Citrus-Kissed Baked French Toast
NOTE: I have a LOT of Tastefully Simple products on hand. Occasionally on this blog I will share recipes and dishes I develop to deplete the inventory in my pantry. Featured product this time: Bountiful Beer Bread!
During the 18th century, scurvy killed more English sailors than enemy action. That’s saying something, because during the 1700s, the Royal Navy was almost constantly fighting somebody or other, including a nine-year war with Spain over some British pirate’s ear getting cut off. Seriously, don’t mess with an Englishman’s ears; they’ll take you down hard.
We don’t hear much about scurvy these days, because most people are able to get sufficient Vitamin C (the lack of this nutrient is what causes the disease) in their diets to keep from developing weeping sores while their teeth fall out and skin turns yellow. Yay, 21st century!
That said, if anybody is a candidate for modern-day scurvy, it’s me. Fruits and vegetables aren’t really part of my regular diet because … um … I just don’t like them. However, I can occasionally be induced to ingest something almost healthy if it’s cleverly hidden in something delicious. Thus, I developed the following recipe under the pretense of “getting more citrus” in my system. True, the amount of actual ascorbic acid in this is almost negligible. But it tastes citrusy, and that’s almost the same thing as nutritious, right?
Citrus-Kissed Baked French Toast
INGREDIENTS
Tastefully Simple Bountiful Beer Bread Mix (Get it here.)
12 oz. orange soda
1 ¼ cup whole milk
¾ cup whipping cream
3 egg yolks
3 eggs
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. each fresh orange and lemon zest
1 cup orange marmalade
Lemony syrup (see recipe below)
Ingredients for beer bread: Bountiful Beer Bread Mix, 12 oz. orange soda, 3 T melted butter
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare Bountiful Beer Bread as directed on package, substituting 12 oz. orange soda for beer.
Cubed beer bread. It’s a pretty light orange color!
Allow bread to cool completely; cut into 1-inch cubes.
Place cubes in an 8×8 baking dish or similar.
Gently warm 1 cup orange marmalade.
Dollop warmed marmalade over bread cubes.
In a large bowl, mix custard ingredients: whole milk, whipping cream, eggs, sugar and citrus zest.
Pour custard mixture over bread cubes and marmalade. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
When ready to serve, preheat oven to 350 F. Bake bread mixture, uncovered, for 50-55 minutes or until toasty and browned.
Fresh from the oven!
Remove from oven and allow to set up a few minutes.
While bread dish is baking, prepare the lemony syrup.
Lemony Syrup
INGREDIENTS
1 ½ cups white corn syrup
3 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 T grated orange peel
1 T grated lemon peel
Mix together ingredients until sugar is dissolved; allow to stand for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend.
Just before serving, sprinkle baked French bread with powdered sugar and drizzle with lemony syrup.
