Orange Cream French Toast

Submitted by Sharon123

"This is adapted from the Timberwolf Creek Bed & Breakfast in Maggie Valley, North Carolina, and is a real treat! Editor's Note: From the owner of the Timberwolf Creek B&B (chef #241803): "You really need to mix some vanilla into the cream cheese/orange mixture or you'll miss the entire experience! It's all about those dreamsicles we had as kids.)""

 

• Ready In: 18mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 loaf day-old French bread
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1⁄4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1⁄2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 orange, zest of
• mexican vanilla (if possible)
• 6 large eggs
• 1 1⁄2 cups milk (approximately)
• oil
• cinnamon
• nutmeg
• powdered sugar
• orange slice (to garnish)

directions

1. Blend vanilla into the cream cheese, powdered sugar, sour cream and orange zest. Mix well. Cover and store in the refrigerator overnight, to let the orange flavor blend into the cream cheese mixture.
2. In the morning, mix eggs & milk, in a 1:1 ratio. (For two people, use three eggs. Measure them into a measuring cup, and then pour in that much milk.) Whisk together with a little vanilla.
3. Slice the day-old French bread into 1 & 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut a pocket into each slice and fill generously with the cream cheese mixture. Dip into the eggs & milk blend, allowing your French bread to soak it up. Grill on an oiled, preheated griddle on medium heat for about 2-4 minutes, until golden. Sprinkle with a scant amount of cinnamon and nutmeg. Turn once, and cook for another few minutes, till golden.
4. Dust with powdered sugar, garnish with fresh slices of orange, and serve immediately with warmed maple syrup. Looks lovely garnished with a bit of the orange zest, too, if you have some nice long pieces. Enjoy!

Reviews

[Tinkerbell]

Delicious! I'm in the process of using up a crate of fresh Florida oranges sent from a friend, and this sounded like the perfect recipe. Made exactly as directed, using my homemade vanilla with Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans, and we were not disappointed. DH was going to be the hardest to impress with French toast, because he's a pancake guy, but to my surprise he requested that I put this recipe into a regular rotation. DD said the filling tastes like frosting and we all agreed that it tasted like an orange frosting we would use on orange cinnamon rolls. I meant to slice my French bread thick to make plenty of pocket room, but the loaf was pre-sliced and I didn't notice it until I was home. I made pockets in the bread as best I could and then used a pastry bag fitted with an open star tip to fill them. The only real bump in the road was when I realized we were out of maple syrup (I recently discovered that my 5 year old has been sneaking drinks of it straight out of the bottle!), so I gave my family two options. My favorite ginger syrup (gift from Papa Syd in a swap) or blackberry, but they declined both and found that this recipe is so well balanced that syrup was not required. DH said he probably wouldn't even bother with the maple syrup if we have it next time. However, since orange and ginger is a classic combination, I had to try it and found it to be absolutely delicious. Thanks for posting another family favorite, Sharon. This is going to be the first recipe in our Best of 2012 cookbook! Made and enjoyed for the All Aboard the L-O-V-E train tag event.

 

[katie in the UP]

Dessert for breakfast!! We loved the flavor of orange, it was just perfect!! Thank you Sharon!

 

[puppitypup]

This made a lovely brunch and we definitely liked it. I let the bread soak up the egg mixture for a few minutes since we like a custard texture to our french toast. Ultimately I was a little disappointed in the cream cheese mixture as it felt like it was missing something. I made it up the night before as the recipe suggested. I think I would try again and add some vanilla to the cream cheese mixture as well, or try it with orange syrup as the last reviewer did. 3 stars from me is a good review, I grade stricter than most. Thank you Sharon for a lovely breakfast. :hugs:

 

[Baby Kato]

Wow Sharon! this is a winner. Quick and easy to make, with lots of explosive flavour. I just love the addition of the spices to the french toast, they blend well with the orange. This french toast turned out really well, it tastes out of this world, sweet, citrusy, rich and creamy. Thanks so much for sharing. Instead of maple syrup, I used ellie's orange syrup (recipe #38468). Thanks for a new favourite recipe.

 

[Timberwolf Creek]

You can visit our website at timberwolfcreek.com for the whole recipe! --Sandee, the Timberwolf Creek "Inngineer"