Summer Brunch Recipe

Take advantage of the remaining lazy days of summer for this spectacular French toast.

Blueberry-Cream cheese Stuffed Cinnamon French Toast

Erika’s adaptations on Fine Cooking’s stuffed French toast, and the Smitten Kitchen's Cinnamon  Toast French Toast.

This is a recipe open to endless variations. The following uses the delightful combination of blueberries and cream cheese; however one could also experiment with flavor combinations such as dark chocolate and sour cherry, or lemon curd and cream cheese…

Blueberry Cream Cheese Filling:

Ingredients:
8 oz. plain cream cheese
½ cup -1 cup blueberries (frozen or fresh)

Directions:
Adjust quantities based on preference. If you end up with extra, don’t worry, simply use it as blueberry cream cheese.
Gently warm cream cheese if it is too stiff to mix. If using frozen berries, heat (we are looking for a consistency in which the berries start to split and release some juice.) If using fresh blueberries, heat gently and crush slightly so the same consistency described above is attained. Mix the cream cheese and blueberries until the desired smoothness. Set aside.

Cinnamon French toast:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
16 slices (from a 1-pound or 450 gram loaf) white sandwich bread
1 stick (4 ounces or 113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
3 cups (710 ml) whole milk
6 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Whisk the cinnamon and sugar together in a small dish. Line two large baking sheets with foil (this is optional – I tend to skip so as not to use foil). Place the bread slices on the baking sheets in one layer. Spread each slice of bread with 1 teaspoon of butter, and then sprinkle each slice with one teaspoon of the cinnamon-sugar mixture. This does not need to be precise!
 Toast the trays of bread in the oven until the bread is golden, and until the cinnamon-sugar makes a caramelized crunch on top, for about 7 to10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees and let the toast cool slightly.

Generously butter a 9×13-inch baking dish.

Cut two slices of the cinnamon toast in half horizontally. Arrange the cinnamon toast down in two rows along the width of the pan. Place a dollop of the blueberry cream cheese filling between slices. Begin with the bottom half of one slice of toast, then fan 7 more slices in a row, finishing with the top half of the slice. This ensures that those served the end pieces of the baked French toast are not stiffed with thin slices! Repeat with another 7 full slices and 1 halved slice of cinnamon toast in the second row.

Whisk the milk, eggs, salt and vanilla in a medium bowl and pour evenly over cinnamon toast in baking dish. Let sit for 15 minutes (or overnight, if you’re preparing this ahead of time) so that the custard absorbs a bit.
Before baking, if you’ve got any extra cinnamon-sugar (you’ll likely have a tablespoon or two), sprinkle it over the French toast.
Bake for about 40 minutes, until puffed and golden and until no liquid seeps out of the toasts when they are nudged about in the pan. Cut into squares and serve plain, or with a dollop of plain yogurt and fresh berries, or maple syrup.