I was planning on making simple French Toast for breakfast this weekend. This loaf of challah that I picked up from the 300 bakery looked so good that I feel it deserves some exquisite treatment than simple French Toast. There is no other place to turn to than my favorite Tartine cook book.  The Tartine Brioche Bread Pudding recipe says you can use challah slices instead of Brioche! So here is how the Bread Pudding French Toast turned out. Instead of caramel sauce, I tried to keep it healthy and made strawberry puree from fresh strawberries to dress up the toasts. It gets thumbs up from everyone who tried it. Follow the recipe exactly, the custard recipe is perfect!

• Prep Time: 1/2 hours
• Cook Time: 90 minutes
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1lb loaf of challah. I use only 3/4 of the loaf since I made my bread pudding in a 8.5″ x 4.5″ loaf pan
• Bananas, fresh berries, kiwis, or any kind of fruits you like to eat with french toasts
• sprigs of mint/parsley for garnish
• powdered sugar for dusting french toasts

Custard

• 8 large eggs
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 cups whole milk

Strawberry Puree

• 1 lb fresh strawberry
• sugar to taste

Directions

Strawberry Puree

1. Remove stems from strawberries and cut into quarters.
2. Heat the strawberries over medium high heat in a small, heavy bottom sauce pan.
3. When the strawberries are softened and turned juicy, puree with a hand blender. Add sugar and adjust to taste.
4. Set aside to cool until ready to use.

Bread Pudding French Toast

1. Cut challah into 1 inch slices. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet. Bake in 350 degree F oven for 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
2. To prepare the custard, whisk eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl until blended. Add the vanilla extract, salt, and milk and whisk until fully incorporated.
3. Grease a 8.5″x4.5″ glass loaf pan.
4. Arrange the cooled challah slices in the loaf pan. Cut the slices to fill the pan. Layer to the top of the pan.
5. Pour custard evenly over the bread, filling the dish to the top. Let stand for 10 minutes. If needed, add more custard to the top of the dish.  You will not use up all the custard. Save the rest for other desserts.
6. Cover with a plastic warp and chill in refrigerator overnight.
7. Next morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
8. Remove the plastic cover, top off the dish with more of the custard if needed.
9. Cover the loaf pan with another sheet of foil.
10. Line the oven rack with a sheet of aluminum foil and place the covered loaf pan over it. The custard might overflow a little. Having the aluminum foil underneath saves some cleanup after baking.
11. Bake in 350 degree F oven for 90 minutes.
12. To check for doneness, insert a knife in the middle of the loaf. There should not be custard liquid if the custard is set. Otherwise, continue baking in increments of 5 minutes until the pudding is cooked.
13. Remove from the oven and let the pudding cool and sit for 10 minutes before serving.
14. To make french toast, let the pudding cool completely. Chill in refrigerator if needed.
15. Cut into 3/4 inch slices and remove from the loaf pan with the help of an offset spatula.
16. Lightly grease a skillet over medium heat. Gently brown each side of the toast for 5 minutes.
17. Transfer to serving plate. Garnish with banana slices, fresh fruits, mint leaves. Dust the french toast with powdered sugar. Serve with the strawberry puree.