Overnight French Toast

A great way to use up a day or two old baguette! You can easily add different spices, mini chocolate chips or berries.

For the custard:
4 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar - white or brown
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp rum or vanilla extract

1 loaf day old baguette or ciabatta cut into 1/2" slices
2 Tbsp butter, cut into small pieces, plus additional for the pan

Whisk the custard ingredients together thoroughly.  Butter a glass pan that will fit all the bread slices.  Arrange the slices slightly overlapping on an angle.  Pour the custard over the slices, pressing the bread down so it can absorb the custard.  If the bread absorbs all the custard before you get it to the fridge, or your pan is so large that the bread isn't mostly covered by the custard, mix up another half batch of custard and pour over the top.  Arrange the small pieces of butter on the top, nestling between the slices.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.

In the morning, remove the plastic wrap, place the dish in the oven and turn on to 350.  Let the glass heat up with the oven so you don't go from the cold of the fridge to the hot oven and stress the pan.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until custard is set.  Remove and let sit for a few minutes before serving with hot syrup, berry sauce and fresh whipped cream.

Options:
-spread the slices of bread with a thin layer of Nutella or peanut butter
-sprinkle chocolate chips in between the bread slices
-cook chopped bananas in butter and brown sugar to make a caramel sauce and serve over the french toast
-sprinkle chopped pecans or almonds over the top
-sprinkle fresh or frozen blueberries or raspberries between the bread slices
-mix cream cheese with sugar and lemon zest; spread a thin layer on the bread slices
-zest an orange into the custard and whisk to combine