French Toast Cups With Berries

I woke up this morning wishing it was the weekend and it’s only Wednesday. Two more days until the weekend, but it might as well be five judging by the work I have to do before then. Not that I’m complaining, really. I actually like my work, but there sure is a lot of it this week. So, I decided to whip up something untraditional for dinner. Weekend food. Specifically, brunchy weekend food. French toast has been a favorite of mine since childhood. And when I’m craving breakfast, French toast usually satisfies.

But of course this couldn’t be any old French toast. I rarely work that way. These are decadent french toast cups with berries. Individual portions so no one has to share. Which is a good thing because no one in this house can agree on a berry. While I love blackberries, I’m not a fan of strawberries. And none of my kids are fans of blackberries. These individual cups let us all have what we want. We can be berry picky.

The recipe is quite simple. A custardy base poured over cubed day old bread. Oh how I love day old bread. It’s cheap and it can be used in so many different ways. If you haven’t poked around your grocer’s day old bread rack, go check it out. There’s some good stuff there.

Once all of the ingredients are mixed together, into the cups it goes. Berries are quite delicate little things, so I didn’t just toss them in willy-nilly. Nope. I hand placed them into the cups. That way they wouldn’t get all bruised and squashed. I like my food pretty.

Not only did the cups look pretty when they came out of the oven, the house smelled incredible. Vanilla and sugar wafting through the air. The kids were less than patient towards the end. But oh, were they worth the wait. Crisp and buttery on the outside and custard-like in the middle, with bursting bites of fruit goodness throughout.

If I closed my eyes while eating, I could’ve convinced myself that it was the weekend. It sure tasted like it. If you love brunchy foods like I do, give these a whirl this weekend. Or don’t wait until the weekend. Who says brunch has to be on a weekend? Who makes up these crazy rules anyway?

Berry French Toast Cups

Prep: 15 mins; Cook time: 40 mins; Serves: 12

Ingredients:

16 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 loaf day old bread (I used Italian), cubed 1 stick of butter, melted 1 cup light cream 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 cup fresh berries (any kind you like)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350º. Line muffin pan with liners OR you can skip the liners and grease the muffin tin.

In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, cream, butter, brown sugar and vanilla. Mix well.

Pour the egg mixture over the bread cubes. Gently toss to coat.

Fill each muffin well half full. Place berries in the middle.

Cover with more bread cubes until the muffin well is full.

Place more berries on top.

Bake in a 350º oven for forty minutes or until golden and the egg has set.