Tuesday, April 24, 2012

~Baked French Toast Casserole~


Oh my my! I heart French toast, and I also heart Paula Deen! This woman makes amazing food (albeit, it seems most of her food has a ton of butter or cream in it...)!  I got this recipe from her, and every time I make or eat it, it's soooo good and moist.  The praline topping makes this money!

I will admit the first time I made this recipe, I was really excited to make it...so excited, I didn't read all the instructions before starting it.  So one morning I woke up to make this casserole, and realized the bread needs to soak overnight! Aargh.  I made the mistake of not letting it soak and just cooked it the way it was.  Bad idea.  Most of the liquid cooked out and my casserole was left dry.  Boo.  When I made it last week, I remembered my woe, and prepared it the night before.  The next day before work, I popped it in the oven, and by the time I was done getting ready for work, it was done and smelling like heaven!

There is something about French toast...ahhh.  I was too lazy to make the raspberry syrup that goes with this, but even without it, it's fabulous.
 
I made a half recipe for J and me.  Full recipe will serve 6-8

You'll Need:

French toast: 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
2 Tbs. sugar
1 c. milk
8 eggs
2 c. half & half
1 loaf French bread
Praline Topping: 1/2 lb. butter
1 c. packed brown sugar (I like dark)
1 c. chopped pecans
2 Tbs. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 ground nutmeg
Raspberry Syrup: 1 c. raspberry preserves
3 Tbs. water
2 Tbs. raspberry liqueur


Get Busy:

Slice French bread into 20 1-inch thick slices.  Generously butter the bottom of a 9x13 pan and arrange slices in 2 rows overlapping in the pan.  In a large bowl, combine eggs, half & half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk until blended.  Pour mixture over bread slices, making sure all pieces are evenly covered.  Cover with foil; refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Make praline topping:  combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  Spread topping evenly over the bread and bake for 45 minutes.  Meanwhile, make the syrup:  combine ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir until warm and thinned out like syrup.  Enjoy!

No comments:

Post a Comment