Christmas vacation must end....

French Toast Souffle

My husband, Keith, left town yesterday afternoon, heading to Temecula for a long weekend of sales meetings for the new company he is employed with.  Sounds like work, but doesn't look like work...Knowing I'd be here, alone with our kids for the last few days of our Christmas break, still dealing with bouncing checks after my purse was stolen before Christmas, and embedded in a spring cleaning frenzy I did not intend to begin, I knew I would be in need of some cooking therapy.  So, I started looking through my Pinterest boards...I tend to pin a lot but often forget what I've pinned and then forget to actually try the idea I thought was so ingenious or yummy at that early morning pinning hour. 

I found this recipe for French toast souffle - essentially a baked french toast.  I've seen these and various strata recipes from time to time, but have never tried them.  I looked in my cupboards, and had everything the recipe required except for the "loaf of crusty bread".  So, I headed out to Costco and picked up the package of 6 small loaves of fresh baked sourdough in their bakery section.  (It was hard not to bust that package open with some real butter right when I got home!)

Ingredients assembled last night, while the kids were watching a mind-numbing episode of "A.N.T.S.", I began my therapy session...

The recipe called for 10 cups of a crusty loaf bread, cut up into 1 inch cubes.  I used small sourdough loaves, produced in Costco's bakery.  I used a 2 Cup measuring cup, and slightly overfilled it each time with the bread.  I ended up using 4 loaves of the bread.  As you'll see, I did end up with dry points on the top of the finished souffle.  I would recommend using less bread, if you want all of the bread to be immersed in the custard mixture.

I put the bread in a 9x13 dish, I had sprayed with Pam.

I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer to mix the rest of the ingredients for the custard which gets poured over the bread:

1 (8 oz) bar of cream cheese (recipe called for light, but that's silly in my opinion)
8 eggs (added one at a time)
1 1/2 Cups milk
2/3 Cup half & half
1/2 Cup of maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla

I mixed the cream cheese first until smooth and then added each egg, mixing after each.  The eggs and cream cheese did not blend in well together, the cream cheese broke into small clumpy pieces.  I've worked with cream cheese quite a bit, and I'm not used to this experience.  I think this happened because there was no sugar added to the cream cheese in the beginning (as you would with a cheesecake).  Next time, I may add the syrup before the eggs to see if this will keep the cream cheese smoothly blending with the eggs, and if not, I may add some sugar.  When the cream cheese clumps like this, you get bites with distinct sour cream cheese flavor, which my son for one, does not care for.

After blending the rest of the ingredients, I poured it evenly over the bread and put the dish in the refrigerator overnight to chill.

I set the casserole dish out on the kitchen counter a half hour before baking this morning, while the oven warmed up to 350 degrees.  (Recent reports of Pyrex exploding in ovens has me more cautious than usual.)

I let this bake for 30 minutes, but the middle was still runny (or soupy) when I checked it.  So, I let it cook for 10 more minutes, and knew it was done at that point because the center had puffed up as you would expect a souffle to do, and my knife came out clean, when inserted in the middle.  (This test also deflates the puffy middle)

The recipe suggests pouring syrup over the top and sprinkling with powdered sugar, after removing from the oven, but I prefer to top individual pieces after cut.

My kids and I enjoyed this breakfast, but each of us have definite ideas of how to improve upon the recipe next time:  My daughter, Kaley thinks the custard should cover all of the bread, because she doesn't like the crusty dry parts on the top.  My son, Kellen, does not like the bits of definite cream cheese taste in some of the bites.  I like the crusty top portions dipped in the syrup, and am happy with how it turned out over all.  But, in my next attempt, I think I may try to make the custard a little more like creme brulee (add some eggs, more cream, and sugar), for a sweeter dish.

Our last day of Christmas vacation started out nicely with this warm breakfast, but I'm sure this serenity won't last long....