Buena Vista French Toast for Fran & Dennis

One weekend, Dan and I went to Buena Vista,CO to visit his Aunt Fran and Uncle Dennis. I woke up Sunday morning with and urge to cook, as I had been kicking around an idea for a day or two. Aunt Fran and I hit the grocery store for ingredients and soon I was mixing this up. Mind you, the english muffins have been substituted for the english muffin bread that I was able to buy in Buena Vista but not able to find anywhere else. Using the bread, I only used 8 pieces. The finished product was so pretty, all brown and puffy. Altitude is a major factor in Buena Vista since it is right smack in the middle of the Rocky Mountains. Hence the 30 minutes to an hour cooking time since I am not sure how long it would take where you live. I did make it once in Kansas City (from memory), at the request of Dan, for his father and step-mother. I actually used wheat bread that time and it was rather good. Anyway, back to the story at hand. Fran and Dennis really enjoyed it and asked my to write down my recipe, which I did. I failed to get a copy for myself, which is why I made it from memory in KC but it just wasn't the same. Finally, I sheepishly asked Fran how I had made the French Toast that day and she gave me the recipe. She also told me how they had been making it all the time and sharing the recipe with their friends. Apparently, it was a hit in the small town of Buena Vista. I decided that I would name the recipe after the pretty little town and after the wonderful people who made it such a success there!

• Ready In: 1 hr 10 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 10 -12  English muffins (or less if they are large)
• 6  eggs
• 1  cup heavy cream
• 2  tablespoons  frozen orange juice concentrate, defrosted
• 2  tablespoons orange zest
• 1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1⁄4 cup  firmly packed brown sugar
• 3  tablespoons butter

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Break eggs into a large bowl.
3. Add cream, juice concentrate, zest and cinnamon.
4. Using a whisk, beat until mixed well.
5. Using 1 tablespoon butter, grease a large casserole dish.
6. Take half of the english muffins and place in the casserole,sightly overlapping.
7. Pour half of the egg mixture over muffins, pressing down on them to make sure they soak it up.
8. Sprinkle with half of the brown sugar.
9. Add the rest of the english muffins, egg mixture and brown sugar, in that order.
10. Dot with remaining butter.
11. Bake in oven for 30 minutes to an hour.