My Stuffed French Toast

We had a very intense and stressful week, so I decided we needed something to pick us up.  What do I go to?  The kitchen.  I love to cook, and we love to eat, so it's natural for me to cook up something special when we are in a rut.

This morning I decided to make some stuffed French toast.  Last time I made it I wasn't the happiest with how it came out, so I took some notes and redid my recipe.

Just a note: I eyeballed the amounts, so you may want to adjust according to your taste

All of us enjoyed it!

Stuffed French Toast with Strawberry-Orange Syrup

12 ounces strawberry preserves

1/2 cup orange juice

1 loaf Italian bread

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 TB brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp nutmeg

bacon

• Heat the strawberry preserves and orange juice until boiling, then reduce to simmer until the syrup is the consistency you prefer.  I let mine cook while I worked on the rest of the meal, and it turned out to be just right when everything was finished.
• Cut the Italian loaf into wide pieces, about 2 inches thick.  Cut a slit in the top that goes 3/4 of the way through the bread.
• Mix together cream cheese, sugars, and vanilla.  Stuff into the bread.  I had some left over.
• Mix together eggs, whipping cream, vanilla, and nutmeg.
• At this point I cooked some bacon, poured out the fat, and get ready to cook the French toast
• Dip the bread into the egg mixture and cook- about 2 minutes on each side.
• To serve I spooned a little extra filling on the top and poured the syrup over it.  You could add a little powdered sugar on the top if you like, but we were hungry!

It was Matthew's favorite food. Ever.  I will agree, it was pretty good.  He told me if I lost this recipe he would divorce me, lol.  I wrote it down immediately. I think this may become our new Christmas morning breakfast. Enjoy!

I forgot to take a picture before we started eating.  Delicious!