I've had the original version as described here, which is good but can be improved - trust me! I've tried several variations of this and other similar recipes ("Overnight Blueberry French Toast"), and this is my family's favorite: Cut eggs back to 9-10, and add 1 tsp. vanilla to the egg/milk mixture. Six to 8 oz. cream cheese is plenty. Spreading the cream cheese on the bread before slicing is a great idea if you have family members who aren't fond of cream cheese - it's less visible. Otherwise, cut into small dice no bigger than 1/2 inch (a little messy, but much better than the 1 inch squares suggested in other recipes). It's critical to sprinkle cinnamon (I like Pampered Chef's "Cinnnamon Plus" spice blend) on both the bottom and top layers of bread cubes - the cinnamon could be added to the egg mixture as well, but I would still sprinkle extra on top. For the sauce, use only about 1-2 tsp. of cornstarch, especially if you prepare it ahead of time - otherwise the sauce becomes too thick. Reduce the sugar to 1/4-1/3 cup, and add the juice of half a lemon for a little zip. Tip: Be careful not to use too much bread -- the dish can't "puff up" if all of the cubes aren't sufficiently saturated. Also, as much as I love the sauce, the dish is equally good and maybe even better with real maple syrup. Enjoy!
This was DELICIOUS as a light supper with a sausage patty on the side. I divided this recipe down to make 3 servings. Used homemade white bread and frozen rinsed blueberries (that's all that I had on hand). For my 3 servings I did use 3-1/2 oz. of cream cheese 2/3 cup blueberries and 1/4 cup chopped pecans in the refrigerated mixture. (Spread the cheese over all the slices of bread before cutting them into cubes.) For the sauce I increased the blueberries to 1/2 cup and added the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Only had time to chill this for about 2 hours. Baked it in an 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch glass loaf pan. VERY YUMMY!
Love it! I was looking forward to trying this and was disappointed when I realized that it was supposed to be made the day before. I prepared and baked itanyway and it was great. I used frozen blueberries. I will use fewer eggs next time and more blueberries.
I prepared this dish for my family's Easter brunch celebration (30 people) and everyone loved it. Got lots of requests for the recipe.
I was very disappointed with the way this recipe turned out. I would reduce the quantity of eggs to 4 and add 1/2 cup of sugar to the mixture. There was too much cream cheese and it did not contribute anything to the flavor. Use a good hearty bread such as a challah and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over it before baking.
To facilitate easier serving I slice the bread into 12 slices then make six "sandwiches" with cream cheese on each slice of bread and a small handful of blueberries. I cut cut each sandwich in half then fit the halves in a 9 x 13 pan. In the morning I flip over each sandwich so the soggier side is on top and the drier side is on the bottom before baking. This ensures 12 clearly defined portions easy serving and eating and even distribution of the egg and milk mixture. I bring this whenever I need a brunch dish for work or other gatherings.
My family raved about this recipe which I served for a Christmas brunch. I substituted cranberries for the blueberries. The tartness counter-balanced the sweetness nicely was less expensive than blueberries plus looked more Christmas-y. Thank you for this new family favorite.
I cut the white sugar in half and that made this a little less sweet.
I was very disappointed in this recipe. I followed it except for adding cinnamon vanilla and walnuts for added flavor as recommended. It was still very bland and dry on the top. A 1 lb. loaf of italian bread is way too much! Blueberry sauce was good but that was about it. Sorry but I would not recommend this recipe.
