Almost forgotten Overnight French Toast

I got all excited in making Helen’s Condensed Milk Pound Cake that I forgot to blog about the French toast casserole I made last night. I have one more loaf of sweet bread which I baked over the weekend so I decided to make it into French toast inspired by Tammy’s recipe. The tray of bread pieces soaked in custard mix has been sitting in the fridge since Monday evening so the first thing I did yesterday when I got home is take it out and started the task of prepping it for baking. This type of French toast is not cooked in the griddle but baked in the oven so it has a pudding-like texture. I remember making a similar one in the past using Giada's recipe and blueberries as my topping. That one was outstanding as well.


This time, I used organic raspberries and then I made a crumb topping using all purpose flour, brown sugar, melted butter and quick oats. So the bottom layer is soft while the top is crunchy because of the quick oats mixed with brown sugar and butter. It is a combination of creamy custard flavor at the bottom, the tart raspberries on the second layer then topped with crunchy, buttery and cinnamon-y crumb with just the right amount of sweetness... or so I thought because I realized I should have added more sugar to the custard mix because it is not sweet enough. Not even the crumb topping can make up for it so I made brown sugar glaze and drizzled it on top which helped.

This recipe does not require that because I already adjusted the amount of sugar in the custard mix.

OVERNIGHT FRENCH TOAST

Ingredients:

1 loaf sweet bread or 5 cups bread cut into little pieces
( i used my braided sweet bread but you can use any kind of
bread. it really doesn't matter coz' you still need sugar
and can just make adjustment)
6 extra large eggs, beaten
3 cups of fresh milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups raspberries or any berries of your choice

For the crumb topping

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup quick oats
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

Mix the first 3 ingredients well before pouring the melted butter
Mix using a fork till resemble coarse lumps, set aside

Directions:

Grease a rectangular baking pan or pyrex dish
Arrange the bread pieces in the pan
In a separate bowl, mix milk, sugar and vanilla with beaten eggs- make sure sugar is completely dissolved
Pour over bread then store in the fridge covered overnight
In the morning, stir the bread mixture in the baking dish, and smooth out into a layer in the bottom again. Sprinkle fruit over the top and then sprinkle the crumb topping over the fruit.
Bake at 375 degrees (350 degrees if using a glass baking dish) for about 55-60 minutes, until the center is set.
Serve warm - I prefer mine cold though :-)