overnight blueberry french toast

A few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon, we had the pleasure of entertaining a bunch of folks at the Beers/Bobo place. It was early enough in the afternoon that we decided to go with a brunchy kind of menu, which included, among other things, a mountain of crispy bacon, lox and bagels, and something called breakfast enchiladas.  But the WOW dish was one that Mr. Beers prepared: Overnight Blueberry French Toast. We started with a recipe that Mr. Beers found on a website called allrecipes.com. It's a great site. You can search for a recipe in a lot of different ways, and you can usually find several options for anything you might be thinking about making (or "fixing," as we like to say in the south). Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, Overnight Blueberry French Toast:

Ingredients:

12 slices of day-old bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (sourdough works well)
1 lb. cream cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 cup fresh or frozen (we used frozen) blueberries
12 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 teasp. vanilla
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 Tblsp. cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup (another one!) fresh or frozen blueberries
1 Tblsp. butter

Directions:

1. Lightly grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with the cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup of blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with the remaining bread cubes.

2. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, and syrup. Pour this mixture over the bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

3. Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

4. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 25 - 30 minutes, or until the center is firm and the surface is lightly browned.

5. In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 - 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining cup of blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked mixture.

You're done!

When Mr. Beers made this, he tripled or quadrupled the recipe because we were serving a large group. It was delicious, and there was nary a morsel left in the dish.  If there are no pictures here, it's only because it was devoured way too quickly.  If there are pictures here, that means we made it again, which also means that Mr. Bobo is most likely full and smiling.