A Brunch Potluck & Maple Blueberry Deep Dish French Toast

I think my friend Julie simply likes hosting parties and potlucks, because not long after her Pie Party she invited a bunch of food bloggers over to her house to meet Charmian, a food writer and blogger from just outside Toronto. (Guelph? St. Catharines? I'm only embarrassing myself...)

It was great getting to meet and chat with Charmian, who is as funny and charming in person as she is on the blog! It was also nice to catch up with some of my fellow food blogger friends, and meet Wendy from Yelp!

The spread was delicious - our gracious hostess Julie made bite-sized scones served with Devonshire cream and homemade berry jam. She also made coffee to order with her new Aeropress, cracked open a few bottles of bubbly and let us raid her tea stash.

Dan made a delicious quiche with topped with roasted cherry tomatoes (cut off in the photo - sorry!), which was made all the more impressive by the fact that he had just moved the night before and shopped for all the ingredients and made it the morning of.

Pierre and his girlfriend Candace made a yummy, gooey Welsh rarebit (served with the lesson that pewter can't go in the oven - eek!) and a refreshing jelly mold flavoured with lemon verbena and studded with berries.

Gwendolyn brought a simple, but delicious glazed applesauce cake while Wendy brought a hearty oatmeal bake filled with saskatoon berries.

Cheryl and Fareen each brought one savoury and one sweet item - Cheryl made a tomato crisp and a basket of pear, chocolate and tonka bean scones, while Fareen brought some mini crustless quiches and took the opportunity to show off some treats from her new business - Sweet Somethings by Foodmamma Her chocolate cake pops rolled in coconut where a perfect, decadent bite.

  
In keeping with my New Year's Resolutions, I decided to browse through my cookbooks to see if there was a breakfast item that I wanted to make. Aimée's Maple Blueberry Deep Dish French Toast, which was printed in Blog Aid, seemed perfect - most of the prep was done the day/night before, and it was easily portable for the short drive down to Julie's.


This dish is definitely a special occasion food - it's cream cheese mixed with maple syrup, then layered with cream and egg! The only saving graces are the blueberries and I also bought some multigrain Italian bread (hehe). I was surprised that the nutritional info isn't worse than it is, though I did make the portions small...


The dish is rich and decadent and a little reminiscent of bread pudding. I love the mix of the gooey, doughy bread on the bottom, and the toastier pieces of bread towards the top. My friend Janine says it might be a good Christmas brunch item, which I think is a great idea - perhaps with some cranberries instead of blueberries?

Maple Blueberry Deep Dish French Toast
Adapted from Aimée Wimbush-Borque's recipe in Blog Aid
Makes 4-6 servings

• 4 oz (225 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter, at room temperature
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) maple syrup, or maple butter
• ¼ teaspoon (1 mL) cinnamon
• 8 slices Italian bread, about ½ inch thick, from middle of loaf
• 1 cup (250 mL) blueberries
• 1 cup (250 mL) light cream
• 4 eggs
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) maple syrup
• 1 pinch salt

1. Grease a 1-2 L capacity stoneware baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together cream cheese, butter and maple syrup until it is creamy and glossy like frosting. Add cinnamon and mix well.
3. Lay out the slices of bread on your workspace and divide the cream cheese mixture among four of the slices. Spread it around evenly and top with the four remaining slices of bread.
4. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the sandwiches into three ‘fingers’, and each one of those fingers into three. You should have roughly nine bite-sized chunks per sandwich. Don’t worry if everything seems to squish out.
5. Transfer all the bread to the baking dish and spread out evenly. Top with blueberries, tucking them in here and there, and pressing them down between the cubes of bread.
6. Using the same bowl as your former cream cheese mixture, crack the eggs and beat slightly. Add cream, maple syrup and salt; mix well.
7. Pour egg mixture over bread. Using a well-washed hand, place your palm in the center of the dish and gently press all the bread down until the egg mixture seeps up through the cracks. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
8. In the morning, preheat oven to 350˚F (175˚C). Cook for 35-45 minutes until puffy and golden. Cover with foil if bread is browning before eggs are set. Serve warm, with more maple syrup and fresh blueberries, if desired.

Nutrition Info (per 1/6 recipe): 353 calories, 20 g fat (12 g saturated), 181 mg cholesterol, 31 g carbohydrate (1 g fibre, 14 g sugar), 9 g protein, 363 mg sodium. An excellent source of riboflavin (vitamin B₂)*, folate (vitamin B₄)*, manganese and selenium. A good source of vitamin A** and vitamin B₁₂.

 

*From fortification of bread

**From fortification of cream

Check out Charmian and Fareen's takes on the brunch!