Stirring it up! Can you think of a better breakfast than hot steaming Baked French Toast on a cold and blustery winter morning? Me neither! The other day I made Baked Blueberry Croissant French Toast for our guests. I often create and adapt recipes when I cook and don’t take time to write them down so I had to think about this one for a bit – it was one of my “let’s try this” recipes. It is easy to do because you put this together the night before, refrigerate it and cook it in the morning. I made this for 20 people and that is a bit much for the ordinary family so here’s is how to work this out on a smaller scale.

• 1 slightly frozen croissant for every two people (Real croissants, not the brand name pop-open-the-container and bake kind!)
• 1/4 cup of whole milk (or Silk) per person
• 1 egg per person plus 1 extra egg for every 4 people
• 2 T softened cream cheese per person
• 1/8 t vanilla per person – a little more if you like a stronger vanilla flavour
• 1/4 cup medium sized blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 2 T brown sugar per person
• 1 t melted butter per person
• 1 T chopped nuts per person (pecans or almonds are nice)
• Nutmeg
• Cinnamon
• Whipped cream
• Powdered sugar

Grease a pan large enough to hold the croissants in one layer. The pan should have 2″ high sides. Depending on number of folks you are feeding you may need several pans.

Carefully cut the croissant while still slightly frozen and spread each half with cream cheese, spreading is easier this way. Place the croissant halves cream cheese side up in one layer in the greased pan.  Combine the eggs, milk and vanilla in a bowl and beat until well mixed and all eggs are incorporated. Pour the mixture over the croissants so that they are just barely covered with liquid. If you find that you need more liquid make more 1 egg, 1/4c milk mixture until you have sufficient. The actual amount will vary depending on the moisture content in the croissant. Lightly dust with cinnamon then grate a sprinkling of nutmeg over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and tuck into the fridge until morning.

In the morning,  about  an hour or so before you wish to eat,  set the oven to heat to 350’F. Remove the pan from the fridge and let it sit on the counter for about 20 minutes or so to warm up to room temperature. While it is sitting out, mix together the brown sugar, melted butter and nuts. Dot croissants with spoonfulls of the sugar mixture and carefully spread it around with the back of a spoon. Sprinkle with blueberries. Cover lightly with foil and pop into the oven for about 25-30 minutes. Remove foil and return to oven for another 5-10 minutes to brown.

Let it cool just a bit then serve with a dusting of powdered sugar, a dollop of whipped cream, some real maple syrup or blueberry syrup and some bacon or sausages. Yumm!

Dishing it out! About three years ago I decided our blueberry bushes were way too tall, at this point they were about 10′ tall, and even with poles and ladders, getting a net over the top was neigh on impossible. In fact it was a useless exercise and that year we harvested the 3 berries that the birds missed! The obvious thing to do was to trim the bushes – but how? After consulting several agricultural extension sites on the internet a plan was devised, the tools were gathered and with lots of TLC the bushes were cut back to a respectable size . The results? Great bushes for the last three years but not a single blueberry in sight. Most disappointing and we’re feeling quite blue – what had we done wrong?  Thank goodness for the local farmers’ market where we can purchase this fantastic fruit from our neighbouring farms.