this recipe rocks. i love making it for overnight guests or for dinner. it sounds complicated, but is pretty easy. i don't always always use fresh orange juice, and it still turns out delicious. it turns out to kinda have a caramel sauce that you can spoon out and drizzle on it. love it.


Overnight Orange Pecan French Toast


INGREDIENTS
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/3 cup chopped pecans
12 (3/4 inch thick) slices French bread
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup 2% milk
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg whites
2 eggs
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar for dusting

DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, melted butter, and corn syrup. Pour into a greased 9x13 inch baking dish, and spread evenly. Sprinkle pecans over the sugar mixture. Arrange the bread slices in the bottom of the dish so they are in a snug single layer.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the orange zest, orange juice, milk, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, egg whites, and eggs. Pour this mixture over the bread, pressing on the bread slices to help absorb the liquid. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Remove the cover from the baking dish, and let stand for 20 minutes at room temperature.

Bake for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Peach French Toast

1 C. packed brown sugar
1/2 C. butter
2 tbsp. water
2 (15 oz.) cans sliced peaches, drained
12 (3/4 inch thick) slices day-old French bread, cubed (if you only have fresh bread, cube it and then dry it out in a warm oven for a few minutes. This really helps to avoid soggy bread.)
6 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 pinch cinnamon
1 1/2 C. milk

In a saucepan, stir together the brown sugar, butter and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Pour the brown sugar mixture into a 9x13 baking dish, and tilt the dish to cover the entire bottom. Place peaches in a layer over the sugar coating. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Dredge bread in milk and egg mixture, then put bread on top of peaches and pour remaining mixture over it. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove the dish from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking to come to room temp. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Uncover and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown and egg mixture isn't goopy anymore. Spoon out portions to serve.

This is very sweet, so you can cut the brown sugar, butter and water mixture in half and it still tastes great. This is great with tart apples, too.

Julia