, or cooked fruit (I use canned apple pie filling)
  • 1 loaf day old bread

For the Topping

  • 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
  • 2 Tablespoons dark corn syrup
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • sweetened whipped cream, optional

Directions

Prepare a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with butter or non-stick spray. Slice your bread. You can use any firm textured white bread you like. This year I used my honey-oat bread, but I have used many different store-bought breads in the past. You'll want your bread to be a little stale so that it will absorb the custard well. Line the bottom of your pan with slices of the bread, cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Next, add dollops of the cold cream cheese all over the bread. Use the whole 8 ounces of the cream cheese. Then spread the fruit evenly over the bread slices.

Add a second layer of bread, cutting the bread to fit your pan.

Beat together the eggs, half and half, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour the mixture over the bread in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Mix together the 2 Tablespoons of dark corn syrup, brown sugar, and pecans for the topping. In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and take the pan with the bread out of the refrigerator to warm for about 30 minutes. In that time, melt the butter and mix with the other topping ingredients. Spread the topping evenly over the bread in the pan.

Bake about 40 minutes, or until set in the middle. Your stuffed French toast will puff up and may spill over, so you might want to set it on a baking sheet in your oven. Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest. You'll want to let it rest at least 15 minutes, but it can rest for 30 minutes or more. I think it is best when it is not piping hot.

Serve warm with sweetened whipped cream. I told you, this is decadent.