As mentioned, one of my New Year's resolutions is to focus this blog more on 'in the kitchen' fun, as well as events and daily happenings. What better way then to kick it off with our New Year's brunch item - baked blueberry french toast!I had half of a loaf of french bread leftover from the week, some frozen blueberries and eggs. So I thought, why not make blueberry french toast for our NYE brunch? But I knew that I wouldn't want to get up and have to prep it that morning. So instead, it turned into one of those lovely overnight breakfast prep items.
I cubed the french bread and prepped the egg mixture, which contained eggs, milk, cinnamon and nutmeg. I then reached for the brown sugar...
...and kept reaching...
...insert a huge sigh here......because I didn't have any brown sugar.
What to do? Improvise. I knew I had some molasses and regular sugar, so I made my own brown sugar and added about half a cup to the mix. A tip for you all - a cup of sugar and about a teaspoon of molasses will make you a cup of, you guessed it, brown sugar. So next time you find yourself in a situation like mine, I hope this tid bit helps you out!Then, I poured the egg mixture over the bread, covered it and let it sit in the fridge while I enjoyed the evening (you see that beer in the background, yup, I moved on for the night...)
The next morning, I gathered up some items for my topping. I sprinkled some blueberries over top and added some pecans I found in the freezer after thinking "why not?" I sprinkled on some more of the homemade brown sugar and then dabbed it with a tablespoon or two of butter before popping it in the oven for about 45 minutes.
I then reached into the drawer for aluminum foil...
...and kept reaching...
...insert another sigh with a tad bit of frustration - I mean, how did I let this happen?! In this case, I covered the dish with a cookie sheet for the first 45 minutes. And for the remaining 15 minutes, I removed the cookie sheet so the bake could get that crisp topping and color I was looking for. And then, heaven on a fork. It was crisp on top, and tender in the middle - just like french toast should be. I love the crispy edges mixed with the soft blueberries and crunch of pecans. The cinnamon was great in the mix as well, and the homemade brown sugar gave it the perfect sweetness. I served it with syrup, but I bet a blueberry syrup would make this dish even more divine. I'm sure it would work with other berries as well!
So friends, what is a great substitution that you've done recently when you discovered you have overlooked an item in your pantry?
