Thursday, September 30, 2010

CEIMB: Blueberry Almond French Toast Bake


This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was chosen by Heide of Chez Zero. It was Ellie's Blueberry Almond French Toast Bake, from her book So Easy. Ok, I have to be completely honest here: we did not love this. Not at all. It's a shame, really, because we were looking forward to this one. And it turned out so pretty, too!



Now, there are a couple reasons why I think this did not work out for us, and I would love to try making this again with a few changes. For starters, the bread that I used was way too soft. I know I was supposed to use crusty, or day-old, bread. However, the bread I bought for this was this crazy soft bread that remained soft for three days! I bought it early enough that I thought for sure it would be stale by the time I needed it, but no dice. It's ironic, isn't it? The one time I really wantd my bread to become hard, and it wouldn't! Oh, well.



So that was my biggest problem. The finished product was really soggy, and I just don't like my french toast casseroles to come out that mushy. I like them to be firm and solid on the inside, with a nice crispy crust on the outside. I feel like there were too many eggs in this recipe. If I were to do it all over again, I would not use 8 (8!) whole eggs plus 8 egg whites. Instead I would probably use half that, at least. Both my hubby and I felt like the inner texture of this dish was just weird. It contained both qualities of cooked, soft scrambled eggs and mushy bread all at the same time. The taste itself was not bad, but it wasn't great enough to redeem the whole thing.



One fun thing I should mention, though: I decided to brulee the top, just for kicks. The top turned out to be the best thing about the french toast bake! It was easy; I just removed the dish from the oven when the bake time was complete, and sprinkled it lightly with granulated sugar. I switched the oven to broil and put the dish back in for a few minutes. The top became slightly charred-looking in some spots and extra crispy all over. The almonds got super-toasty, too. I thought it was really tasty, and it's a fun way to finish off a dish like this.

Thanks to Heide for the pick this week. I'm glad I got to try it, success or not. Besides, like I said, I'm now motivated to make this recipe again, but hopefully with improvements! Maybe the other CEIMBers made out better than me; you can check out the blogroll here.

9 comments:

  1. I wonder what happened to your dish? I used fresh Nature's Pride Oatmeal bread and double layered it. I only used 8 whole eggs total. Ted is absolutely loving the dish and didn't say anything about "soggy". I tasted a little and thought it was super. However - what Ted does is freeze it then toasts or nukes it in the morning. Maybe that firms the bread up a bit more? Who knows. The fruit flavor was great though.

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  2. You know what? Did it mean to use 16 eggs? I only used eight total. I didn't quite get the whole 8 eggs plus 8 egg white thing I guess. Mine was not soggy at all. I think you should try it again one day. It looks really delicious the way you have it though!

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  3. Euhm so yeah, after reading your post I'm really happy that I didn't even try making this. I don't care for soggy bread puddings! What a waste of 16 eggs!!!

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  4. Oh, I'm sorry this one didn't work out for you! I baked mine a bit longer to make sure it was really well set, because a soggy breakfast would have made me puke. :) I hope you give it another shot sometime, with success!

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  5. I love your idea of a brulee top! How fun and easy. Thank you for sharing, something I am going to try next time.

    I have made French toast like this before and knew what would happen with a LOT of liquid. I wish there was a way to let the writers of a recipe know about problems with a recipe so they can go back and correct it before more people attempt the same fate we did.

    Your bread staying soft sounded frustrating when you planned 3 days ahead. I'm sorry you were not enthused with the flavor or texture either. Hopefully the next recipe will be a total winner! =) Shandy

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  6. GREAT idea about brulee-ing (is that a word?? I think I made that up) the top!

    So, I just couldn't get myself to make this. Last year I chose the Peach French Toast Bake for my pick, and I didn't end up liking it at all for exactly the reasons you weren't crazy about this one. Seems like several people had good results this time after making some changes to the recipe though so maybe I will have to go back and give it a try. I'm not a huge french toast fan but Ryan is. I'm sure he would appreciate a second try :)

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  7. Always disappointing when one does not work out. We are not fans of soggy either, but for some reason, this worked out for us. Of course, put enough blueberries, sugar, and syrup on anything, and it is probably going to be a hit with the guys here. Some things are just givens. See you next week.

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  8. I love that you bruleed the top. Great idea. I am sorry you guys didn't love it...I get so annoyed when I take the time to make something and it isn't good.

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  9. Your topping looks amazing! I used a stale baguette and fewer eggs, but still had the soggy problem as well.

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