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Blackberry Breakfast Casserole

Source of Recipe

From "Bake Until Bubbly" by Clifford Wright


Recipe Introduction

"Bed-and-breakfast inns around the country, known as B&Bs for short, have found an ingenious way of serving a Sunday brunch without taxing their often limited kitchens. The breakfast casserole. Many of these dishes can be made ahead of time and plunked in the oven in the morning. This frankly over-the-top breakfast casserole is adapted from one that's served at the Wildflowers Farm Bed and Breakfast in Calvert City, Kentucky. At home, you'll want to serve this to a group coming over for brunch. When I first tested this recipe on a couple of 17-year-old boys they thought the phrase 'French toast on steroids' was accurate. Because the recipe is complex, although not hard, it's best to break it down into stages. I would make the blackberry syrup the day before. For real convenience, you could even assemble the entire dish and refrigerate it overnight, then take it out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking it. You can soften the cream cheese briefly in a microwave to make it more spreadable, or you can use whipped cream cheese which spreads easily. If blackberries are not available, use blueberries or raspberries. Finally, you will be pleased to know that you can cut the recipe in half which, theoretically, should serve six, but in reality, I'm sure four can down it without a problem outside of guilt. The cream of coconut is usually sold in the supermarket in the liquor section, as it is often used in tropical mixed drinks. Before starting the preparation, lay out your bread slices to be sure you have enough to form two layers in the baking casserole, and if necessary, trim the edges of the bread slices to fit in the baking casserole. Make sure you use evaporated milk and not regular milk to avoid curdling."

List of Ingredients

For the blackberry syrup:
â—¦ 1 pound fresh or frozen blackberries
â—¦ 2 cups granulated sugar
â—¦ 1 cup water
â—¦ ¼ cup cream of coconut
â—¦ ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
â—¦ 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
â—¦ 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the bread:
â—¦ ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
â—¦ 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons light or dark brown sugar
â—¦ ½ cup molasses
â—¦ 1 loaf French or Italian bread, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
â—¦ ½ pound cream cheese, softened
â—¦ 8 ounces sour cream
â—¦ 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
â—¦ 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
â—¦ 1 ½ cups slivered almonds

â—¦ 6 large eggs
â—¦ 1 cup evaporated milk
â—¦ ½ cup light or dark brown sugar
â—¦ 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
â—¦ ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
â—¦ 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, thinly sliced
â—¦ Confectioners' sugar for dusting


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Lightly butter a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking casserole.

Prepare the blackberry syrup. Place the blackberries, sugar, water, cream of coconut, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla in a large saucepan over high heat. Bring the liquids to a boil and continue boiling, stirring often, until syrupy, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.

Prepare the bread. In a small but wide saucepan or a small skillet, melt the butter with 1 cup of brown sugar and the molasses over low heat, stirring occasionally, until everything is dissolved and the mixture is syrupy, about 5 minutes. Dunk the bread slices into this syrup to coat both sides and then arrange half of the coated bread slices in the baking casserole. Spread half the cream cheese over the bread, then spread half the sour cream over the cream cheese. Arrange all the sliced apples over the sour cream. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, half of the cinnamon, and one-third of the almonds. Cover with the remaining coated bread slices. Spread the remaining cream cheese and sour cream over the bread. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, the remaining cinnamon, and one-third of the almonds.

In a bowl, mix the eggs, milk, brown sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla to blend. You should have about 3 ½ cups of this egg mixture. If you don't, add enough water so the egg mixture equals this amount. Pour the egg mixture over the bread. Dot the top with butter. Pour 1 cup of blackberry syrup over. Sprinkle with the remaining almonds.

Bake until the liquids bubble vigorously, about 35 minutes. Pour the remaining blackberry syrup over the casserole, sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, and serve hot.

Makes 8 servings