I had half a baguette that’s way past it’s prime.
It was sitting on my kitchen counter for the first couple of days, after which it was shifted into the refrigerator for fear of mold attack.
It became a refrigerator resident for another two days, in which it started to lose moisture and started to turn crisp.
I decided to make a bread pudding out of it. For what better way than to salvage a piece of old, dry bread than to drench it with milk, sugar and cream ?
The only problem i had was, i only had half of a baguette. Cutting it into 1″ thick, i didn’t have enough to cover the 9×13 inch pan that most bread pudding recipes are customed for. Geez, i didnt even have enough bread to cover an 8×8.
So i took out my smallest pan, a 9 x 5 and did some major mathematical computation to scale back on the recipe.
The original recipe also called for a praline topping of pecans.
I didn’t have any pecans on hands. But i knew i needed some sort of sweet topping for this since the sugar in the bread mixture was so scant.
So i flipped Martha Stewart’s Pies and Tarts book and proceeded with her crumble topping. I didn’t scale back on this recipe even though the recipe was for a much larger pan. I happen to like crumbles.
So with that, there we have it,
half a baguette revived, and a breakfast served.
I wish all of you a happy breakfast too!
Baked French Toast Casserole
Adapted from Paula Deen
Half a baguette (mine weighed to about 4 ounces)
2 eggs + 1 yolk
75 ml Half and Half
75 ml milk
10 gr sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt
Taken from Martha Stewart
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus room-temperature butter for pan
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
- 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions
Slice baguette into 1-inch each. Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9 by 5-inch flat baking pan in 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half-and-half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Beat with a whisk until blended but not too bubbly. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Make crumbles: Whisk together butter, brown sugar, and salt. Add flour and mix with a fork until large crumbs form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Spread crumble Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes, until puffed and lightly golden.
