Sticky Date French Toast Bake

What do you get when you cross Sticky Date (or Toffee) pudding with breakfast?

This.

Sticky Date French Toast Bake (or casserole) drizzled in a lightened up Butterscotch sauce — just in time to start your Christmas menu planning.

Prepared either the day before or the morning of Christmas: a quick, easy and super decadent breakfast bake to enjoy with Merry passion after opening all of those presents. Or, if you’re anything like us, wrapping all of the presents lastminutethenightbefore and needing some sort of fix when you wake up from a stressed out half/sleep.

In order to transform our humble Sticky Date Pudding into a breakfast solution, a light egg wash was created…keeping the crucial Sticky Date sweetness with brown sugar (or coconut sugar), and using Brioche instead of sandwich bread for extra soft and custard-like decadence.

There’s no need for pre-soaking the night before, as Brioche is super soft and absorbs all of the flavours almost immediately. So feel free to prepare and bake it all in the morning. BUT! For the sake of sanity and a beautiful de-stressed Christmas breakfast, you can prepare this the night before, refrigerate it, and take it out about an hour before baking.

After baking to golden perfection with crispy outer edges, drizzle over the butterscotch caramel sauce — which is not just any sauce. It’s simmered and infused with soft and sticky date pieces for extra flavour.

Every mouthful is reminiscent of the traditional Sticky Date Pudding, with a Brioche twist.

Possibly one of the best French Toast recipes I have on Cafe Delites. Move over Red Velvet and Cappuccino… Take a back seat Peanut Butter Cheesecake Stuffed with your Brownie French Toasts….this here is the new guy in town.

Every mouthful promises soft date pieces; custard soft bread pudding; and a lightened up butterscotch.

Sticky Date French Toast Bake

Sticky Date made into a French Toast Bake (or casserole) drizzled in a lightened up Butterscotch sauce -- just in time to start your Christmas menu planning.

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Serves: 8

Ingredients

French Toast Bake:

• 1 x400g | 14oz loaf Brioche , evenly sliced
• 3/4 cup pitted dates , roughly chopped
• 4 large eggs
• 2 1/2 cups milk (low fat or full cream, or almond milk)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• Pinch of salt (about 1/4 teaspoon)

Butterscotch Sauce:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter or spread of choice (I used an olive oil spread)
• 150 ml | 1/2 cup thickened cream (heavy cream or coconut cream)
• 1/4 cup pitted dates , roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup boiling water (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 200°C | 390°F.
• Lightly grease a 28x23-cm | 9x11-inch casserole dish with cooking oil spray or a light coating of butter. Place the bread slices into the dish, and arrange the dates all around, under and in between the bread slices.
• Whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon (if using), and salt until frothy and well combined. Pour the egg wash over the bread. Press the bread lightly into the egg wash to evenly coat.
• Bake in preheated oven util cooked through and golden on top (about 40-45 minutes).
• While the french toast is in the oven, prepare sauce:
• Combine the sugar and butter in a medium sized saucepan on low heat. Occasionally stir until the brown sugar has melted through the butter, When the mixture is hot and steaming (after about 2 minutes), gradually add the cream in small amounts, stirring in between each addition, until all of the cream is in the pan. Add in the dates and allow the sauce to bubble up and froth, while still occasionally stirring. After about 8 minutes the sauce should be thickened and the dates will be soft. Take off heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour in 1 tablespoon of boiling water at a time (whisking after each addition), until reaching your desired consistency.
• Serve a slice with a drizzle of butterscotch and softened date pieces!

Nutrition

Calories: 462kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 14g | Fiber: 4.2g