Description
This French toast casserole is ooey, gooey delicious, bursting with fresh lemon and sweet blueberries and a crunchy crumb topping - perfect with warm blueberry sauce!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
French Toast Casserole
- 6 cups cubed, white bread (about half/third of a bread, 210 grams)
- 5 1/2 oz softened cream cheese (160 grams)
- 1-2 tablespoons powdered sugar (to taste)
- 2 + 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract (divided)
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup milk (250 milliliters)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream (60 milliliters, or more milk)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 cup brown sugar (100 grams)
- 1 lemon, zest only
- handful blueberries, or blackberries (60 grams)
Topping
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 1/4 cup flour (30 grams)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
- 1/4 cup butter, cold and cubed (60 grams)
Blueberry Sauce
- 1 cup granulated sugar (200 grams)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (15 grams)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (60 milliliters, about 1 lemon)
- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (or blackberries, 150 grams)
Instructions
- Take a day old stale loaf, cut the bread in thick slices and each slice into around 12 cubes. Grease a baking pan with butter or non-stick cooking spray. The minimum size that can work is an 8 inch (20 centimeters) round pie pan. You can also go bigger, for example 11x7 inch (28x18 centimeters) or 8-inch (20 centimeters) square pans, bake time will be the same.
- Mix softened cream cheese with a spoon (or mixer if you want), until soft and add in the powdered sugar and 1/4 tsp vanilla, about a minute. Drop random spoonfuls of cream cheese over the bread. Place a few blueberries or blackberries evenly over the bread, and layer the remaining bread cubes on top. Add more cream cheese and blueberries on top.. Set aside.
- Whisk milk, eggs, cinnamon, brown sugar and the remaining vanilla together, until no more brown sugar lumps. Pour over the bread, and sprinkle with the lemon zest. Cover the pan with a plastic wrap and chill for 3+ hours, preferably overnight.
- Preheat oven to 350F° (175C°).
- Make the crumb topping: Whisk granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon and cardamom in a small bowl. Add in small cubes of cold butter and cut it with a pastry blender or two forks, until the butter is roughly pea-sized. Remove the pan from the refrigerator and sprinkle the butter mixture on top of the soaked bread.
- Bake uncovered for around 50-60 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.
- Meanwhile this is baking, make the blueberry sauce. Combine all the ingredients and bring it up to a simmer. Stir often, until it thickens, about 10 minutes.
- Serve the warm French toast casserole with warm blueberry sauce.
Notes
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction
Leftovers: You can store leftovers in the fridge for a couple of days, I had mine for three days and it tasted just as good the third day! To re-heat, add the casserole to a 300F° (150C°) oven for about 10-15 minutes.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Inactive Time: 0 hours
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/10
- Calories: 393
- Sugar: 41
- Sodium: 248
- Fat: 16
- Saturated Fat: 9
- Unsaturated Fat: 6
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 58
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 7
- Cholesterol: 111