Marmalade-Stuffed French Toast with Orange Syrup

Found this recipe in an old Bon Appetit magazine a long time ago and have made my own little changes to it. It is a great twist on French Toast and easy to make! As much as I would love to eat it each and every time I make it, I know I should really only have it once a year. Great for a holiday breakfast when calories don't count!

4 servings
10 minute prep time
20 minute cook time

Ingredients
Filling
1 8oz brick of cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup marmalade
1/4 cup powdered sugar

French Toast
1 French loaf bread
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Butter

Syrup
3/4 cup orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/2 cup butter
1 cup simply syrup
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Zest of 1 orange

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Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees and prepare a baking sheet.

2. Combine orange juice concentrate, butter, and simple syrup in a small sauce pan. Stir over low heat until butter melts. Keep mixture on low heat until it reduces by 25%. Add cinnamon and orange zest, mix, and cook for 5 minutes longer. Remove from heat or keep warm.

3. In a kitchen mixer, cream together cream cheese, marmalade, and powdered sugar. Set aside.

4. Cut French loaf bread into 8 equal parts, at least 1 inch thick. Cutting through the top crust of each slice, make a pocked in each slice of bread. Spoon a generous tablespoon of the cream cheese and marmelade mixture into the center of each slice.

5. In a large kitchen bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla extract, almond extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

6. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Dip 4 stuffed bread slices into egg mixture and place in hot skillet. Cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer French toast to baking sheet and place in preheated oven. Repeat dipping and cooking until all bread slices are cooked.

7. Serve 2 French toasts to a plate and top with warm orange syrup. Enjoy!

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Quick & Dirty Tips
Stuffing the toast can be a bit messy. I suggest putting the bread in the fridge over night and slicing it cold with a bread knife. I then use a paring knive to make the pocket. Instead of spooning the filling in, I put all the filling into a piping bag and pipe it into the pocket.

Orange syrup can be made several days in advance. Just reheat when ready to use.

If you don't want to use French bread, you can use two slices of white bread. Make a sandwich with the filling and then cut in half. Dip in the egg mixture and serve one "full sandwich" to a plate.

Baked Sourdough French Toast with Caramel Glaze

Bar-none my favorite breakfast dish! Surprising, because I didn't like french toast much growing up. However, once I discovered Baked French Toast, my taste buds said, "we want more!" Make sure to use almond extract... it makes all the difference! This recipe doubles and triples very easily. Of course, no calories and no carbs... yeah right!

6 servings
20 minute prep time
40-45 minute cooking time

Ingredients
1 loaf sourdough bread
6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup half & half
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon almond extract
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
softened butter
cinnamon sugar

Caramel Glaze
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

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Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. Cut sourdough loaf into 1 inch thick slices. Cut larger slices in half to make 12 semi-equal sized pieces. Lightly butter each side of bread and lay in baking pan. Pieces will be snug together.... squeeze it all in.

3. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, half & half, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg. When well combined, pour over bread slices. Turn bread slices to help absorb the liquid. Set aside.

4. In a sauce pan combine butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, and corn syrup over medium-high heat. Once butter if fully melted, keep stirring until mixture starts to bubble. Keep on heat an additional 2 minutes, stirring constantly, but do not let the mixture come to a heavy boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

5. Turn bread over one more time and drain off any excess liquid that has not been absorbed from the pan. Spread 1-2 tablespoons of the caramel sauce over the top of each slice of bread. Immediately place in preheated oven.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until brown and bubbly. Serve two slices to a plate. Dust with cinnamon sugar if you like!

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Quick & Dirty Tips
You can partially make this the night before. Pour the liquid over the bread, cover, and refrigerate overnight. You'll be amazed when you wake-up in the morning and there is no more liquid in the pan! Make and apply the glaze in the morning and bake. In my opinion, both ways taste the same!

Use day old (or a few days old) sourdough bread. If you use fresh baked sourdough, reduce the liquid a bit otherwise it will come out a tad mushy for my taste. I usually leave the loaves of sourdough in the refrigerator a few days.

You're welcome to use maple syrup (real Vermont only please), but I think that this comes out sweet enough. I serve warm maple syrup on the side but very little is ever used.

If you overcook the caramel, it will be like taffy when it is done baking. Okay if you like that but if you don't, toss it and start it over.