Baked Blueberry French Toast

Here goes one more blueberry recipe on the blog which proves that I have yet to get over my craze for the plump and juicy purple berry. This classic breakfast item has been revamped by Pam from For the Love of Cooking to include a pint of fresh blueberries and though I have never tried French toast on its own [shame!] I could not resist the berry version. Especially not when I had just bought tons of fresh berries on a Buy1 Get1 Free deal! Personally, I found the leftovers of this baked fresh toast better tasting than it was right out of the oven but then, I might have been biased as my second serving had the benefit of being topped with vanilla ice cream, maple syrup and toasted almonds.

BAKED BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST

Ingredients:

For the Casserole

1 loaf brioche bread, cubed

1 cup fresh blueberries, divided

8 large eggs, room temperature

2 1/4 cups whole milk

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For the Streusel Topping

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

6 tablespoon butter, cold

Method:

• Grease a 9″ x 13″ pan with cooking spray. Cut the brioche bread into cubes, about 1 inch in size.

• Spread half of the cubes into the prepared baking pan and top evenly with half of the blueberries.

• Add the remaining bread cubes followed by remaining blueberries. Set aside and prepare sauce.

• Whisk the eggs, milk, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla together in a bowl until well combined.

• Pour evenly over bread. Cover the pan very tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator.

• Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350oF. Remove pan from the refrigerator.

• Prepare topping by whisking the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.

• Cut in the cubed butter with a pastry blender until crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over bread.

• Bake it for 50 to 60 minutes until golden brown on top. Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream.

• Cover the cooled leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Makes 8-10 servings.

Baked Blueberry French Toast

Pineapple & Coconut Kheer

If you have a crush on the famous Indian pudding, kheer, there is a good chance you will like this pina colada version. Instead of cooked rice, this milk based dessert gets its boost of flavors from tinned pineapple and grated coconut.  You may use fresh pineapple if you manage to get a very ripe one and happen to be skilled with a knife. The original recipe from Manjula’s Kitchen tells you to caramelize the fruit by cooking it with sugar but I felt that the canned pineapple was sweet enough without the extra caramel. This special kheer was my offering to Lord Krishna on the occasion of his birthday, Janmashtami as it is believed that Krishna was particularly fond of homemade dairy stuff as a child.

PINEAPPLE COCONUT KHEER

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup full cream milk

3/4 cup coconut milk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup freshly grated coconut

1 1/2 tablespoons corn flour

1/2 cup pineapple, diced

1/4 cup pineapple, crushed

1 tablespoon sliced almonds

6 Maraschino cherries

Method:

• In a heavy bottom pan over medium high heat, boil the milk, coconut milk, sugar and grated coconut.

• After it comes to a boil, lower heat to medium and let it boil for about 18-20 minutes, stir occasionally.

• In a small bowl, mix combine corn flour well with 2 tablespoons water, making sure there are no lumps.

• Add corn flour to boiling milk, mix it well and boil for 3 to 4 minutes stirring occasionally. Turn off heat.

• Drain the syrup from canned pineapple, and slice them into about 3/4 inch cubes, save half the cubes.

• Lightly crush the other half into a chunky pulp. Reserve the pineapple in a bowl at room temperature.

• Carefully fold the pineapple cubes, crushed pineapple and milk mixture together until well combined.

• Chill for at least two hours before serving. Garnish with pineapple cubes, almond slices and cherries.

Pineapple Coconut Kheer

Blueberry Boy Bait

Like any recipe with a great name, this Blueberry Boy Bait taken from Smitten Kitchen, also has a great story. In 1954, a 15-year-old girl stole the show (but only won second prize) in the junior division of an early Pillbury Bake-Off with a variation of this recipe, named, she said, after the effect it had on boys. Cook’s Country magazine dusted this recipe off from the Pillsbury Bake-Off Dessert Cookbook and made a few tweaks to bring it more deliciously into the modern age. Butter was swapped for shortening, the quantity of blueberries was doubled and some plain sugar was replaced with brown sugar. The result? Let’s just say you don’t need to be a boy to be lured in.

BLUEBERRY BOY BAIT

Ingredients:

For the Blueberry Cake

2 cups (250g) plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt or kosher salt

16 tablespoons unsalted butter (225g), softened

3/4 cup (145g) packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar

3 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup (235 ml) whole milk

1/2 cup (85g) blueberries, fresh

For the Topping

1/2 cup (about 85g) blueberries, fresh

1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13″x 9″ baking pan.

• Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Beat butter and sugars on medium-high speed.

• Beat till fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated, scraping down bowl.

• Reduce speed to medium and beat in one-third of flour mixture until incorporated; beat in half of milk.

• Beat in half of remaining flour mixture, then remaining milk, and finally add the remaining flour mixture.

• Toss the blueberries with remaining one teaspoon flour. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in blueberries.

• Spread batter into prepared pan. Scatter blueberries over top of batter. Stir sugar and cinnamon together.

• Sprinkle over batter. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, for 45 to 50 minutes.

• Cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out and place on serving platter. Serve it warm or at room temperature.

• Cake can be stored in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days. Makes 12 generous servings.

Blueberry Boy Bait