Strawberry & Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

By Foodiewife

What do you with a loaf of French bread that is a little stale? Make croutons? Perhaps, unless you have an abundance of strawberries and farm fresh eggs! A custard of eggs, vanilla and whole milk makes a hearty French Toast. I stacked two of the French toasts with a Strawberry & Cream Cheese filling flavored with orange zest-- this tasted like Strawberry Blintzes. I included a homemade strawberry sauce which made this breakfast a lovely tribute to fresh strawberries.

Ingredients

• For the strawberry filling:
• 6 eggs
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla
• 6 slices of slightly stale French bread (fresh/soft bread will make soggy French Toast)
• 1 package cream cheese (I used Neufachtel)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• Zest of one orange
• Pinch of kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla
• 4 to 6 large strawberries (doesn't have to be exact), hulled, washed and coarsely chopped.
• NOTE: 1/2 cup ricotta cheese (optional)

Details

Servings 4
Preparation time 20mins
Cooking time 30mins
Adapted from foodiewife-kitchen.blogspot.com

Preparation

Step 1

A food processor makes this filling easy to make. Add all of the ingredients and puree until thoroughly combined. Depending on the sweetness of the berries, you can adjust the sugar to your own taste. Set the filling aside.

Beat the eggs, whole milk and vanilla thoroughly in a large baking dish. Soak the slices of bread in the custard, turning onto both sides.

Heat a large skillet with a little bit of vegetable oil and a small pat of butter.

Cook the soaked bread slices until gold and turn over; cook on both sides. Spread an even layer of the cream cheese filling and top with another slice of bread. Grill for a minute to allow the filling to soften.

Serve with a dusting of powdered sugar. If desired, serve with strawberry sauce.

This dish closely resembles Strawberry Blintzes. I didn't have ricotta cheese when I made this, but I would definitely add that next time!