Blueberry French Toast Souffle
This is a nice make ahead breakfast casserole. It combines french toast ingredients with blueberries that are just delightful. I like to serve it drizzled with my blueberry sauce and sprinkled with a little powdered sugar.
This is a nice make ahead breakfast casserole. It combines french toast ingredients with blueberries that are just delightful. I like to serve it drizzled with my blueberry sauce and sprinkled with a little powdered sugar.
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 french bread loaf chopped
- 2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 8 medium eggs
- 3/4 cup half and half
- -- blueberry sauce --
- 2 tablespoon corn starch
- 2 cups blueberries , fresh, divided
- Carbohydrate 55.4586352259201 g
- Cholesterol 397.515555570876 mg
- Fat 16.9028225228049 g
- Fiber 2.82632854204981 g
- Protein 19.7324704939143 g
- Saturated Fat 7.40937476206412 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (325g)
- Sodium 1927.02137968582 mg
- Sugar 52.6323066838703 g
- Trans Fat 2.01925191679883 g
- Calories 444 calories
Step-by-step
- Grease a 13 x 9 casserole dish.
- Roughly chop french bread loaf into bite sized pieces.
- Start layering pan with half of the bread pieces, then half of the blueberries, remainder of bread pieces and remainder of blueberries.
- In a standing mixer, beat softened cream cheese until completely smooth.
- Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well between each addition.
- Add the milk, half and half, Maple syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth, making sure to scrape down sides of bowl occasionally.
- Pour this cream cheese mixture over the casserole dish, evenly covering all areas.
- Sprinkle with lemon zest.
- Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours, or up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, take casserole out and let sit out on counter for 30 minutes to bring back to room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
- Bake covered for 30 minutes and then uncovered for another 30-35 minutes, or until it sets and begins to turn a golden brown.
- Once cooked, let sit out for 10 minutes before slicing.
- Serve each souffle slice with warm blueberry sauce drizzled over the top, if desired.
- While souffle is sitting out for last 10 minutes, make the blueberry sauce.
- In a small saucepan, add water, sugar and slowly heat until sugar dissolves.
- Slowly whisk in corn starch to thicken.
- Add 1 cup of the blueberries and continue stirring on medium to high heat until blueberries begin to pop and mixture begins to thicken.
- Once mixture begins to thicken, add 2nd cup of blueberries and butter and continue to stir for a couple more minutes.
- Towards the end, add the lemon zest for freshness and stir into mixture.
- Serve this warm syrup with the blueberry souffle.
Traditional French bread is sliced and fried quickly on the stovetop to create a contrasting dry crumb and buttery surface, but baked breakfast casseroles rely on prolonged liquid absorption to build their structure. Stale bread functions like a sponge, drinking up the dairy and egg mixture without dissolving into mush during the resting phase. Allowing the assembled casserole to sit in the refrigerator for at least six hours gives the starch molecules adequate time to fully hydrate before the pan goes into the 350 degree Fahrenheit oven. Skipping this hydration window results in a crumbly interior rather than the cohesive, custard-like crumb that defines this baked style. Covering the baking dish with foil for the initial thirty minutes of cooking traps steam to gently set the interior eggs without scorching the exterior, while removing the cover for the final thirty to thirty-five minutes allows the top to develop a golden crust. Meanwhile, managing starch gelatinization requires careful temperature control when preparing the separate fruit topping. Whisking cornstarch into the cold water and sugar mixture prevents lumps before heat is applied, and simmering the liquid until the berries burst releases natural pectins that thicken the sauce without flour. For home cooks needing dietary modifications, dairy milk can be replaced with canned coconut milk at a one-to-one ratio without altering the structural integrity of the soaked bread. Resting the baked dish for ten minutes before slicing ensures the internal steam pressure drops, allowing clean portions to be transferred to plates without collapsing.
