Make it tonight, bake it tomorrow ~ my overnight raspberry baked French toast is soft, custardy, and full of juicy raspberries. Impress someone you love with this easy spring breakfast.
Raspberry baked French toast is made for spring mornings when you want something a little special without standing at the stove flipping slices of bread. Buttery brioche soaks overnight in a vanilla custard, then bakes up golden and pillowy with bright pockets of raspberry throughout. It’s brunchy, beautiful, and exactly the kind of make-ahead recipe I’d want for Mother’s Day (hint hint.)
How raspberry baked French toast works
WHISK together a simple custard of eggs, milk, a little sugar, and flavorings ~ here, vanilla and cardamom.
SLICE the brioche and arrange it snugly in your baking dish with half the raspberries tucked in between. Shortcut: buy an already sliced loaf.
POUR the custard over the bread, making sure every slice gets thoroughly soaked.
COVER and refrigerate overnight so the brioche has time to absorb all that flavor.
BAKE the next morning with the remaining raspberries and a little butter until puffed, golden, and lightly crisp at the edges.
The result is a lightly sweet, soft-centered French toast bake that edges deliciously close to bread pudding. The combination of tart raspberries, buttery brioche, and fragrant cardamom makes this raspberry baked French toast feel especially fresh for spring.
You asked
The brioche needs time to soak up the custard all the way through. If you want to bake it the same morning be sure you allow at least a couple of hours soaking time. Be sure the bread is saturated before baking, it might help to press down a couple of times to ensure it’s all soaked.
Brioche is rich, tender, and sturdy enough to hold an overnight custard without falling apart. It gives the finished bake that soft, almost bread-pudding quality while still holding its shape in slices. Challah is my next choice.
Other berries like blueberries, blackberries, or strawberries would work. You could also do a mixed berry baked French toast.
I wouldn’t double this recipe in a 9×13 pan. Since the original is made in a 9×9 pan, a 9×13 is closer to a 1 1/2 batch than a true double. For the best texture, scale the recipe up by about 1 1/2, or make two separate 9×9 pans if you need a full double batch. Bake until the center is puffed, set, and no longer wet.
My spring brunch game plan
I’d build the whole brunch around this raspberry baked French toast: add crispy bacon, a bowl of fruit, strong coffee, and something bubbly.
Take it a step further
- Perfect Egg Tartines
- Homemade Chicken Apple Sausage
- Breakfast Melon Bowls
- French Press Breakfast Chocolate
- Chantilly Cream
Add The View from Great Island as a Trusted Google Source
Raspberry Baked French Toast
Equipment
- 9×9 square baking pan
Ingredients
- 8 slices brioche bread, sliced about 3/4-1 inch thick
- 1 cup fresh raspberries, divided
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp cardamom
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 tbsp butter
- powdered sugar and maple syrup for serving
Instructions
- Assemble the French toast the night before you plan to bake and serve it. Start by slicing your bread in half and arranging it in your 9×9 square baker. Overlap the slices slightly, and tuck in about half a cup of the fresh raspberries around and underneath the slices of bread.
- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the milk, half and half, eggs, cardamom, salt, sugar, and vanilla bean paste. Whisk well until smooth and well combined.
- Pour the milk and egg mixture over the bread in the pan, covering everything. Gently press the bread down so that it is mostly submerged in the mixture. Cover tightly and place in the fridge overnight.
- The next morning, preheat your oven to 350F.
- When it is preheated, take the French toast out of the fridge. Cut 1 tbsp of butter into small pieces and dot them over the surface of the bread. Scatter the remaining 1/2 cup of raspberries over the surface as well.
- Bake for about 1 hour or until puffed and just barely wobbly in the center.
- Remove from the oven, allow to cool very briefly before topping with powdered sugar.
- Serve warm with maple syrup.
Notes
Nutrition
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