Overnight Stuffed French Toast

New Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Meg was here to visit for the weekend, so we made one of her (and my) favorite breakfasts. You make it the night before, which I think is genius when it comes to breakfast dishes because you have something special to look forward to, but you don't have to think or do much work in the morning.

French Toast

6 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 T orange marmalade or apricot preserves (we used homemade strawberry jelly)

a pinch ground ginger

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/4 C sliced almonds, toasted (we used slivered this time, and I didn't like it as well)

6 1 1/2-inch slices French bread (about half a loaf)

4 eggs

1 C milk

1 t vanilla

1 recipe sauce below

Grease a rectangular baking dish. In a small bowl, beat together cream cheese, marmalade, ginger, and nutmeg. Stir in almonds. Slice the bread loaf almost all the way through. Spread cream cheese mixture between the 2 layers of bread. Slice into about 6 slices and place on their sides in prepared dish.

In a small bowl beat together eggs, milk, and vanilla; slowly pour over the bread slices, covering all the tops. Sprinkle a few sliced almonds on top if desired. Cover and chill overnight.

Bake, uncovered, in a 350-degree oven, 30 - 35 minutes or until golden. Serve with sauce on top.

Sauce (The recipe calls for orange sauce, made with ingredients below, which is good. But this time, because we used strawberry jelly in the cream cheese, we made a strawberry sauce by simmering frozen strawberries from last summer with some cornstarch and sugar.)

1/2 t shredded orange peel

1 1/4 C orange juice

2 T honey

4 t cornstarch

Stir together all ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 2 minutes more.