This was very, very good. The only change I would make to the original recipe next time would be to soak the bread overnight in the egg/milk mixture then when I’m ready to put it in the oven I would assemble it. When I made it, the bread didn’t look like there was enough of it, so I added more, then I ended up needing to add more egg/milk so it turned out slightly different than it was probably intended. Plus the bread on the top ended up being almost crouton-like, delicious, but still crouton-y. One of my concerns was that it would turn out too soggy, but I used day-old sourdough bread and it turned out very tasty. The knife that was supposed to test clean never did after about 45 minutes at 350° then another 10 at 400° so I just called it done and it was cooked through. The cream cheese mixture is very rich and buttery and using tart apples (I ended up using 3 instead of the 2 called for and sliced them instead of chopping them) makes this a perfect breakfast recipe.
8 c. cubed French bread (1 inch cubes)
2 medium tart apples, peeled and chopped
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
¾ c. packed brown sugar
¼ c. sugar
1 ¾ c. milk, divided
2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
½ c. English toffee bits or almond brickle chips
5 eggs
1. Place half of the bread cubes in a greased 13X9 inch baking dish; top with apples. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugars, ¼ c. milk and 1 tsp. vanilla until smooth; stir in toffee bits. Spread over apples. Top with remaining bread cubes. In another mixing bowl, beat the eggs and remaining milk and vanilla; pour over bread. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 35-45 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
Yield: 8 servings