Crowd-Pleasing Caramel Apple French Toast

Make-Ahead Breakfast or Brunch for the Extended Family and Friends

Sep 6, 2008 Larry Ervin

The aroma of this dish baking is guaranteed to bring your overnight guests sniffing their way to your kitchen.

Assembling this the night before lets you enjoy your morning coffee with you guests while the dish bakes.

This adaptation of the French classic (or one of the variations suggested) is great when you have overnight guests, or when the family will be coming over for breakfast or brunch. Bacon, ham or sausages would make great accompaniments. French press coffee makes a great foil for the sweetness of this dish.

Caramel Apple French Toast

Yield: about 8 servings

You will need:

9 x 13 baking pan

Ingredients

• ½ cup (stick) butter
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 2 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 3 Granny Smith apples (or other firm baking apples)
• 5 eggs
• 1½ cups milk
• 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 loaf French Bread, cut 3/4-inch slices
• Cinnamon Sugar (see below)

1. Coat the sides an bottom of the baking pan thoroughly with butter or non-stick spray.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter and stir in the brown sugar and corn syrup until it is well dissolved.
3. Core the apples, cut them in 1/2-inch slices and immediately add them to the caramel syrup. When all of the apples are in, stir gently to make sure they are all coated. Spread the mixture in the bottom of the prepared baking pan.
4. Whisk together eggs, milk and vanilla.
5. Arrange bread slices in a single layer over the apple mixture. Pour the egg mixture over all, making sure all of the bread slices are moistened. Cover and refrigerate overnight (8-10 hours).
6. In the morning, take the pan out of the refrigerator and let it come closer to room temperature while the oven is preheating to 350 degrees.
7. Uncover the pan and bake 45-60 minutes, until the custard is set.
8. To serve, turn each serving over so that the caramel apple side is up. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

• Other breads: Any thick-sliced bread or baguettes will work in this recipe. Eggy-rich brioche is the traditional choice in Paris, but let your imagination run wild: banana bread, raisin bread, croissants or even cinnamon rolls.
• Spiked: Proceed as above, but reduce the milk to 1 cup and add half a cup of rum, bourbon or brandy to the custard mixture.
• Instead of Apples: This recipe can be adapted to other fresh or even dried fruit (or no fruit). Try it with bananas, pears, plums, peaches, figs or raisins.

About Cinnamon Sugar This is easily made by mixing 3 parts granulated sugar with one part ground cinnamon. Mix up enough to have on hand to sprinkle on buttered toast for a quick snack.

More Breakfast and Brunch Recipes like:

• Champagne Cocktail Normande
• Bosun's Bloody Mary

• The World's Best French Toast (with Peaches)
• Crepes Normande

• Camembert and Apple Omelette
• Asparagus Cordon Bleu Crepes
• Seafood Eggs Benedict with Shrimp, Nova Scotia Lox and Asparagus
• Sweet Potato Hash with Smoked Salmon and Fennel

The copyright of the article Crowd-Pleasing Caramel Apple French Toast in French Cuisine is owned by Larry Ervin. Permission to republish Crowd-Pleasing Caramel Apple French Toast in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Granny Smith or other Tart Apple

Brioche is the Traditional Bread

Caramel Apple French Toast

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Comments

Sep 28, 2008 4:10 PM

Guest :

you can make ahead the same dish with rasberries and cream cheese,sooooo goood

1 Comment: