Simple French Toast Strata
"This is a simple French Toast that everyone loves for Brunch on New Years' Day. I use whatever bread I have on hand, but I really like crusty Italian bread, cubed."
photo by Starrynews
- Ready In:
- 55mins
- Ingredients:
- 6
- Serves:
-
6-8
ingredients
- 12 cups bread cubes
- 8 ounces cream cheese, cubed
- 8 eggs
- 2 1⁄2 cups milk
- 6 tablespoons margarine or 6 tablespoons butter
- 1⁄4 cup maple syrup
directions
- Grease a 3 quart rectangular baking dish.
- Place half of the bread cubes in the dish. Top with cream cheese.
- cubes and remaining bread cubes.
- Combine eggs, milk, melted margarine or butter, and maple syrup in a.
- blender container or mixing bowl. Process or beat with.
- a rotary beater until well combined.
- Pour egg mixture evenly over the bread and cheese cubes. Using a.
- spatula, lightly press layers down to moisten.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 to 24 hours.
- Remove plastic wrap from baking dish. Bake, uncovered,.
- in a 325 oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until center.
- appears set and the edges are lightly golden. Let.
- stand about 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve with syrup.
Questions & Replies
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Reviews
-
Wow!! This was fantastic!! My bread was moist (unlike a few others who commented theirs was dry).... I used some homemade honey cinnamon bread that someone gave me and it was perfect. The cream cheese did stay in shape, but I think if people want it to melt or dissolve, use a whipped cream cheese instead, maybe. At any rate, we loved it and I'll be making it again. -
I was pretty disappointed with this recipe. I follow it to a T but the bread came out dry and the cheese didn't melt. I wouldn't recommend. Also, what french toast strada doesn't call for cinnamon? I added a little to the egg mixture. -
This was quite good. I had a few problems though, and I am not sure if it's because I cut the ingredients in half (for just me and my 2 kids), or if I did something else wrong. But the bread was still pretty dry after baking, and the cream cheese didn't really melt much but stayed in cubes, even after the 40 minutes of baking. But even so, this is quite a tasty breakfast dish. It's quite good fresh out of the oven as is, but it's even better with a little maple syrup drizzled on top. Made for Spring 2011 Pick-A-Chef cooking event. -
Nice variation on french toast! I used gluten-free bread and served with maple syrup. Thanks for sharing! PAC Spring '11 -
I cut this recipe in half for the 2 of us & we thoroughly enjoyed this French toast, with my other half using a pure maple syrup, while I was very satisfied with a recipe for Dutch honey that I found! Thanks for sharing the recipe! [Made & reviewed for one of my adopted chefs in this Spring's Pick A Chef event]
Tweaks
-
Hi! I’ve been making this for Easter the past 10 years and everyone begs for it! I’ve made a few tweaks to it and it’s the first dish family goes to! First off...I use cinnamon swirl instead of plain bread and I cut it into fairly small cubes (makes it easier for them to soak up the liquid and not be dry). I also don’t cube the cream cheese. Cream cheese isn’t a super melty cheese. This takes a bit more time but I pinch off lil’ pieces of cream cheese and place them ALL over the bread. You end up getting a lil’ piece of cream cheese in every bite! ?? I also add almost twice the amount of maple syrup into the blender. After pouring the mixture over the top, I take a fork all over the dish and make sure every lil’ piece of bread is getting liquid. BONUS: the longer you can let it sit in your fridge, the better it can soak and not be dry after cooking. I make mine the day before and let it sit about 12 hours. After 10+ years of perfecting this recipe...it NEVER comes out dry or less than scrumptious!! Promise!
