Strawberry Cointreau Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

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Strawberry Cointreau Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

Here's another terrific weekend brunch idea featuring fresh, ripe, juicy strawberries and a honey and orange liqueur infused cream cheese filling.

Serves 4

Blend together until smooth:

4 ounces cream cheese
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp Cointreau (or other orange liqueur)

Fold in:

3/4  cup chopped strawberries

Cut 4 slices of good crusty bread, (Belgian, French, Italian...) twice as thick as a regular slice. Cut a pocket into each slice on one side of the crust, leaving the other sides intact. Carefully spread ¼ of the cream cheese mixture into the pocket of each slice.

Beat together

2 eggs
2 tbsp heavy cream
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla extract

Dip bread in egg mixture and fry over medium heat in 3 tbsp butter. Serve with powdered sugar, maple syrup or both!

Strawberry Cointreau Sour Cream Custard Flan

Strawberry Cointreau Sour Cream Custard Flan

One of many variations of this flan that we have made hundreds of times at our house over the years. Practically any fruit topping is great with creamy and oh-so-easy baked custard flan. It is an absolute go-to recipe in our family and no doubt the dessert that I have made the most times in my life. Dinner guests often request it in advance and most often, we are happy to fulfill the request because it is just so quick and easy to prepare. You will literally have this in the oven in minutes but your guests will think you slaved over it.

• 2 pounds strawberries

Cut into quarters or slices and sprinkle with:

• 4 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp Cointreau or other orange liqueur

(If you want to make this without alcohol, just substitute the Cointreau for 1 tbsp grated orange zest.)

Allow the strawberries to marinate for a couple of hours, tossing the berries occasionally.

Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

Mix together until well combined:

• 2 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
• ½ cup melted butter
• ¼ cup sugar

Press into the bottom and sides of the greased springform pan to about a ½ inch from the top of the pan.

For the custard part of this desert it is important to use full fat sour cream or the filling will not set. I use 18% milk fat sour cream that is sometimes sold as “restaurant style” or “extra thick”.

Whisk together until the sugar is dissolved:

• 3 cups sour cream (Three, 8 oz tubs)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 3 tsp vanilla extract

Pour into the prepared graham crumb crust and bake at 325 degrees F for 50-60 minutes. The custard will still be a little jiggly when done and just beginning to brown very slightly at the edges. Allow the flan to cool to room temperature then refrigerate for a couple of hours before serving with the marinated strawberries on top.

Georgestown Orange and Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast with Maple Cointreau Syrup

I make a number of different kinds of stuffed French toast and this one was the result this morning of some leftover Whole Wheat and Raisin Bread from the fantastic Georgestown Bakery here in St. John's. Add to that a little inventiveness between Spouse and I on a quiet Sunday morning with the kids away at their grandparents for the day.

I decided to try some stuffed french toast using some good English marmalade and Spouse came up with the idea to add a little Cointreau to the maple syrup. All I can say about the final result is... OMG! OMG! OMG!

Definitely one of the most decadent breakfasts I have ever had! This is a "must try" for sure. Definitely a great idea to impress brunch guests too but we were very happy not to have to share ours this morning! ;)

Makes 4

Blend together until smooth:

4 ounces cream cheese

2 tbsp sifted icing sugar

Pinch nutmeg

½ tsp vanilla extract

Cut 4 slices of good crusty raisin bread, twice as thick as a regular slice. Cut a pocket into each slice on one side of the crust, leaving the other sides intact. Carefully spread ¼ of the cream cheese mixture into the pocket of each slice. On the other side of each pocket spread

1 tablespoon of good quality orange marmalade.

(If marmalade is not to your liking try substituting a jam like peach, apricot or even bakeapple.)

Beat together

2 eggs
2 tbsp heavy cream
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla extract

Dip bread in egg mixture and fry over medium to medium low heat in 3 tbsp butter until golden brown on both sides. Lower heat is better for this recipe to make sure that the slices are heated through without burning the outside.

Maple Cointreau Syrup

Mix together:

5 ounces maple syrup
1 ounce Cointreau liqueur (or other orange liqueur)

Drizzle over the stuffed French toast and serve.