Baked French Toast

I've always enjoyed Challah french toast from various brunch places but truth be told, always thought it was too difficult to make myself. Then J. reminded me that there is a baking recipe and I had not been diligent enough to document our baking session in my blog. In an attempt to bring french toast baking recipe back, I browsed the web for some inspirations and made a few french toast breakfasts in the past week. 

The star of the show today (cue arcade game music of your choice)

no Pacman was harmed during this cooking session

Ok, on with the show.

Baked French Toast

ingredients:

• sugar (brown is probably best, but I had regular sugar, so I just used it)
• cinnamon
• nutmeg (optional, to taste)
• milk
• eggs (2-3 per each batch)
• salt
• egg challah (3 or 4 fat slices will be fine. you can also use brioche)
• butter (enough to coat pan)
• citrus zest (optional but is also life-changing. orange zest is best, but lemon is fine too)

directions:

day before making french toast

• leave bread out to harden (about an afternoon or so)
• make mix by combining 2-3 eggs, 1/2 cup of milk or more with a pinch of salt.
• melt butter (i used about 1 tablespoon or so). 
• butter bottom of baking pan. note that I used a circular one because it's my smallest pan. You can use larger pan if you plan on making more.
• Spoon out enough sugar to coat bottom of pan lightly.
• Add spices to taste. For me, that means a lot of cinnamon and nutmeg
• place bread in the pan
• pour on egg mix

• cover with foil and place in fridge overnight

day of cooking french toast

• preheat oven to 350 F.
• add zest to pan
• bake for 30min or until golden brown
• wait for pan to cool a bit and gently flip entire round french toast onto plate (this was an unintended surprise during my experiment, but hey, I'll take it)
• Optional step: Decorate with smiley face (can use syrup or sauce). Cut into funny shapes.
• Serve with any favorite french toast embellishments (powdered sugar, maple syrup, berries, etc). I actually didn't have maple syrup so used apricot jam and chocolate sauce instead. They also work nicely.
• Bonus: your room will smell like heaven. You are welcome.

source recipes:

baking (this is the main one I used, although I mostly guesstimated the ingredients):
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-oven-baked-french-toast/

frying:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/french_toast/

tips for frying:

http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/common-mistakes/article/the-7-most-common-french-toast-cooking-mistakes

more tips and inspirations

http://food-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/12-food-hacks-for-perfect-french-toast-every-time-0157474/