National French Toast Day and a Sweet French Toast Casserole recipe

Take a mixture of eggs, milk and cinnamon and dip some bread in. What you will have is the beginning of french toast. The savory sweet smell of the dip, the bread while cooking and toasted waiting on your plate has my mouth watering all ready. French Toast Day occurs on November 28th and honors an amazing breakfast treat.

French Toast dates back and was also known as  eggy bread, German toast, poor knights pudding, Bombay toast. No matter the name the main ingredients stayed the same being of egg, milk or cream and bread. The bread slices fried in a mixture of milk and egg has traditionally been served with sugar or syrup and fruit. In France the dish would have been made with stale or old bread and be known as "pain perdu" or "lost bread"

This dish may have been original to somewhere else rather than France. Ancient latin recipes from the 4th century mention dictate soaking bread in milk before frying. A bit later in fourteenth century Germany the term "poor knights" pudding was a frugal dish and a sweet treat. Italy served up a savory version called mozzarella en carrozza where egg soaked bread sandwiched slices of mozzarella cheese before fried. So as you can see French Toast no matter the name can be served every meal from breakfast to dinner or supper and include dessert as well.
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French Toast Casserole

1 loaf Sourdough Or French Bread (I used sourdough)

8 whole eggs

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

3/4 cups Sugar

2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract

Topping

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp firmly packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, cut in pieces

fresh fruit (optional)

Grease a 9 x 13 casserole dish with butter.

2. Tear bread into chunks and evenly lay out in dish.

3. Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, sugar and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread.

4. Cover and store in fridge for several hours or overnight.

5. In another bowl, mix 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and salt. Add butter and mash into the dry mixture until it all comes together. You can store this mixture in the fridge overnight if you'd like.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees the next morning.

7. Remove casserole and pre-made topping from fridge. If using fresh fruit, put it on now. Crumble pre-made topping and sprinkle over the top of the casserole.

8. For some extra topping to cover areas that aren’t covered by the pre-made topping (I like the cinnamon and spice on every bite!) combine 2 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon (same stuff as the pre-made topping, minus the butter). Sprinkle over top of casserole and pre-made topping.

9. Bake for 45 minutes for a softer, more moist texture. Bake an hour or more for a firmer, less moist texture.

10. Sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top and serve with syrup.

Recipe originally from Pioneer Woman