French toast casserole
Serves 6
Easy
Prep:
Cook:
plus soaking
Try this make-ahead breakfast for a special occasion, and adapt it to your taste by adding chocolate chips, frozen raspberries or chocolate spread
Skip to ingredients
- 20g salted buttersoftened
- 7 tbsp light brown soft sugar
- 450g baguettecut into 4cm pieces (about 3 small baguettes)
- 400ml whole milk
- 250ml double cream
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ orangezested
- ½ whole nutmeggrated
- 3 egg yolks(freeze the whites to use in another recipe)
- ½ tsp cornflour
- 50g pecansroughly chopped (optional)
- maple syrup, crispy bacon or mixed berriesto serve
Nutrition: Per serving
- kcal594
- fat31g
- saturates18g
- carbs65g
- sugars29g
- fibre3g
- protein11g
- salt0.86g
Method
step 1
Brush the butter over a 30cm ovenproof dish using a pastry brush, making sure every side is coated. Sprinkle over 1 tbsp of the brown sugar, tilting the pan to lightly coat the base. Scatter in the bread – no need to pack it in too tightly – allowing some bits to stick out so they caramelise and crisp up in the oven.
step 2
Put the milk, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest and nutmeg in a medium saucepan over a low heat, and whisk to combine until just steaming. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, 5 tbsp of the brown sugar, the cornflour and a pinch of salt together in a medium heatproof bowl.
step 3
Slowly and steadily pour the warm milk mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking continuously until everything is fully incorporated. Carefully ladle this over the bread in the dish, making sure each piece is coated in the custard. Leave to soak for 30 mins, or chill overnight.
step 4
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Scatter over the remaining 1 tbsp brown sugar and the pecans, if using. Bake for 35-40 mins until golden with a gentle wobble in the centre. Cool for 5 mins, then scoop onto plates and serve warm topped with maple syrup, crispy bacon or berries, if you like.
