Cream Cheese-Stuffed Overnight Creme Brulee French Toast

This was my Mother's Day breakfast this year, and it was fantastic! I LOVED how the toast got crispy on top, and then, when we served it, we flipped the slices over, putting the sticky "brulee" topping on the top and the crunchy bread as a crust on the bottom. Topped with mixed fresh berries, a dusting of powdered sugar, a drizzle of syrup and a dollop of whipped cream... this was exactly how I imagined it would be! You can see the sticky, caramelly goodness in the picture below.

From this angle, you can see the cream cheese layer in the middle.

Cream Cheese-Stuffed Overnight Creme Brulee French Toast

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons (85 g) butter
• ¾ cup (159 g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, corn syrup or pancake syrup
• 1 loaf French bread, cut into 18 slices
• 8 oz. softened cream cheese
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• Sweetened whipped cream + fresh strawberries/raspberries, for serving

Directions:

1. Add butter, brown sugar, and maple syrup to a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave for 1-2 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Stir to combine. (This step can be done in a pan on the stove.)
2. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch pan with cooking spray.
3. Spread the brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan.
4. In a bowl, beat together your cream cheese with your corn syrup until smooth.
5. Take 9 pieces of the French bread and spread each slices with an equal amount of the cream cheese mixture. Then place the remaining 9 slices on top, making a sort of cream cheese sandwich.
6. Arrange all 9 sandwiches on top of the brown sugar mixture in your 9x13 pan.
7. In a bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, half-and-half, vanilla, and salt.
8. Pour the mixture evenly over the bread.
9. Cover the pan and refrigerate overnight (8 to 10 hours).
10. Remove the pan from the refrigerator, uncover, and place in the cold oven.
11. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once the oven reaches temperature, bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the bread is golden and the caramelly syrup is bubbling (alternately, if you want the golden syrupy goodness on top, the French toast can be baked for 15-20 minutes, then using a large, flat spatula, flip the bread pieces and bake for another 5-10 minutes).
12. Serve warm with sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries or strawberries.

Marsha's Notes:

• Depending on the size of my French bread slices, I might use a 9x13, or I might use my bigger rectangle pan. Just use what size pan will keep the pieces close together without completely smashing everything.
• For the bread I can get at my local grocery store, typically we get 9 good pieces of French toast (or 9 sandwiches), but if you have a longer, skinnier baguette, you might want to make 12-16 sandwiches. Basically, you just want your servings of French toast to be about 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick each, in a number that nicely fills up your baking dish.
• You can also make this recipe non-stuffed and leave the cream cheese mixture out. Then, instead of 18 slices of bread, you would just need 9 thicker slices. You can also not do slices at all, and instead skip the cream cheese mixture and just cube up your bread and spread the cubes evenly over the brown sugar layer, then top with the egg mixture.
• If I use a larger pan, then I will up my brown sugar mixture by using 8 Tbl of butter, a cup of brown sugar, and a little extra maple syrup, or whatever amount I think I need to get a nice layer to cover the bottom of my pan.

Hot out of the oven.