Baked Blueberry Strawberry French Toast
My son and I would often meet at the Grove in LA for dinner after work to catch up, and let’s just be honest, he indulged me because I’m his Mom and wanted to see her baby boy who was all grown up with a big job. He absolutely knows my love for tea so one night after we finished dinner, instead of ordering our typical tiramisu, he suggested we go over to Laudree for tea and dessert! I was so impressed! Of course I said YES and we walked over, sat by the fountains and were both delighted to see a beautiful French toast we both wanted to try! So we shared French toast that night along with some macarons and very yummy tea. This became our after dinner tradition of tea and French toast! While writing my cookbook I already knew I wanted one of the menus to be Tea and French Toast, dedicated to my son so I created this recipe with his favorite fruit combination over our favorite French toast. Now, I know a sprinkle of powdered sugar is pretty common on French toast, but this is actually added as a memory we had one Christmas while sitting by those fountains at the Grove in W Hollywood. We didn’t know this would happen but during our tea, it started snowing! Apparently this was a holiday tradition for the kids and it took us completely by surprise! We just sat there giggling and watching that fake snow fall in 75 degree weather over our tea and French toast! It was so enchanting. It’s one of my favorite memories with my oldest son I will cherish as long as I live.
Blueberry Strawberry French Toast
I created this recipe in honor of my oldest son who knows my tea passion all too well. He suggested we enjoy Tea and French Toast for dessert after dinner one night which became our after dinner treat at the Grove in W Hollywood from that day on. One of my favorite memories!
Ingredients
- 1 loaf Italian bread
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen and cut up)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 2 Tbls butter, melted
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Slice the bread on a diagonal to create 8 3/4 inch thick pieces.
- Arrange bread slices in a 10x15 inch baking dish
- In a medium sized bowl, whip together the eggs, milk, baking powder, and vanilla. Slowly pour the mixture over the bread, turning each slice to coat completely. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Coat another 10x15 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Sprinkle the blueberries and strawberries evenly over the bottom of the dish.
- Mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch and pour evenly over the top of the berries. Tightly wedge the bread slices over the berries, wettest side up. Brush the bread with melted butter. Bake the french toast in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
- To serve, place the toast, berry side down, on warmed plates. Stir remaining berry mixture in the baking dish, then scoop over the toast - so you have berries on the bottom and the top of the toast. Make it snow by sprinkling with powdered sugar!