Chocolate and Strawberry-Filled French Toast

A romantic breakfast for two, or a treat for a special little one. This rich, luscious French toast is from The Cook's Cottage and Suites in Fredericksburg, Texas, voted one of the Top 25 Most Romantic Places in the U.S. I prepared this for my boyfriend for our one-year "anniversary" and found that there is much more of the sauce than we needed - try it over vanilla ice cream, or simply half the recipe. Also, it's best to use preserves for this recipe, not jam or jelly.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 2  slices  day-old French bread (1-inch thick diagonal slices)
• 2  tablespoons  miniature chocolate chips
• 4  tablespoons  strawberry preserves
• 2  tablespoons  softened cream cheese
• 2  eggs, lightly beaten
• 1⁄4 cup milk
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1  dash cinnamon

• MANDARIN ORANGE STRAWBERRY SAUCE

• 1  cup  strawberry preserves
• 4  tablespoons  apricot preserves
• 1 (8 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
• 4  tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. Cut through each slice of bread horizontally to form a pocket, not cutting all the way through.
2. Stuff 1 tbsp.of the chocolate chips and 2 tbsp.of the strawberry preserves into each pocket along with one tbsp.of softened cream cheese.
3. (I like to press the little chips into the cream cheese so they"stay in place".) Whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
4. Add the filled bread and allow to soak for 5-10 minutes.
5. In a heavy skillet or griddle, heat butter.
6. Add stuffed bread, turning frequently until crisp and golden.
7. Transfer to heated plates and dust with powdered sugar.
8. Serve with Mandarin Orange Strawberry Sauce.
9. To make sauce: Combine all sauce ingredients and simmer together until slightly thickened.