Overnight Pumpkin French Toast Bake
Slices of brioche are soaked in a spiced pumpkin custard overnight so that it's ready to bake the next morning in this french toast bake
Ingredients
Ingredients
French toast
- 1 lb.-loaf brioche bread challah works, too
- 6 large eggs
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin purée
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. cloves
- ¼ tsp. nutmeg
- ¼ tsp. allspice
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Spiced pumpkin seeds
- 1 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds
- 2 tsp. vegetable oil plus more for greasing
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. ginger
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Maple whipped cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tbsp Maple syrup the real stuff
- Half a vanilla bean pod or 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract
Instructions
French toast
- Butter a 9x13-inch baking dish or any of similar size and depth (like a large, oblong Dutch oven).
- Whisk together remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
- Cut the bread loaf into 1-inch slices.
- Dunk each slice into the liquid custard mixture, hydrating each side fully. Layer them, overlapping slightly, into the buttered dish.
- Evenly pour remaining custard over the slices. There will be a shallow moat of liquid at the bottom of the pan. Most of that should be soaked up by the bread as it sits, but it can vary depending on the bread.
- Let the bread soak, covered, in the fridge over night.
- The next morning, or at least a few hours later, remove the pan from the fridge. If there's still a lot of liquid left in the pan, you can drain some of it out.
- Preheat oven to 325° F and place a rack in the center position.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until the bread is puffed up, there is no more liquid visible in the dish and the tops of the bread are browned and crisp.
- Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Spiced pumpkin seeds
- While the French toast is baking, you can make the spiced pumpkin seeds topping.
- Spread out the pumpkin seeds evenly on a lightly greased baking sheet.
- Toast the seeds in the hot oven for five minutes.
- Transfer the seeds from the sheet into a medium mixing bowl.
- Toss the seeds in the vegetable oil, ensuring to equally coat all of them.
- Add the sugar, salt and spices. Toss to coat.
- Again, spread out the seeds evenly on the baking tray, and place in the oven for five more minutes.
- Toss around the seeds on the sheet so they toast evenly, then return to the for 5 more minutes.
- Cool before serving.
Maple whipped cream
- In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk the heavy cream until trails begin to form behind the whisk.
- Add maple syrup and vanilla.
- Continue whisking just until the mixture holds soft peaks. Trust me: it's much better to have a looser whip than a totally curdled mess. That's why I never use a stand mixer to whip cream!