Karen's Fruit and Croissant French Toast

The other day I gave a talk to the Sacramento Bloggers group. I brought goodies which included wonderful buttery croissants from Estelle's Bakery and a couple were left over. Two-day-old croissants are not the best things to eat, but I did not want to waste these expensive treats. I also drink my coffee black, so the leftover cream from the Starbuck's coffee order was just sitting in the fridge. 

I am a good Canadian and always keep maple syrup in my fridge, I'd been to the market yesterday and had bought my usual fresh market berries and while the oranges on our tree are not quite ripe the zest is orange, fresh and tangy. A few pantry basics and a tasty dish emerged.

Cal liked his Veteran's Day treat and wanted to be sure I wrote the recipe down.

I thought a blog post could do that and I could share this with everyone.

Karen’s Baked Fruit Croissant French Toast Casserole

2 servings

Ingredients

•       2 large (Jumbo) one- to two-day-old croissant
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon orange zest
• 2 teaspoons maple syrup
•        dash Kosher salt
•        1/3 cup each of fresh washed blueberries and raspberries
•        Optional - substitute/add strawberries
• Toppings, if you wish - confectioners’ sugar, or maple syrup

Instructions:

Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, place rack in the middle of the oven.

Grease a 3-4 cup casserole dish with 1/2 Tablespoon butter.

Slice croissants and arrange to fill the bottom of casserole.

Mix beaten eggs, cream, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest and maple syrup in a bowl. Pour just over half over croissant layer. Arrange remaining slices and pour remainder of mixture over slices. Add fruit over the top.

Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 25 minutes. Enjoy!

Calories: 

525 per serving

Estimated Nutritional values: 

carbs 58g, fat 27g, protein 4g, fiber 5g, K 81mg, Na 500mg, Cholesterol 245mg, folate 4% daily value, iron 6% daily value, vit C 25% daily value, Mg 4% daily value, Ca 8% daily value